Imperial Valley press., 1913-09-22
Poultry Parasite
Makes a Big Loss

kind of mite, is quite common in
some localities. 1T usually appears
in spring and summer, and is char
acterized by the dropping off of
patches of feathers on different parts
of the body. 1t usually begins at the
rump and spreads to the head and
neck, back, thighs and breast. Around
the stumps of the lost feathers and
at the end Of the quilts of feathers
near the bare spots are masses Of
epidermal scales. On microscopic eX-
animation these scales are found 20
be composed of numerous mites and
their debris. The irritation of the
mites often cause the birds to pull
their own feathers. Birds affected
often pull each others feathers"
Maine Station, Poultry Diseases
and their Treatment" The mites are
spread from bird to bird by the male,
and the whole flock soon is affected.
Care shauld be taken not to introduce
infested birds into a flock, and if it
appears affected birds should at once
be isolated. Rub the infested areas
with oil Of caraway ointment recon-
mended for scaly leg or with balsam
of Peru or with this ointment, which
is given by DR.. Salmon:
Flowers of Sulphur. .........1 l dram
Carbonate of potash. . 2Ograins
Lard or vaseline ......1a ounce
Repeat the application every four
or five days until the disease is cured
The tick or ''bedbug" of poultry
closely resembles the bedbug found
in dwelling houses. 1t does not often
infest poultry houses, and when it
does its presence is probably due 10
long uncared for buildings or soil or
to the proximity Of pigeon houses.
have never heard Of them but once
in California. That was on a place
where the buildings were twenty
years old or more and had never been
cleaned, and where the ground around
the building had not beeen stirred for
many years, but they are said to be
quite common in some parts of the
state, and where they are found they
are a terrible pest The Maine sta
tion's phamphlet quoted above says
the sprays recommended for mites
will also destroy ticks, but Mrs. Bas-
ley says painting of spraying the
house with corrosive sublimate-S
ounces to 20 gallons of water-is the
only remedy that has been found in
California, where the climate makes
many of these pests more persistent
than in the east Where houses can
be tightly closed they may be fumi-
gated with sulphur or with the syan-
ide process used for the scale on cit
rus trees.
The common hen flea (pulex gal
linae) is also found in dirty houses
and runs, and especially in nests
where straw beds are used. Theobah
recommends the use of excelsior or
shayings for nesting material because
fleas do not breed as readily in them
as in straw Mrs. Basley says: ITO
free poultry houses and yards Of feas,
use whitewash freely, adding a pint
of carbolic acid to II gallons of white
wash. Spray it or slop it thoroughly
into all corners and cracks. Dark
busting places in the poultry yard
afford favorable places for feas. Sucn
corners sould be soaked with hot soap
suds or boiling salt water to kill the
young broods of fieas. Used carbolized
lime, tobacco dust and moth balls in
the nests"
DR.. N. w. Sanborn says in Ameri-
can Poultry Advocate: Clean up,
whitewash thoroughly, good and thick,
having some carbolic acid in the wash.
Dip the hens in some good germ
killer like Zenoleum or some of the
sheep dips. You have got to get at
the fleas in the cracks and the litter.
It's fight and work, and fight again
to kill out the feas in warm climates