Insecticides should be considered supplemental to sanitation and management measures must be directed to prevent fly breeding. Accurate records should be kept on insecticides and dosage rates used.
Fly resistance to insecticides has developed at differing levels in various poultry house locations, depending somewhat on prior exposure. The use of a variety of different classes or families of insecticides can minimize the development of resistance. Rotate the use of organophosphate, carbamate, pyrethroid, and other classes of insecticides when necessary.
Residual sprays usually are the most effective and economical method for controlling potentially heavy populations of adult flies of any species present. These sprays should be applied in the spring at the beginning of fly season. Application after manure removal will reduce fly buildup that usually follows the house clean-out. A second application should be made five to six weeks later. (Two sprays are required.) Apply to surfaces on which flies locate, such as poultry house framework, the ceiling, walls, trusses, wires supporting cages, electric light cords and other areas marked by fly specking. Also, treat outside the poultry house around openings and on shrubs and other plants where flies rest.
Apply coarse, low-pressure sprays to the point of runoff at pressures of 80 to 100 pounds per square inch, using a power sprayer or good proportioner-type sprayer. Depending on the insecticide used and the type of surface sprayed, treated areas may remain toxic 2 to 15 weeks.
Avoid contamination of feed, water and eggs. Cover drinking and feed troughs during spraying. Do not spray birds.
Any of these residual sprays are recommended:
It is often not practical to treat large poultry houses with residual sprays. Portable, lightweight, mechanical fogging machines are convenient, efficient and labor-saving in caged bird operations to quickly reduce adult fly populations, providing quick fly knockdown with poor residual action. Gasoline powered side pack Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) aerosol generator spraying, utilizing micron particle size spray droplets, is a very effective contact application with little or no residual effect. Space applications should fill the room with fog or mist.
For indoor space application to kill flies, close windows, doors and shut off all ventilating equipment. Natural pyrethrins, used inside for adult fly control through a ULV machine, are easy to use at 1% pyrethrins + 5% piperonyl butoxide. The ratio of 1:5 pyrethrin to P.b. is the most effective on fly control. When using this equipment, adjusted to deliver aerosol droplets (30 microns or less), apply one oz. of Pyrethrins 1% per 1,000 cubic feet of space. Direct spray toward upper areas of room. Leave room closed for at least one hour. Do not remain in treated areas and ventilate before re-entry. Repeat application as required.
For outdoor ground application to kill flies in open areas near buildings, use preferably when the temperature is cool (75ÁF or less) and the wind velocity is approximately five MPH or less. Apply at the rate of four ounces per acre in fifty foot swaths. Allow spray drift to penetrate dense foliage. Repeat application as required.
For additional information contact: The Lowndes Engineering Co, 125 Blanchard Street, Valdosta, Georgia 31601 and the Clarke Mosquito Control Products, Inc., 159 N. Garden Avenue, Roselle, Illinois 60172 (1-800-323-5727) have hand-held, backpack, 2-wheel and 4-wheel ULV sprayers for adult fly control inside the poultry house, as well as outside the building. Also, a Hudson Model 98600 Porta-Pack ULV sprayer is quite effective. Brand names are listed for educational purposes only and must not be considered as an endorsement. There are several other brands of machines on the market, producing various particle size sprays. Other treatments include using one pint of dichlorvos (Vapona) 1% oil base (Ready-to-use) per 8,000 cubic feet or permethrin (Ectiban) 5.7% undiluted at the rate of four fluid ounces per 1,000 square feet or one pint (16 ounces) permethrin (Permectrin II) 10% EC per 8,000 cubic feet. Rinse spray equipment after application. Fly kill is good. Never retreat more than once in two weeks. Follow label directions and safety precautions.
Treatments are especially useful in closed egg rooms or other work areas where there is little or no air movement. Use pyrethrum oil-base space sprays (0.06% to 0.1% pyrethrins) plus piperonyl butoxide as a mist or fog in the air throughout the poultry house at the rate of 1/2 fluid ounce per 1,000 cubic feet on an "as needed" basis for best fly control.
Baits are a supplement to residual and aerosol sprays. Place baits outside of cages upstairs in the high-rise house. They can be effectively applied on clean walkways by using a simple push-type Scott's fertilizer spreader. (Baits falling into the pit may destroy beneficial parasites.) These selective adulticides suppress low fly populations, maintaining them at a low level. Never apply baits where they could accidentally be eaten by the birds or mixed into the feed. Dry sugar baits of methomyl (Apache, Fatal Attraction, Improved Golden Malrin) are effective. (To reduce potential resistance, rotate the baits. Methomyl is a carbamate insecticide whereas other baits, wet or dry, using dichlorvos (Vapona), trichlorfon (Dipterex) and tetrachlorvinphos, (Rabon), mixed with sugar are organophosphate insecticides. Apply when mixed as soon as possible and do not store for later use.
Ready-to-use dichlorvos (Vapona) 20% resin strips can be used at the rate of one strip per 1,000 cubic feet of enclosed area. Strips will need to be replaced as they lose their effectiveness, which is about every three months.
Methomyl (Golden Malrin) fly belts can be attached to surfaces out of reach of food-producing animals. The belt may be cut to any desired length and attached to surfaces such as walls and ceilings. Follow label directions.
Both resin strips and fly belts may become dusty and dirty when in use for long periods of time.
Insecticides applied directly to the manure surface to kill maggots are not recommended since beneficial arthropods associated with the manure can be killed. Adding moisture to the manure may result in additional fly breeding. Even spot treatments in small areas have a minimal effect in reducing overall house fly populations. Effort should be made to keep all the manure dry.
An insect growth regulator known as cyromazine (Larvadex), when blended into a poultry feed ration, will control manure breeding flies in and around caged or slatted flooring layer chicken operations and breeder chicken operations. Do not feed to broiler poultry. Larvadex 1% Premix, produced by Ciba-Geigy Corporation, kills fly larvae before reaching adulthood and does not adversely affect natural predators and parasites. The 1% Larvadex Premix is blended into the feed at the rate of one pound Premix per ton of feed. Larvadex will provide a high degree of fly control and a feeding program must be followed to prevent potential fly resistance. Resistant flies have developed in large poultry operations where label directions have not been followed. Never feed continuously throughout the year.
First, monitor adult flies in and near the poultry house. When the population reaches a level to cause concern, spray or fog with an adulticide such as Rabon or Ravap to reduce the breeding potential. Spray adults for as long as possible. Then check the manure first at "hot spots" in the pits for maggot activity. If maggots are active, start Larvadex in the ration. Feeding could begin March 15 or April 15, depending on maggot activity. Feed Larvadex continuously as directed for four to six weeks (minimum of four weeks) and, if little or no maggot activity is observed in the manure, discontinue Larvadex feeding. This is usually enough time to break the fly population life cycle. Continue monitoring manure pits and, if maggots become active again, repeat the procedure. Use baits, sprays or fogs as needed during and between Larvadex feeding periods to control flies. Do not spray manure pits.
During winter months or during periods of low fly pressure (October, November, December and January) or (November, December, January and February) discontinue Larvadex use for at least four consecutive months per year.
Larvadex use in poultry is limited to use as a feed-through in chickens only and may not be fed to any other poultry species.
To avoid illegal residues, Larvadex treated feed must be removed from layers at least three days (72 hours) before slaughter.
Manure from animals fed Larvadex may be used as a soil fertilizer supplement. Do not apply more than three tons of manure per acre per year. Do not apply to small grain crops that will be harvested or grazed, or illegal residues may result.
Larvadex 2SL is a soluble concentrate, which when diluted with water according to the Directions for Use , will act as a larvicide to control fly species which develop in poultry manure and refuse. Larvadex controls fly infestations by breaking the life cycle at the maggot stage.
Larvidex is labeled for fly control in and around chicken layer and breeder operations only.
Do not apply this product in such a manner as to directly or through spray drift expose workers or other persons, except those knowingly involved in the application.
For Housefly, Lesser Housefly and Soldier Fly Control in Poultry Operations Including Layer and Breeder Chickens
Fly control in poultry operations should include appropriate sanitary and management practices to reduce the number and size of fly breeding sites. A successful sanitary and management program may allow less than constant use of insecticides. This, in turn, should prolong the effective life of such control agents.