444 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
March 30, 
THE WICKED HEN FLEA, 
There is a bug that seems to be infesting 
our henhouses, and if it punishes the hens 
as it does one poor human who has felt 
the effects of the bite it must be quite a 
serious injury to them. The bug (if bug 
it can be called) looks like a flea, such as 
arc on dogs, perhaps a little larger. We 
noticed them last Fall when spraying the 
houses with lime, and although we have 
not noticed them all Winter they are here 
again, and I feel very anxious to find a 
remedy, as lime seems to have done no 
good. Would that cyanide acid (I forget the 
name of the acid) formula be the best 
thing? I know the deadly nature of 
cyanide, having used it in photography 
years ago, but fear I shall find it diflicult 
to get a supply. Would fumigating the 
houses with sulphur be of any use? If 
the cyanide is the best will you tell me 
where to find the formula? s. c. H. 
Abington, Mass. 
Judging from the description in the 
foregoing letter of the “bug” found 
in the poultry houses, I should say that 
it was the hen flea; and there would 
be very little doubt of this if it were 
not for the fact that the hen flea has 
been found in this country, up to this 
time, but once. The hen flea is a well- 
known pest in Europe, but so far, we 
have been practically free from it in 
America. It would prove very inter¬ 
esting to the “bug-man” if this should 
turn out to be the real hen flea. 
Fortunately, like other fleas, the hen 
fleas are only temporary parasites. 
They attack the fowls usually at night, 
but leave them during the day and re¬ 
main about the poultry houses. The 
irritating punctures of the fleas cause 
restlessness and loss of sleep among 
the fowls at night. In addition, the 
loss of blood, where fleas are abundant, 
causes quite a serious drain on the 
fowls. One should understand some¬ 
thing of the life history and habits 
of the fleas to fight them intelligently. 
The adult fleas lay their pearly-white 
eggs in the nests chiefly, but often on 
the floor among the dirt. Here they 
hatch into slender white, worm-like 
larvae that live upon the debris in the 
cracks and crevices of the house. In 
a few weeks these become full-grown 
and make a cocoon inside of which they 
change to a pupa. In two or three 
weeks this pupa changes to the adult 
flea. To control this pest and the mites 
and lice that occur on fowls, the poul¬ 
try house should be so constructed that 
the perches, nests, etc., can be readily 
removed, thus leaving four bare walls 
and the floor. By this means, most of 
the cracks and crevices in which these 
pests hide are exposed; and, besides, 
there are no obstructions to prevent one 
from reaching all parts of the house. 
The perches and nest boxes may be 
treated before they are returned to 
their places. 
The best treatment is to spray the 
walls and floor with pure kerosene oil, 
putting on an abundance of it and 
forcing it into all the cracks and 
crevices of the walls and floor. After 
this treatment the house should be 
thoroughly whitewashed, at least inside. 
The perches and nests should be thor¬ 
oughly cleaned of all droppings, dust, 
and straw and then treated with boiling 
hot water or fairly soaked with kero^ 
sene oil and then whitewashed. Onq 
or two thorough treatments of this 
kind ought to clean up the fleas. Some¬ 
times these pests may breed in an ad¬ 
joining building. If the poultry house 
joins a stable, hog pen, or other build¬ 
ing, it should be moved some distance 
away. glenn w. herrick. 
OPEN VS. CLOSED FRONT HENHOUSE. 
It will be a great day for the American 
hen when poultrymen learn to recognize 
the element of adaptability in housing and 
arrange their henhouses to accommodate 
the comfort of the flock according to the 
varied needs of the season. Do we not 
regulate the amount of fresh air coming 
into our own homes according to our com¬ 
fort? Why should we make a hard-and- 
fast rule of either open or closed front hen¬ 
houses, to remain unchanged throughout 
the year? The proper housing of fowls is a 
matter of seasons, of location north or 
south, and in some instances of localities. 
Because the open-front house proved a 
success with its originator near Boston, 
does not prove its universal adaptability. 
We must not allow ourselves to become ex¬ 
tremists, either in housing, feeding or any 
other point of management. The Tolman 
house was choke-fronted, so proportioned 
that in the heavy air near the sea it war 
nractically free from draughts. In New 
England we have no chilling south winds, 
but put even a house correct according to 
our eastern location out into Oneida County, 
N. Y., where a freezing south wind is a 
very usual accompaniment to the cold spells 
of Winter, and an open-front building for 
any living animal proves a misfit. 
Some years ago I read a magazine article 
by John Burroughs in which he advocated 
adapting the style of architecture for human 
dwellings according to the immediate local¬ 
ity ; if of stone, then of that description of 
stone indigenous to surrounding country, 
and for each location a general modifica¬ 
tion of plan to harmonize the structure 
with its immediate surroundings. All this 
was to conserve artistic effect. It is my 
own contention that no architectural plan 
can be consistently drawn without taking 
into account the points of compass, direc¬ 
tion of drainage, character of soil, and 
what is of paramount importance, the so¬ 
cial condition or rather the industrial life 
of the family to occupy the same. Yet 
how many professional architects need to 
know any other specifications than cost and 
architectural style, with the result that we 
seldom see a building that fulfills a high 
ideal in all its appointments? The success¬ 
ful housing of poultry is the summing up 
of many elements generally overlooked by 
the average builder. We are speaking now 
of a single feature—that of the relation of 
the henhouse to the outer air. I am a 
consistent believer in planning a building 
to make it as air tight as possible for cold 
weather emergencies, and as open for Sum¬ 
mer as a horse shed. This can be best 
arranged by means of two compartments, 
which may be made into one by opening a 
connecting door. Make one room as warm 
as building paper and shingled walls and 
roof can make it, with very little window 
space, and that double-glazed, placing the 
droppings platform high, allowing about 
two feet between the same and the over¬ 
head ceiling to insure warmth to the roost¬ 
ing flock. The other room may best ad¬ 
join on the south side, containing much 
window space that will allow of glass, mus¬ 
lin or wire netting, according to the season 
or needs of the day. This connecting door 
is the key to the situation. It will stand 
open most of the time. Summer and Win¬ 
ter. A laying hen is a comfortable hen, 
and vice versa. The house I have broadly 
outlined may be planned to suit any size 
of flock, or the same extended east and 
west to any length. It represents the needs 
of the extreme North; and the further 
south wo go the less the need for protec¬ 
tion against cold. I should suppose the 
open-front as designed by Mr. Tolman 
would fit the latitude of Maryland to a 
nicety. But a long building with contin¬ 
uous air circulation and open front for 
Winter is a draughty affair, and challenges 
directly the principles of correct housing. 
Adapt the building to the climate, and 
avoid costly errors. f. w. proctor. 
THE “OPEN FRONT” POULTRY HOUSE. 
Finds It “The Only Way.” 
I note that on page 299 you put the 
question of open-front poultry houses up 
to your readers for discussion. I wish to 
report that I have used open-front houses 
during the past three years with most ex¬ 
cellent results. My houses are of the Tol¬ 
man type and open all of the time. No 
curtains for me, they are a nuisance and 
unnecessary. It is my firm belief that for 
our cold Maine Winters the open-front 
house, properly constructed, cannot bo 
beaten. It has been my experience, and the 
experience of many others in my locality, 
that the fowls w r ill produce more eggs and 
be much less likely to freeze comb or wattles 
when housed in the Tolman houses than 
when housed in houses of the closed type. 
I do not wish to claim that the open-front 
houses give better results than those of 
the curtain type, but it cannot be denied 
that they give less bother. One thing 
against curtain houses is that the curtains 
are often down when they should be up, 
and sometimes up when they should be 
down. Again, they are many nights when 
the poultryman doesn’t know whether to 
drop the curtains or not. With the open 
house one can go to bed at night, regard¬ 
less of the weather, knowing that every 
thing is all right and the fowls comfortable. 
You ask where the open house fails. I have 
found that during extremely hot weather 
such as we had on July 4 last year (over 
100° F. in the shade) the open houses were 
much hotter than any other kind that I 
have, although I had door and window 
wide open in addition to the front. But 
this is not an important objection to me, 
because during hot weather my fowls have 
ample shelter in their yards. Some might 
object to them on the ground that snow 
will sometimes blow into them. During the 
present Winter I have housed six pens in 
open houses and to date of this writing 
(March 7) snow has come into them but 
twice, about six or eight bushels in all for 
all the houses. On one of those two oc¬ 
casions I know that the snow blew into a 
house of the curtain front type equally as 
badly. Whether it did on the other oc¬ 
casion I cannot say. If there are any fur¬ 
ther objections to my open houses I have 
failed to find them. h. w. lorinq. 
Maine. 
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