Get Rid of Parasites

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 28 July 1928, Page 26

Get Rid of Parasites

It is an accepted fact that if a hen is to become a winter layer, or if a cockerel is to be finised properly it must net be hindered from throwing all the energy possible into such, production. One of the principal agencies which on many farms hold birds back from doing their best is the presence of certain poultry parasites that infest their bodies or houses. WHY ARE PARASITES INJURIOUS? No one can plan a campaign against parasites of poultry unless he realises why they are hurting his birds, and how, and when. Just consider these reasons for a moment; (1) Parasites live on something which they derive from the bodies of the birds they infest, and therefore it is plain that the birds must give’ up some part of their bodies when parasites are present, and what they give up is usually blood, the very thing that is absolutely essential to continued health and productive capacity. This is reason enough to make every poultry-raiser seriously threaten the lives of such parasites. (2) Many of these insects or worms, as the case may be, make sores or irritated spots which annoy the birds and deprive them of the necessary amount of sleep which they should have at night. If birds are to keep their bodies built up and ready for business there must he periods of rest, just the same as sleep is necessary for we humans. (3) Parasites weaken the vitality and vigour of birds infested, and thereby render them more liable -to develop disease, besides lowering their power to produce eggs. (4) When certain kinds of parasites gather in large numbers they may interfere with the normal workings of some of the organs or systems of the birds’ bodies. This must not be allowed, of course. WHICH PARASITES ARE REAL ENEMIES? Lice are the commonest enemies of the lien and. in fact, are so common that they are often disregarded as such, but are looked upon as a sort of necessary evil, whereas they are really an unnecessary evil that should be eliminated from every |—--- - ** »

IN poultry products we find the kind of food that always commands a sale on our markets. Furthermore, as the winter comes along with its cold days and frosty nights, the consuming public is more eager than ever to secure those things which the poultry-raiser lias to offer from his yards ard pens. Therefore, if there are things that lie can do by which the production of eggs or meat can be made more economically or profitably, is it not distinctly up to him to get busy ?

how small it may be. There are four types of lice that commonly infest chickens and cause all manner of annoyance, sores, irritation, and Hinder proper development of body processes. The most serious, the largest and swiftest moving lice are the body lice proper that infest the region immediately about the vent, and are found down among the fluff feathers. There are also the shaft lice, which are found along the shafts of the feathers on the sides of the thighs. These are grey and slow-moving, and can be readily seen, especially oil white birds. The wing life infest the underneath sections of the wings, and the head lice are found on the neck and back of the head. All four should be eliminated, if present. They are chewing insects and live upon the body of the bird at all times except when they may have been physically brushed off into nest material, etc. Therefore they should be fought on the bodies of the birds. The writer has had excel lent results with lice powders applied by the pinch method. He has used almost exclusively for this purpose the commercial grade of sodium fluoride, lib being sufficient for about 150 birds. Other reliable, finely ground and perfectly dry lice powders can be similarly applied with good results. Have a table of some kind, perhaps a couple of shipping crates piled on each other, with a newspaper over the top. Have the birds caught into crates, to facilitate handling. Have the sodium fluoride in a pan, and be sure that it is perfectly dry. Grasp the bird by the shoulders of the wings with the left hand, and allow the bird to rest on the arm, and then with the right hand apply the pinches of eradicator in the order mentioned: First, at base of tail inside; second, about vent; third, inside one thigh; fourth, inside opposite thigh; fifth, outside of thigh; sixth, outside other thigh: seventh, under one wing; eighth, under other wing: ninth, base of tail over saddle: and tenth, in neck feathers. A bird a minute is perfectly possible for an amateur. One application will get rid of all lice. Getting rid of lice will take but a few moments, and will result in better, healthier birds during the winter. Red mites are blood-sucking insects that live in the houses, in the cracks about the nests, dropping boards and

perches during the day, and ci-awl into the bodies of the birds at night, there doing serious injury. Red mites lower vitality, produce anaemia (a weakened blood condition that means depleted energy), lower egg production, and greatly annoy the hens. They can be easily got rid of by painting the infested places in the house with a good disinfectant such fis Yama. It should he always borne in mind that the place to campaign against the mites is the house and not on the birds themselves. WORMS IN CHICKENS Other parasites found among fowls are worms. These are round, white worms, usually about ljin in length, which grow and develop in the intestinal tract, there often stuffing it up and preventing its normal functioning. They are spread through the droppings. Their presence in birds causes gradual loss of flesh and weight, or emaciation, increasing weakness, and oftentimes more or less complete paralysis of the leg muscles, loss of appetite, roughened plumage and decreaSed egg production. The birds suffer malnutrition. In the experience of some farmers upon whose farms these worms were seen, the tobacco treatment was used with quite a bit of success. Get lib of tobacco stems for each 100 birds to be treated. When evidences of worms are seen in the droppings or in the behaviour of the birds, the whole flock can well be given this treatment. Steep the stems in water, just about boiling, for a couple of hours, and then place the tea, stems and all, in a moist mast made just crumbly. Allow about as much mash as will satisfy about one-third the appetite of the birds, doing this about two o’clock in the afternoon, not feeding the birds that day until that time, so that they will he hungry. Then about two hours later give them the rest of their mash, in which Epsom salts have been placed, at the rate of lib to the hundred. This treatment may show some effects on the general feelings of the birds for a day or two. and may stop egg production a trifle, but the getting rid of the worms is of far greater importance. Of course there are other parasitic enemies of the chicken yard, but just •at this time it is especially important that every poultry flock should be ridded of these particular pests. Let the birds enter the winter with an even chance to do something in the way of profitable egg production.