POULTRY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20491, 17 February 1930, Page 3

POULTRY INDUSTRY.

BY UTILITY.

SUMMER PESTS.

KEEPING THE BIRDS CLEAN

"Subscriber" sends an inquiry regard-, ing his birds, and it is very unlikely that his flock is the only one in the same trouble just now. February came in with the first touch of real summer weather, and this spells trouble with many a flock. This particular reader has found a few odd chickens losing their feathers —first the small wing feathers and then the body feathers—until they have become quite naked and some have died. He tried bathing in warm' soapy wafer, with a few drops of ammonia added, and also warm water with jeyes fluid, but all to no purpose.

The symptoms point to the urgent necessity for treatment* before others are in similar trouble. Late feathering is quite a common occurrence in Black Orpingtons, and sometimes they have little covering but fluff until they are a good size, but it is quite a different matter when birds lose their feathers as described.

The trouble is caused by minute parasites, possibly mites, which burrow into the skin, and may be quite invisible. However, they must be shifted, for they very quickly weaken the infected bird. A good plan would be .to use a bath of quassia chips, to thoroughly wash the birds, but as others are probably already infected, or soon will be, a still more reliable cure would be to use Black Leaf 40. The method of application has already been described—to spread a streak of the neat liquid along the perch. In the case of chickens the narotic could be put in the box where they sleep, always applying it just before they retire for the night.

Individual Treatment. When' a chicken is so infested with the parasites that a skin disease has virtually broken out, it would be advisable to give it individual treatment, in addition to the general treatment just described, which will be quite enough to cure those that are not already very bad. Most ailments choose the weakest bird for . their attack, and parasites conform to this rule, as they find the safest and most congenial harbour in that quarter. Special treatment is wejl worth the trouble, and this can easily be given by [jutting a few drops of the. Black Leaf 40 on "the feathers, preferably just under the wing. Do it last-thing at night, so that the bird has no chance of "getting rid ot the offensive odour, and it will not take many applications to clear out all the parasites, big or little. It seems impossible to over-estimate the value of this new discovery for destroying insect life on birds, for it is effective at once, and is so easy of application that no poultry breeder should be without it. Of course there are numerous excellent sprays on the market and those who have the conveniences for applying them should certainly do so, now that | the weather has apparently taken a , definite turn for the better. But in the I case of the many breeders who have < only a few birds, the remedy recom- [ mended will probably be found the easiest and quickest.'

Comfort ior Poultry. Considerations of ordinary humanity demand that poultry should be able to cnduie the heat of summer without the added discomfort of lice. We have no means of knowing whether their nerves are sufficiently sensitive to make them suffer from lice to the same degree as we humans suffer from the attentions of mosquitos, but the physical effects are quite plain—loss of condition, loss of the healthy gloss on the feathers, dull eyes, and less eggs, from the adult birds, or none at all.

The first precaution is to give them every facility for getting a good dustbath— nature's way to keep them clean—and this is often quite sufficient, provided they are on fairly free range, and are not overcrowded at nights. But under modern conditions of housing, with limited yard accommodation, it is virtually impossible to keep them free from vermin without regular 1 treatment, particularly in the summer, and it Itas never been more urgent and important than this month, when the 'sudden change to hot weather will release vermin from their eggs by the thousand. Scaly Leg in Summer. A very pernicious form of vermin is in scaly leg, an offensive and unsightly ailment which affects many' flocks -when they do not receive sufficient care. Its name appropriately describes its general appearance, but it is caused by a .minute .parasite which burrows under the scales of the legs.

As in the case of most parasites, a mixture of sulphur and lard will "usually effect a cure, if it is well rubbed in. There is only one objection to this treatment. In most yards it will be found that the birds soon go and get a dust-bath, when a nasty coat of dust, adheres to the sticky dressing. The trouble is generally introduced when the birds live in dirty conditions, clean and healthy legs being rarely affected, so a treatment that leaves them clean is more likely to be permanent in its effects.

Kerosene fills the.bill very nicely 111 this respect. In the first place it is more penetrating than lard, .and soaks eight under every scale, thus getting literally at the root of the whole trouble, by killing the parasites where they are lodged. Don't brash the kerosene on to their legs:, dip the legs right into it, and then "110 insect can escape the poison. It is quite harmless to'the birds themselves, and if it. is supplied at night, by catching them when they are roosting, and pulling them back after they are dipped, the kerosene on the legs and dripping on the perch will have a tendency to check red mite.