Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-12-16
POULTRY PARASITES.



The Most Effective Remedy for the Dis
| eases Caused by Them
When we investigate the character OF
the diseases which prevail amoung poul-
try, and the sources from which they
spring. it is found that they are all due
to preventable causes, which arise from
errors in feeding or management. This
is not much to the blame of the poultry
keepers. for when we consider the d.s-
eases which affect humanity we find the
majority of them might be avoided by
due precautions in eating and clothing.
and in regard to exposure to cold and
impurities of living. It is not to be ex-
pected that persons who are unwilling
Or unable to care for themselves will
care for their fowls. Consequently the
poultry are reduced in number and
profit fully one half, and the loss is far
greater than believed.
One of the most common. but least
Injurious, and yet annoying diseases is
that known as ''scaly leg 1t is this
which causes the thickened and disa-
greeable eondit; on of the scales of the
| legs, charging the shanks to double the
size, producing sufficient inconvenience
to cause the birds to NOPE and suspend
/ the laying of eggs. 1t is one of the
! class of parasitic diseases to which fowls
| are much subject, and is Ike the others
of the kind. greatly encouraged by the
unclean condition in which the fowls
are kept It's origin was not known or
its character understood until these
were discovered by the WI ter some
/ years ago, when by a microscoplcal ex-
animation of tn enlarged scales these
/ were found to result from thick. hard
ened emulation of serum from the skin
caused by the presence of minute bur-
/ row ne acari, which form galleries un-
! der the scales, and thus give rise to the
disease
! 1t is most frequent among the Asiatic
| fowls, whose legs are large and e
| covered with large, loosely placed
| scales. These offer attractiv. harbors
, for these insects, in which they increase
| enormously and soon become extremely
annoying, all the more so that they are
! beyond the reach of the fowls them
selves. who can not rid themselves of
| their tormentors This mite is almost
precisely like the acarus of manga.
which SO much troubles dogs. cats and
acarus which infests p rsons of un clean
habits. They are all indicative of filth,
and spread from one indiv. dual to an
other with surprising rapidity. In our
own wards the Introduction of a seased
Brahma cock from the flock of noted
breeder was the cause of the infection
of flock of eighty in a few days, and the
sudden appearance of the dis ase led to
an immed ate invest CATION and the dis
covery of its nature.
Fortunately the remedy and the means
of preventing it are nipple and easy.
Crude petroleum or kerosene oil mixed
with an equal quantity of raw lnseed
oil or castor oil, thoroughly brushed
into the scales of the legs, will destroy
the mites at once. An ointment of lard
and sulphur is not so rapidly effective.
but answers the purpose. The more
penetrative petroleum is absorbed into
the wounded skin and enters the bur-
rows and destroys the pests. A repeti-
t on of the dressing will be required in
ten days to destroy the young, newly
Matched mites, which mature and lay a
new brood of eggs in this short period.
Other parasites are the red mites which
are found on the skin at night, busilv
sucking block and Fostering the fowls.
fieas also nfest birds and at times so
abundantly rs to be fatal to them. Set
ting hens are often driven from their
nests by these pests. and the
young chicks pine away and perish,
and the owner is wholly ignor-
ant of the reason. The red mites bur
row in the shanks of the feathers, CHI ely
the wing feathers, and among the down
on the hinder parts of the body. When
one handles the fowls at night an intol-
cradle itching may soon be felt all over
the body from the crown of the head to
the feet. This IS caused by the inya-
sion of the person by these invisible
pests, which swarm over the clothing
and soon penetrate to the skin and be-
gin their pumping operat ons. These
are described by Swedish naturalist,
Schiodte. who published whole treatise
upon these parasites The insect
thrusts it's minute beak into the skin
and starts its pump to work. The valves
are situated in the head, in front of the
ewes, and may be seen by the a d of
magn flying glass. like a trianeu ar
blood-red spot, which expand and con-
tract with increasing rapidity.
Soon the pulsations become so
rapid that several may be counted
III u SeCOilu ne bIoOu tiluo
pumped from the veins of the victim is
forced through the alimentary canal,
which in its rapid action vibrates from
side to side so that its bendings appear
Ike the rapid coiling of a rope on a
ships deck
This blood-t thirsty characteristic is the
same in all these various pests, and
hence it is not strange that neglected
flock, turned over to their rapacity
should be wholly Improbable and a
nuisance to the owner. There is n
most effective remedy for all these
pests; tn is oil. which at touch de-
stroys them. The easiest way of apply
ing this remedy is to smear it upon the
perches and under the wings of the
birds, were the insects congregate most.
The mixture of oil and kerosene above
mentioned has been found completely
successful for this purpose agains. all
these parasites. But no remedy will
long be awaiting unless perfect cleanli-
ness is observed and the droppings in
which the pests breed are removed
from the house " Y Times.
--Stoneboro possesses a ten-year-old
Young America of remarkable enter