Bedbugs have become an evolving problem in poultry houses in Pennsylvania, the Midwest and some cage-free houses in the Northeast, explained Diamond V's Eric Gingerich, DVM, during the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention's virtual show on August 12.
"This is not a clinical problem with chickens but a problem of employees or crew members taking them to their dwellings," Gingerich said. He added that bedbugs are difficult and expensive to eliminate from a house once an infestation is established.
Employees may see small lesions on their skin and experience itching. Homemade traps for the bedbugs can be made using a square cardboard tube, Gingerich explained.
Employees should change on-farm clothing upon arrival to work. It would also be beneficial to keep a set of coveralls and footwear for in-house work at a Danish entry and employees should shower out of each building if possible.
Layer house and equipment treatment
Homemade traps can be made to help reduce the number of bugs within a layer house. In the cardboard square, one should insert a white heavy paper coated with mouse trap glue. Then add a small piece of dry ice to attract the bedbugs. The homemade trap should then be placed in the chicken house overnight close to where bedbugs might bide after a blood meal. Producers should check the paper in the morning for bedbugs stuck to the glue-covered paper.
To rid of the bugs and minimize their impact producers can "paint walls, slats, poles, etc. with a slurry of diatomaceous earth," he said.
Growers should use Insecticide or appropriately heat treat moving racks or kill carts used by other producers.
Each layer house on-site should be depopulated. It is imperative that all infected houses are identified and treated.
Gingerich explained that options for treatment include:
- Option 1 - Tenting houses and gassing the building. This method is very expensive.
- Option 2 - Sealing houses and heating it to kill the bugs.
Gingerich explained that growers should post houses as infested with bedbugs and warn all visitors of the danger of possibly carrying bedbugs home.
