Poultry Pest Management

Bulletin 853

Cultural Control

Manure management is the most effective means for fly control. As many as 1,000 house flies can complete development in one pound of breeding material. Fresh poultry manure contains 75 percent to 80 percent moisture. Fly breeding in this material can be practically eliminated by reducing the moisture content to 30 percent or less or by the addition of moisture to liquefy it. Drying manure is preferred because it occupies less space and usually has less odor.

Dry Manure Management

Frequent removal of manure (at least weekly or more often) prevents fly breeding because it breaks the fly breeding life cycle. It is important to scatter the manure lightly outdoors to kill the eggs and larvae by drying. Avoid piling or clumps of manure. Adequate agricultural land is needed to spread manure.

Manure drying time can be speeded up by providing 2 inch x 3 inch slats spaced at three inch intervals running lengthwise about 15 inches under each cage. This additional exposed surface causes droppings to dry more quickly and to accumulate in cones in narrow rows.

In-house storage of manure requires drying the manure to a 30 percent moisture level and maintaining this level where sufficient storage space is available. Dry manure can be held for several years. Any practice that limits moisture in the droppings or aids in rapid drying is important for fly control.

Water Management

• Prevent leaks in water troughs or cups. Regulating water flow to an on/off cycle may help eliminate the moisture problem. Use drip pans under water troughs, if necessary.

• Provide abundant cross ventilation beneath the cages, especially during hot weather. Thirty-six inch pit fans across the manure is good. A curtain above the manure every 100 feet, to keep air velocity over the manure, helps. Adequate house ventilation is important at all times.

• Should the water table be high, or if there is a danger of water running into the house from the outside, adjust the floor-grade relationship so that the house floor is higher than the outside surrounding ground. Have the surface water run away from the building. Drain and fill all low areas around the houses.

• Prevent dysentery by keeping waterers clean. Use recommended antibiotics should dysentery develop.

• Avoid laxative feed rations.

• Avoid excessively high house temperatures that encourage abnormal water intake.

• Practice good husbandry by restricting excess water consumption.

• There are new housing systems designed to dry manure in the pits.

Sanitation

Sanitation is the most important aid in successful fly control. Often, certain conditions in and around the poultry operation will encourage fly outbreaks. They must be eliminated. Sanitation actions to follow:

• Quick removal and disposal of dead birds and broken eggs. Dispose of far away from the poultry premises by burning in an incinerator, deep-ground burial or through commercial garbage collectors on at least a weekly basis during the damp, hot, summer months.

• Cleaning up and disposing of feed spills and manure spills, especially if wet.

• Reduce feed spills.

• Most egg collections today are by conveyor belts at a central location to reduce chance of broken eggs.

• Clean out weed-choked water drainage ditches.

• Install proper eave troughs and downspouts on poultry houses to carry rain water far away from the buildings. Provide proper drainage in poultry yards.

• Minimize sources from other fly-infested animal operations in close proximity to the poultry house.