Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-18
ing vessels will do much toward pre-
serving the health of the fowls

This Is the time OF year when mites,
lice and all the insect pests that bother
the life out of poultry thrive and null
tiply. Only constant watchfulness on
the part of the poultryman will keep
the fowls free from these parasites and
maintain the houses and their contents
in condition in which the insects can
not find harboring places. A reliable
brush or sprayed thoroughly over every
part of the interior of the house
walls, roof. perches. roost supports,
floor. nest boxes and all-is the only
place of the pests. Liberal quantities
of strong insect powder busted into
the nest material. and also into the
plumage of the fowls. also will do a
lot OF good. For chicks. however. the
application of the insect powder must
be done carefully. otherwise the strong
powder is likely to injure them.
Straw or other nesting material
should be renewed every week or so
during hot weather, and at each re-
newal the interior and exterior of the
nest boxes should be given n liberal
coating of insecticide and disinfectant
good combined insect destroyer and
disinfectant is ordinary whitewash. to
which has been added crude carbolic
acid in the proportion of half a tea
cupful to the gallon of wash. The
whitewash lis made simply by mixing
for use inside the houses and primarily
as means of destroying insects and
deodorlzlng the atmosphere in the
house, no attention need be paid to
preparing embarrassing white
wash.
good mixture to apply to roosts and
roost supports, as well as to cracks and
creVices in walls. floors and roofs. is
Kerosene and crude carbolic acid. Use
about five parts of kerosene to one of
the acid, and apply the mixture with a
brush. This mixture applied to the
roosts and roost supports will unfail
ingly kill the red mites which torment
poultry at night, as these insects leave
the fowls at daybreak and take refuge
on and about the perches and their
supports. The oil-acid mixture should
be applied freely. so that 1t reaches
Turk. Two or three applications. several
days or a. week apart, will rid the poul-
try houses of the mites. which are per-
haps the worst summer enemy of poul-
try.
1t rats are preying on the chicks in
the brooder houses. cayenne pepper is
a simple remedy. harmless to the chicks,
that often drives the rodents away.
When rats attack a colony of chicks
in brooder house they usually come
from beneath. burrowing in the ground
under the house and working up
through the floor. if the latter is, as
it should be, raised few inches above
the ground. To use the pepper, buy
some that is full strength, and with a
pepper shaker sprinkle 1t as thickly
as possible on the ground a few inches
inside the line of the walls and under
the floor. The cayenne torments the
rats to such an extent that they often
go away from the place after a single
application: If they are persistent, how
ever, a second or third application will
almost certainly drive them away.
Another good way to rid the poultry
houses, as well as the dwelling itself.
quicklime. in powdered form, thickly
about under the poultry houses. or
along the top of the foundation wall
OF the dwelling; Provision must be
or chicks from getting into the lime,
as it will eat holes in their feet in a
very short time. That's the way it at
fects the rats-gets into the spaces be-
short fur and eats away the toes and
often the entire foot. It's pretty in
humane method of combating rats. but
the rats themselves don't seem to pay
warfare, attacking chicks in any man
ner possible, so perhaps the end justi-
f1es the means. The lime must be strong
and wholly unslacRed, or it will do
little or no good, however.
During weather such as has pre-
vailed in this section of the country
for the past week or SO corn. either
whole or cracked, should be almost
If not wholly eliminated from the ra-
ton of the poultry. Instead of corn.
use wheat, or wheat, rye and barley.
If possible: If wheat is impossible be-
of one part of wheat, two parts of
oats and one part each Of rye and barley:
or kaffir corn may be used in place of
the wheat, II the fowls have been
is not used in the ration. the free
feeding of wheat bran is advisable,
through the quantity Of cornmeal in
the dry mash should be cut down at
least one half.
All the green food it is possible to
give the poultry will not be too much,
especially If the fowls are confined
and are not given free range. They
will relish anything in the shape of
green, succulent stuff. and will con-
sumo prodigious quantities of cab
bage, beet tops, lettuce leaves. lawn
clippings. green pea vines: turnips and
YOUR melon rinds. leaving nothing but
a paper-thin layer of the hard, green
outer rind, shows how well they like
this kind of stuff.
See to 1t that the poultry, fowls
we'll as chicks. have plenty of shade
available, under which to take refuge
from the hot rays of the midday sun.
If it is possible SO to arrange things
as to provide deep, cool dust baths
under such shade, the fowls and chicks
alike will be enabled to keep cool and
comfortable on the hottest days. es-
pecially if they are provided with
plenty of clean, cool drinking water in
clean vessels, also kept under shade
and protected from pollution.
Many authorities advocate the addi-
ton during the summer and especially
while the fowls are molting, of por-
ton of faxseed meal to the dry mash
ration. 1t is said by many practical
poultrymen that the use of the oily
meal helps the fowls to mott quickly