Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-08

Department of Agriculture.
Summer chickens need special care
and attention. 1t is one thing to hatch
chicks and another matter to. raise
them. Hot days in July and August
are very trying, but if the chicks are
properly managed there is little danger
of high mortality.
The aim of the poultry keeper
should be to provide for steady growth
in chickens and to put forth every
effort to avoid losses. He needs to ex
ercise special care. There are certain
simple rules which should be followed
whether one keeps few fowls or
large flocks.
Clean Pens and Yards
On small poultry plants. where pens
are rev in number and the runs are
limited in area, cleanliness is the first
essential to successful chicken raising.
This is especially desirable in summer
Both the pens and the runs should be
cleaned regularly and lined occasion
ally. In the poultry runs the lime acts
as partial disinfectant It tends to
ward off poultry ailments and diseases,
especially those which are liable to
occur in hot weather.
In my experience growing chickens
need as careful attention for about
six weeks OF summer as almost any
other time of the year. Usually they
are from three to five months old
when summer sets in. At this age
they should grow most rapidly. They
need to develop their frame and put on
flesh rather than become fat.
When chickens do not grow properly
at from three to five months there is
something wrong with their vitality or
their feeding and management. If
they should die at this age as a result
of improper care, such losses threaten
the poultry Keepers profits and pros
profits, fryers should be on the market
as early as possible when prices are
high. The cockerels can be fattened
for this purpose. But another impor-
tant object is to develop the pullets
properly so that they will be ready to
lay late in Fall or early winter. Then
the price of eggs is high. Whether
the pullets can be so developed de-
pends somewhat upon their health
Clean pens and yards will help to keep
chickens healthy, and health and vigor
are absolutely essential to successful
growth and development.
If the poultry keeper fails in these
particulars, his prospects for profits
are diminished proportionately with
the lack of growth and development
of his chickens.
Control of Chicken Mites
When we'll fed and otherwise prop
erly managed, chickens do not always
make satisfactory growth in summer
There is a cause for this which may
be wholly unsuspected. 1t is likely to
be due to the presence of chicken
mites.
This pest is a blood-sucking para
site. 1t harbors under the perches, in
cracks and in other places Its de-
structive work is done at night. When
the chickens are at roost the mites
crawl from their hiding places onto
the birds. They gorge themselves with
blood much the same as a mosquito
does, and then crawl back to their hid
ing places. If this nest is not discov-
cred it multiplies into millions in a
few weeks of hot weather. If the
mites become numerous they will suck
more blood from chicken in a single
night than the chicken can produce
the next day from the digestion and
assimilation of the most nourishing
food. And since the blood carries the
assimilated food. for growth to the
different parts of the body, there can
be little or no growth so long as such
a condition continues. The time and
the dabor of the poultryman, as well
as the feed consumed. are thus prac-
tically wasted in the presence of
chicken mites.
During the summer every precaution
should be taken to keep the pens and
roosting places free from mites. This
is not a difficult matter. The mite is a
very small parasite, barely perceptible
with the unaided eve. When not
gorged with chicken blood, 1t is light
colored. It becomes red when it has
gorged itself with chicken blood. For
this reason it is sometimes called the
red" mite. But this pest is so deli
eately constructed that it can easily
be DESTROYED by spraying with kero-
sene or whitewash.
cit caring for my own chickens I
take special pains TO keep down the
mites. All perches are regularly ex-
amined and then brushed with kero-