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Show ' ll Farm ! I Iqpics i NUMEROUS PESTS BOTHER POULTRY 'Industrious' Ant Added to List of Enemies. By L. M. BLACK Add the industrious ant to the many forms of life which act as intermediate in-termediate hosts of the tapeworms that stunt the growth of chickens, reduce egg yield, and otherwise menace the poultry flock. Poultry farmers are warned to fight the insects that will increase with the advent of warmer weather. Controlling the common mites and lice which prey directly on chickens isn't enough. Measures designed to combat a wide variety of insects which attack poultry directly or indirectly in-directly are urged. Research of the U. S. department of agriculture has recently demonstrated demon-strated that ants must be classed with snails, earthworms, beetles. slugs and flies as intermediate hosts of one or more varieties of poultry tapeworms. Other threats to poultry poul-try health include the following: Grasshoppers, which harbor many poultry parasites, Including the gizzard worm and the strawberry straw-berry worm that infests the chickens' chick-ens' stomach. Black flies, carriers of a malarialike malaria-like disease of turkeys. Louse flies, which transmit pigeon malaria. Mosquitoes, carriers of fowl pox. Cockroaches, intermediate host of the parasitic Manson's Eye Worm, which causes widespread loss of poultry in semi-tropical areas. Ticks, which cause spirochaetosis, a serious blood disease, and piro- plasmosis, a disease which kills chickens by destroying their red blood cells. To eliminate or lessen these threats to poultry, the following is suggested: 1. Treat poultry for body lice, and treat roosts and other hiding places for mites. 2. Prevent accumulation of trash that harbors intermediate hosts of parasites. 3. Rotate ranges and mow frequently; fre-quently; this will reduce hiding places for insects. 4. Use insect-proof manure storage stor-age or apply acid phosphate to stored manure. |