Integrated management of Alphitobius diaperinus in poultry production
Technical note on integrated management of Alphitobius diaperinus in poultry production, with a focus on diagnosis, prevention and criteria applicable to professional pest management.
Living beings are entities that require three minimum requirements to be able to establish and develop in an environment: food, water and shelter. Under this premise, within a poultry production that provides these conditions, the development of unwanted living beings, different from farmed birds and humans, can arise, which can be detrimental to production. These beings are called pests, the most common in poultry farming being flies, Musca domestica, the bed beetle, Alphitobius diaperinus, rodents, Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus, and wild birds of various species.
The Alphitobius diaperinus or bed beetle
It is one of the most widely distributed pests in poultry production. It causes enormous losses in farms and grain warehouses around the world. The Alphitobius It is a beetle belonging to the Tenebrionidae family that has four well-differentiated stages of development.
The eggs measure around 1.5 millimeters, hatching between 3 and 13 days depending on environmental conditions. These are generally found under or around feed hoppers and drinking equipment.
The larvae have 5 to 7 stages that last between 3 to 9 months. Its behavior is nocturnal, lucifugal and omnivorous, and represents the phase that causes the greatest damage due to its ability to bite, damaging the impermeability of the facilities, making galleries in posts and walls, in addition to generating stress in the birds during the night.
The pupae are found buried in the ground, sheltered in galleries inside the roof or posts. This state lasts from 4 to 17 days and can be prolonged if conditions are adverse.
Adults are nocturnal, lucifuge and gregarious. They are attracted to ammonia and have the ability to fly, although they do so only to migrate within a radius of 0.5 to 1 kilometer. Females have the capacity to lay up to 2,000 eggs during their lifespan, which can range from 2 months to 1 year.
The importance of carrying out adequate control is mainly based on avoiding the possible negative consequences they cause, depending on the level of infestation and the type of infrastructure. Their presence generates an increase in health risk because they are vectors and reservoirs of various diseases of poultry importance and, as a consequence, considerably increase mortality, affecting production parameters.
They also cause stress in the bird, reduce the feed conversion rate, generate disuniformity in the flock, complicate breeding management and can reduce the quality of the final product because this pest can bite and pierce the skin of the birds. In addition, they cause deterioration of the infrastructure, increasing maintenance expenses.
It is for this reason that the need arises to establish various control methods that complement each other and allow their application in a sustainable manner over time, that are efficient and economical as a whole. This strategy is called integrated management of Alphitobius.
The integrated management of this pest must be based on a good diagnosis of the knowledge of the characteristics of the pest, its behavior, its biological cycle, its dietary preferences, as well as the characteristics of the place and the management activities that can predispose and favor its occurrence, such as dirt floor with sandy soil, uneven floor, shed model with a greater number of posts that can represent shelter, presence of walls around the shed, low luminosity, inadequate management of the litter that promotes increased humidity and ammonia concentration, poor distribution of bedding material, water leaks and food spills due to poor location of equipment.
Once the specific risk analysis has been carried out for each establishment, the integrated management strategies for this pest must be implemented, differentiating two stages: the first preventive, during breeding, and the second corrective, during the sanitary vacuum.
During breeding, the preventive control plan must be based on good management practices in order to provide the best breeding conditions for the birds and indirectly discourage the multiplication of the insect. This means keeping the bed level, loose and free of scabs or scabs; properly manage the barn environment day and night, providing adequate ventilation to keep ammonia levels low.
The height of the drinkers should also be verified, as well as their good condition, avoiding the existence of leaks or drips that deteriorate the state of the bedding material and cause excess humidity. Avoid falling food during distribution, ensuring that the feeders are at a correct level above the ground. Finally, that food spills and mortality are collected and disposed of in a timely manner.
In the sanitary vacuum stage, all efforts must be aimed at reducing the presence of the insect to the minimum possible, starting by deciding the opportune moment and number of applications of the chosen insecticide. These applications may be carried out immediately after the sale of the animals, during composting in the case of reuse of bedding or prior to receiving the new bedding.
Regarding the product to choose, currently on the market there are liquid and powder insecticides of varying efficiency, from various chemical groups such as organophosphates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, IGR and commercial mixtures, whose effect for each stage may be more specific and residual than another and whose objective and effectiveness will be related to two fundamental factors: the application methodology and the application equipment.
Regarding the methodology, it must be considered that prior to the application, a total sweep of the property must be done in order to reduce the places of refuge, keeping in mind that the applications may cause the death of the most active and exposed larval and adult stages that come into direct contact with them. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the treatments are directed to key areas such as posts, under hoppers, walls and on roofs, achieving adequate penetration to their refuge areas.
On the other hand, a residual product can also be chosen that remains active long enough in the key places until the eggs and pupae, which are less active and hidden, come into contact with it during the arrival of the new batch of birds. It should be considered that the selected product has a reasonable amount of time to take effect before applying another chemical product, such as detergents or disinfectants, which could have adverse reactions that reduce the life time of the insecticidal molecule.
However, even having the best product, the appropriate methodology duly established and having competent personnel, success would not be achieved without having the application and personal protective equipment in optimal conditions. With the first point we ensure that we have the desired application speed, drop quality or powder dispersion, and with the second point we ensure that the operating personnel carry out the activity with the confidence that their integrity is guaranteed.
It is important to keep in mind that we cannot speak of 100 percent control, but it is possible to maintain the incidence of the pest at a subeconomic level considering the guidelines already described, having an established program and taking additional technical measures if necessary, working in order, cleanliness, work culture, promoting awareness and training staff and/or clients.