PARASITES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18203, 2 March 1929, Page 10

PARASITES.

EXPERIMENTS MADE. Experiments have been recently carried out at the New Zealand Government Poultry Station to test the efficacy of nicotine solution as a control agent for the lice parasite of poultry. This method was discovered by a Californian poultryman, who used the byeproduct of tobacco—Black Leaf 40—• which is effective as a spray in the garden for the control of plant parasites. The results of the New Zealand experiments were most satisfactory. Not only' did the material have the effect of rapidly killing all kinds of insect pests that happened to be on the birds, but the treatment in no way upset the flock. The low cost of the necessary material, and the short space of time required for its application as compared with the methods commonly employed in ridding fowls of vermin, such as dusting with insect, pow* der, dipping, etc., are greatly in favour of the new method. Not only this, but the catching and handling of each bird for the purpose of dusting must necessarily upset the flock, and- be followed by a reduced egg yield. It is estimated that • from 2jlb to 31b of Black Leaf 40 will be sufficient ,to free one thousand any lice that may be upon them. The material for this number can be effectually applied in about fifteen minutes, and the following is a good way of doing so:—Make a small hole in two opposite corners of a small tin containing the material, and pass it along each perch, leaving a thin line of the liquid on the perch. Do this at dusk, just before the birds go to roost. Commenting on the treatment, Mr F. C. Brown, poultry expert for the New Zealand Government, states that for it to be really effective it is important that all birds shall go or be placed on the perches, and not allowed to roost in odd corners of the house. Birds that are in broody coops may be freed from vermin by' dipping a feather into the liquid and drawing it under both wings, or by putting a small amount on the breast feathers. There are many kinds of insect vermin which attack fowls. The object, however, of the experiment referred to was to kill those kinds which live continually on the body. Among the most commonly-known to poultry'keepers is the ordinary body louse. Its favourite location is surrounding the abdominal regions. Then there is a distinct form of louse which affects the head. There is also the depluming mite, of minute size, which is usually found at the root of the feathers. Another form of louse, which is probably more responsible f<v birds acquiring the habit of feather-pulling than any other cause, is usually located on the quills on the inside of the wing feathers. One may reasonably assume that the feather-pulling habit would soon disappear from flocks troubled in the way if the Black Leaf 40 treatment for lice were resorted to.— “'Hie Leader.”