HomeMy WebLinkAboutFarming '90, 1990-03-21, Page 31FARMING ‘90, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1990. B15.
Flies can't duck
fast enough for this
pest controller
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BY DR. FREEMAN McEWEN
DEAN, ONTARIO
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
Throw away that fly trap and go
get a Muscovy duck.
Researchers in the Department
of Environmental Biology have
shown that on the farm, tail-wagg
ing Moscovy ducks can put other
house fly controls to shame. Sanita
tion is still number one, but for
supplementary fly control. Mus
covy ducks appear to outperform
everything else.
After reading about a London,
Ontario-area farmer who was using
them in his dairy barn. Prof. Gord
Surgeoner and graduate student
Barry Glofcheskie conducted both
laboratory and field tests with the
ducks. Their research results sug
gest 10 ducks could control the flies
in a 50-cow dairy operation.
In one lab test, a five-week-old
duscovy duck was introduced into
an eight-cubic-foot cage containing
400 live flies.
Within one hour, the duck had
devoured 326 flies.
Another lab test involved four
ducks in separate eight-cubic-foot
cages containing 100 flies each. In
30 minutes, the ducks cleared the
cages of 90 per cent of the flies.
Other fly controlling devices such
as fly paper coils, fly paper,
commercial fly traps and bait cards
took 15 - 86 hours to do the same
job.
Field tests were conducted on a
commercial dairy operation near
Guelph. There, a pair of two-year-
old Muscovy ducks was placed in
calf pens where manure build-up
provides a nesting ground for flies.
A videotape of the ducks in
action revealed that they sought
out and snapped at flies about
twice a minute, enjoying a 70 per
cent kill ratio.
“They wag their tails every time
they get one.” observes Surgeon
er.
The researchers had thought
perhaps the ducks were reducing
the fly population by rooting
through the manure for maggots,
but the videotape proved other
wise. They would occasionally eat
spilled feed from the cows and
calves, but mostly their entire diet
was live flies and water.
Surgeoner partly attributes the
ducks’ success to their proximity to
the livestock. Other mechanical fly
catching devices must be placed
out of the reach of the animals, but
ducks can get close to the source.
Surgeoner says they actually pluck
flies off the hosts’ hides ... without
harming or alarming the animals.
This summer, the Muscovy duck
experiment will be duplicated with
dairy cows, as well as beef cattle
and pigs. Surgeoner thinks they
might also have an application at
hobby horse farms where flies
typically prevail.
Economically, the researchers
believe Muscovy ducks make more
sense than other fly control de
vices. Season-long fly removal by
mechanical means costs S171-S455,
they say, while Muscovy ducks cost
only around $2 each ... and can be
sold for a profit when mature.
This research is supported by the
Ontario Pesticides Advisory Com
mittee in conjunction with the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food.
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