Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1875 — Itch on the Legs of Fowls. [ARTICLE]

Itch on the Legs of Fowls.

A great many poulterers are complaining of the itch on the legs of their gallinaceous fowls. We have a flew birds on the leg of which the itch has gained such a foothold that some of the toes have actually disappeared. The disease itself is merely a surface or skin disease, caused by the constant workings or borrowings of the minute insect, or rather a host of them, under the scales of the legs, just above the knee joint, all the way down to the toe nail. They propagate their young in these secure hiding places, and thus cause a constant irritation. Soon the scales are raised from their proper places, and underneath will be found a mealy substance resembling caked yellow commeal. This soon covers the whole leg, which becomes rough and repulsive in appearance, making a young chick look like an old bird. Dr. Z. Evans, Jr., thus alludes to his manner of treating such fowls as were affected with the itch: lat once caught the worst birds, had their legs washed off clean, and then well dried with a cloth. When this was done I applied a mixture of lard and flour of sulphur to the affected parts. I made the mixture by melting a quantity of fresh lard, stirring in about one-quarter or one-third the quantity of the sulphur, after which it was removed from the fire and kept well stirred, until it became cool, so as to thoroughly incorporate the sulphur. The legs of the fowls were thoroughly rubbed with this, and the roosts also got a good dose of it. Soon after treating the new fowls I discovered that the disease had attacked my “ home” fowls, and I gave them an application of the same. This seemed to do some good, but did not remove the insects entirely, owing to the difficulty in getting the mixture well under the scales. Well knowing the remedial value of common coal oil, we thought of it as being desirable. We then gave the fowls, one and all, a dose of it. We held the legs upward and applied the oil with a feather. Two applications like this, a few days apart, did the business for the insects, for the scales commenced to come off and the legs to assume a bright and natural appearance. We also gave the roosting benches a good smearing of the oil. If two applications of coal oil do not suffice, three can be made without fear of injury to the fowls. It should be applied at intervals of two or three days. —New York Herald.