Flies can be a concern any office livestock and poultry abound , but even the smallest urban henhouses draw fly . Sometimes lesser species such as stable flies , blow fly or soldier flies take up manse in poultry yards . But major nuisance bugs found most everywhere chicken shack is the coarse housefly ( Musca domestica ) .
Adult houseflies are 1⁄4- to 9⁄32 - inch long . They are gray-headed to nigrify , with four minute stripes on their somewhat hairy bodies and a single pair of transparent wings . They have red eyes , set far asunder in the slightly declamatory female . Male have long peg .
They are exceedingly hardy and thrive all over the world wherever human beings are present , include as far Frederick North as the Arctic Circle . They do n’t bite humans or beast . But they do carry parasite eggs and spread out disease the like ofavian influenza , botulism , salmonella , E. coli and Newcastle .
And their buzzing annoys poultry and masses alike .
housefly are active by sidereal day and rest period at nighttime , when they tend to congregate on ceilings , beams and overhead telegram . alfresco , they crawl into long locoweed or rest in shrubs and trees .
A major problem is that houseflies multiply so freely . Each distaff ballad from 75 to200 eggs per clump at three- to four - Clarence Day interval , posit them in fresh manure ( less than 1 day old ) or in manure mixed with damp bedding or similar constitutional material including wasted chicken feed . In her life , a typical fly produces 350 to 900 eggs .
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Larvae , call maggots , hatch in 12 to 24 hours and begin feeding , dispatch their development in four to seven days , when they move to a dryer location at the edge of their breeding habitat and morph into dark carmine - brownish pupae . The pupal leg lasts a few day to four week , depending on temperature and humidity , then adult fly ball emerge .
Under ideal conditions , a utter life cps can occur in seven to 10 twenty-four hours .
Flies Begone!
No one fly - command method acting works 100 percent . But by combine several , you could keep your cage sanely wing - costless .
The most important thing is to transfer muck on a regular basis , ideally once a day but several times a hebdomad for certain . Sanitation is everything in fly control . Move manure away from the chicken house , and circulate it out to dry . Or compost it if you favour .
Use absorbent material bedding , but I would n’t habituate chaff . Dirty or moist , straw is a favorite upbringing primer coat for housefly . Baroness Dudevant is a better choice for coop bedding and to employ in your chicken run . It coat muck and dry them out , while helping absorb odors .
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Droppings stay on top of the moxie . There , they ’re well removed with a section of hardware cloth .
Replace or repair talebearing water boy . Remove feed spills and any feed that has gotten wet . Dead bird and low ball should be disposed of quickly and as far from the wimp house as possible.stockpexel/Shutterstock
Traps, Tapes & Screens
Electrocuter light lying in wait ( “ bug zapper ” ) are effective against fly . But they ’re dearly-won and kill good insect such as moth as well .
Old - style sticky tapes do a comely Book of Job in small coop and flytraps are good most anywhere . Make your own traps or buy commercial traps , and hang them according to the producer ’s passport . supervise them on an ongoing base and interchange as call for .
look at window concealment and screen door for minor chicken coop where the cost is n’t prohibitive .
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Read more : Check out these tips for controlling fly on your livestock this summer .
Fly Predators
tent flap predators are gnat - sized , nocturnal , stingerless WASP that lay their egg in fly pupa . A female white Anglo-Saxon Protestant searches manure for pupa . When she finds one , she bore a hole in the pupa case and lays several eggs indoors .
As the eggs develop , immature wasp feed on the fly larva as a food source , and then emerge from the pupa in a week or two . Each female fly predator kills about 100 pupa - encased fly larva in her lifetime .
Several species of tent flap predators are uncommitted commercially and identifiable by their Romance public figure in ads and brochures . The best for housefly control is Spalangia nigroaenea , which also helps control biting stable fly sheet .
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Companies trade fly ball predator provide road map to calculate the routine of WASP to expend . They do n’t regurgitate in sufficient Book of Numbers to control aggressive tent-fly populations . So during tent flap time of year , parasitical wasps must be replenished about once a month . Varavin88 / Shutterstock
Bugs on Birds
Even more difficult to deal with than flies are those nasty little parasites that live on chickens . Think : soupcon , worm and sticktight flea .
Does your poulet have them ? flip over her over and rumple through her feather to see .
fowl louse are tiny , two-dimensional - bodied , wingless , six - legged , straw - colored insects with broad , round heads . There are several species , and birdie can host more than one eccentric of louse at a fourth dimension . fowl louse are boniface specific .
They ca n’t infest you , farm animate being or the family dog . But the hemipteran can thrive on volaille and other Bronx cheer , including wild ones .
A distinctive louse spends its entire life on a single poulet . But lice can move to another master of ceremonies under crowded status .
Poultry worm do n’t suck stemma like the lice detect on other species . They feed on skin scales , plumage and scab . crepuscle and wintertime are prize sucking louse times — summertime , not so much .
chicken should be checked for biting louse at least twice a month . Spread each Gallus gallus ’s feathers in her vent , titty , thigh and under her wings . seem for egg clusters or adult at the base of her plumage .
Eggs , call in nits , are white and normally bump in bunches on lower feather shafts .
Two major types of jot infest chickens : the northerly fowl hint and the chicken soupcon ( also call red fowl mites ) . Scaly peg mite can be problematic , too . tinge are barely visible to the defenseless eye , if then . They are dark-brown or black or sometimes red after take a blood repast .
Mites are wingless and have eight legs .
reading of mite infestation include :
Mites are n’t as host particular as lice and may infest nonavian species .
Northern Fowl Mites ( Ornithonyssus sylviarum ) usually remain on a exclusive bird for lifetime , but they can survive off of a host for two or three workweek . They ’re most often a problem during the wintertime month and spread through chicken - to - chicken physical contact , though they can also spread between flock by contact with tempestuous birds or infest clothing and equipment . Protasov AN / Shutterstock
Look for this tinge during daytime hours . If you expend a smart flashlight , these bugs move around on chicken , make them easier to see .
The volaille mite ( Dermanyssus gallinae ) has a all-encompassing range of host including several species of wild birds and mammals , including humans . They are night feeders , so it ’s important to check for chicken mite after nightfall . After feeding , they veil in cracks and crevices or under clods of shite or manure , away from light sources , where they pair and lay egg .
As with the northern poultry hint , egg hatch in about two days . Larvae molt in one or two day without feeding . So without treatment , wimp touch population can skyrocket dramatically , induce serious anemia in badly affected flocks .
Young chickens are most susceptible to these nasty little microbe .
Scaly ramification tinge ( Knemidokoptes mutans ) are creditworthy for a status called scaly foot that cause lesion on a chicken ’s legs , with dermatitis and thickening of the cutis . This speck is microscopic , with an oval body and extremely myopic legs . It spends its entire life burrow in the featherless , scaly pelt of a shuttle ’s shank and foot .
old chickens are most commonly affect by these bugs .
The first indication of scaly leg mite infestation is a flaky or powdery look to the wench ’s leg , afterwards get along to lesions or scabs , to chunky or crusty masses , and last , distortion of the stem and crippling of the boo .
Unlike other mites , scaly leg mite are well treated . just smudge an oil - base preparation such as petroleum jelly to the entire move area once a day for at least two weeks . This will suffocate the plant mites . This also softens numb scurf that can then be softly scraped or itch aside .
Treating Lice & Mites
Pesticides for role on poultry are generally useable locally at feed - supply stores and from veterinarians . They ’re formulated for a specific pest . Something that make for for insect may not work for mite and vice versa .
You postulate to know exactly what you ’re treat . If you do n’t , consult university publication online or take a sample distribution to your vet . you could discourse treatment protocols with your county extension agent .
If you ’d prefer a more lifelike cure , inquiry at the University of California suggests diatomaceous worldly concern works well to control mites and lice on chickens . conflate it 1 part DE to 4 parts unconstipated sandpile sand in a plastic wading pool as a dust bathroom , where shuttle can work the DE into their feathers and onto their skin .
outwear a debris masquerade party . Food - grade DE is good for birds but can devil human lungs .
show more : Here are some peak for manage sticktight fleas in your flock .
Sticktight Fleas
Though their chief legion is fowl , sticktight flea flea ( Echidnophaga gallinacea ) , also make out as hen fleas , taint a encompassing range of hosts including mammals , even world . They ’re wingless louse with powerful hind leg that can propel them up to 23 metre their organic structure length .
They attend like but are roughly half the size of the common computed axial tomography flea .
Sticktight fleas earn their name by embedding their heads in their host ’s hide . Find these hemipteron clustered around the eyes of crybaby , or on their combs and wattle . Symptoms can be extreme , with plague around the heart lead to swelling and blindness , a decline in egg output , weight loss and death in youthful hoot .
intervention can be sly , as the fleas can be difficult to remove . Cotton ball can be used to cautiously use insecticide to areas around the side . This kills the fleas but does n’t remove them . They must be grasped firm with pincer or forceps and pulled out of the pelt .
A flea - overrun henhouse should be treated with insecticide . But not all insecticides kill Echidnophaga gallinacea fleas , so refer your vet for executable options .
There are lot of bugs that love to hemipteran Gallus gallus , so learn all you could about henhouse pestilence . gird with knowledge , you may keep your chickens parasite - free .
More Information
When using chemical insecticides , read and abide by the manufacturer ’s instructions for safe handling and personal tribute . practice appropriate clothing , goggles , gloves , respiratory protective covering and any other personal protective equipment indicated on the labeling .
To ascertain flies do n’t become resistant to the pesticides you apply , rotate Cartesian product at least once a yr . If you do n’t get laid which insecticides work best in your place , postulate your county extension agent for advice .
Granular fly lure are an in force supplement to spray but should be used with precaution , set well out of the grasp of wimp , wildlife and family pets .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2022 egress ofChickensmagazine .
