Treatment. Reduce the quantity of fat-producing foods. Care in the selection of breeding stock is important.
LICE
Invariably present in small numbers, and likely to become a serious pest, if not persistently controlled
Symptoms. Unthrifty look of fowl and signs of irritation; desertion of nest by setting hens; and, of course, the detection of lice on the fowl: this may be done by quickly turning over the feathers on the body and looking for the lice.
Fig. 13.—LOOKING FOR LICE
Fig. 14.—Three Lice That Commonly Affect Fowls (From Salmon.)
a. Lipeurus variabilis.
b, Menopon pallidum.
c, Goniodes dissimilis.
Cause. Introduction of an infested fowl; neglect to dust fowls regularly to keep down lice, and to clean out fowl houses and change the straw of nest boxes. At the season that lice are likely to be most prevalent the poultryman should take precautionary measures.
Description of lice. Lice are small insects ranging in size from 1∕25 to 1∕8 of an inch. They breed rapidly, laying their eggs on the feathers. They are not blood-sucking insects, but cause much irritation to the birds they infest.
Several species are found on fowls. Fig. 14 shows three of the common species.