Poultry for Pest Management

2. Poultry for Pest Management Debbie Roos North Carolina Cooperative Extension Chatham County Center

3. Benefits of Integrating Crops and Livestock • Nutrient cycling and conservation • Utilization of crop residues • Economic diversification • Reduced need for off-farm imports • Weed management • Insect management

4. Poultry as Biological Control Agents • Not as common as the use of arthropods and microbes for pest management • Lack of research • Large investment in labor and land • Requires skill and experience

5. Poultry as Biological Control Agents • Most of the focus has been on geese for weed management • The use of poultry for insect pest management is poorly documented • Turkeys used in colonial times for insect control in tobacco

6. Poultry Food Preferences • Chickens – omnivores • Turkeys - omnivores • Ducks - omnivores • Geese – herbivores

7. Are Chickens Effective Biological Control Agents? • Studies in Michigan looked at apples intercropped with potatoes • 4 pests were studies: plum curculio, apple maggot, Japanese beetle, and Colorado potato beetle • Plots were ~3,000 ft2 stocked with 10-19 Barred Plymouth Rocks (density varied due to predation) • Chickens were allowed to free-range during the day and closed in coops at night; they were provided with feed twice a day

8. Pastured Chicken Diet Analysis: Insects(these invertebrates represent a small portion of insects consumed) • Japanese beetles • Tarnished plant bugs • Flea beetles • Colorado potato beetle • Leaf beetles • Wireworms, click beetles • Caterpillars • Leafhoppers • Cicadas • Slugs • Ants • Flies

9. Pastured Chicken Diet Analysis: Insects(these invertebrates represent a small portion of insects consumed) • Ground beetles • Hover flies • Soldier beetles • Rove beetles • Assassin bugs • Spiders • Parasitic wasps • Earthworms • Earwigs

10. Are Chickens Effective Biological Control Agents? • Some insect pests were reduced in the chicken plots, especially Japanese beetles • However, chickens provided no clear crop protection benefits in either year – no differences in pest damage or crop yield • Perhaps higher stocking rates would translate into reduced pest damage

11. Poultry Foraging Behavior • Missouri study examined Cornish Cross broilers in pastured day-range system • The amount of sun and the time of day had the most impact on foraging activity • Broilers spent more time outside foraging during the early morning (45% of birds) and late afternoon (29%), compared to 24% around noon. • The mean number of birds foraging during overcast conditions (20.1) was higher than during full sun (13.6). • To maximize foraging, provide shade and remove feeders in the morning when birds are most likely to forage

12. Joel Salatin’s Observations • Chickens are great pasture sanitizers –they love cleaning up fly larvae from cow paddies! • He lets chickens range in the garden to “cream” the area – and removes them after 1-2 days before they run out of insects and start going after the crops

13. Chickens and Fire Ants? Anecdotal evidence: • Farmer has had success with using Rhode Island Reds to clean up fire ant mounds

14. The Best Foragers(source: ALBC) • Dominique – eggs, meat • Holland – eggs, meat • Java - meat • Dorking – eggs, meat • Blue Andalusian - eggs • Minorca - eggs • Campine - eggs • La Fleche – eggs, meat • Welsumer – eggs, meat

15. So, will chickens help control my insect pests? • Yes! But this may or may not translate into reduced pest damage; need more research on stocking rates • Turkeys are generally considered better foragers than chickens, but no research on their effectiveness as biological control agents • Adopt strategies to maximize foraging behavior (breed selection, shade, etc.)