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DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY
livestock insects
FLY CONTROL IN POULTRY HOUSES
Ralph E. Williams, Extension Entomologist
One of the largest management problems facing today's poultry producer is fly control. The shift from many small farm flocks to a few, large poultry operations has greatly increased fly problems by providing concentrated breeding areas in large volumes of waste. With today's concern about environmental conditions, fly control takes on added importance. Besides their ability to carry disease organisms, they also are considered environmental pollutants. Unfortunately, as urbanization and rural non-farm residence increases, poultry producers will be faced with growing pressure to reduce fly populations.
The house fly breeds in organic matter, such as decaying plant material, refuse, spilled grains and feed, and animal manure. As many as 1,000 house flies can complete development in one pound of breeding material. In poultry operations, (primarily caged layers), chicken manure is highly suitable for house fly breeding; especially where general sanitation is poor and when there is excessive moisture.
The house fly prefers sunlight. It is a very active fly which crawls over filth, people, and food. It is, therefore, the most important species spreading human and poultry diseases, and fly-specking eggs.
The little house fly is generally smaller than the houseFly, but the size difference is not enough to be a good distinguishing characteristic. The little house fly prefers a less moist medium in which to breed than the house fly. Poultry manure generally is pre-
ferred over other media. It prefers shade and cooler temperatures, and often is seen circling aimlessly beneath hanging objects in the poultry house, egg room, and feed room.
This fly is less likely than the house fly to crawl about on people and food. However, it is usually the one that causes people living near poultry operations to complain about a fly problem. Because of its preference for shade, it may collect in large numbers in nearby garages, breezeways, and homes. House flies and little house flies are capable of moving 10-15 miles from the site of their development, but normally they move less than a mile or so from this locality.
Soldier flies are large, blackish flies (about twice the size of house flies), commonly found around poultry manure. They are not pests in that they use the manure only as a breeding medium and do not bother anything else. They even may be considered beneficial because their larvae appear to render manure unsuitable for production of house fly larvae.
Blow flies (green or blue bottle flies) may "occur in poultry houses. They breed in decaying animal carcasses, dead birds, dog manure, broken eggs, and wet garbage. Any reasonable sanitation program is usually sufficient to hold them in check.
Other flies such as Ophyra spp. and fruit flies (Drosophila sp.) sometimes are produced in large numbers when there is a mixture of manure, wasted feed, and water. Nearby homes may become targets of these flies which results in com-
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47907