Japanese beetles.

[bucky52]

I have never seen this many in all my years of gardening.They are devouring everything.the grape vines and trees we have planted to provided shade for the chicken runs.they have ate all the leaves from them.I can't use any spray.Because of my chickens.We have been battling them for weeks.My husband has been hanging the Japanese beattle traps.and catches two huge bags every Day.we were told by a friend not to hand the bags In the yard.that it will attract them from all over.I read that you can use cedar oil for spraying.But I also read that cedar is harmful for chickens.

 

[lazy gardener]

Cedar is harmful to chickens, but... it would be ok to spray the Jap beetles and the plants that are attracting them, as long as the cedar oil does not burn your plants. I hope you're giving those beetles to your chickens. I dump mine into a bowl of water. the girls go nuts bobbing for beetles.

 

[bucky52]

I never seen them eat them.until the other day.when my husband was hand picking them and some fell to the ground.To be honest.I was not sure that they were good for them.The amount he is catching everyday.I would be afraid to feed them.He is catching two big bags a day. I have a big run. And the run floor is black with beetle poo.It is disgusting.you can feel the beetle poo raining down on you when you brush a tree or grape vine.I told my husband maybe he should remove the beetle traps. I feel as if we may be pulling them from all the neighbors yard.I am concerned about respiratory issues.in my flock.

 

[DmCrawlz]

I have always had a 50 gallon trash can connected to the overflow of my rain barrel to hold goldfish...for no other reason than I like goldfish. The other day, I decided to move my bug zapper over the rain barrel so the fish could eat the bugs. Every once in awhile, I hit the zapper and all the dead bugs fall into the barrel and the fish gobble them up. The greatest thing about this, that was completely unintended, is that the light attracts beetles and the fall into the rain barrel and cant get out. Every morning, my 3 year old wakes up and is so excited to go see how many beetles we caught. We net them up and give them to the chickens. I've noticed on rainy nights we don't get as many, but I usually get anywhere from 50-200 beetles every morning! Since the last picture was taken, I moved the zapper directly over the water, definitely increased production!

 

[Life is Good!]

If you put the traps out, you WILL have more beetles. We learned the 'hard' way to let our unsuspecting neighbors get the traps - and now we barely have any beetles on our bushes. They do go in cycles though, just like all of nature.

They are wired to fall if touched by something (like a predator), and then re-climb up into the desired food source. We take a 5gal bucket, put about 2" water in the bottom, then put the bucket under the section of bush we're trying to clear. Start knocking them off into the bucket, branch by branch. If you start at the higher branches and work towards the ground it works more efficiently (gravity). Move bucket operation to other side of bush. Continue until either you're disgusted or are out of bugs....usually the first happens!

Our hens have learned to eat the bugs - but they much prefer the grubs! So do the skunks. So if you've got skunks in your yard, you've got a grub problem. We just let the hens free-range a few days about the 4th of July, and they get a lot of the creepies out of the ground before they can turn into beetles.

But get rid of the traps. They're just attracting the bugs from about a 3 mile radius to your yard. Seriously. Let someone else do that in the neighborhood. For once fertilized, the female beetle falls to the ground where she lays the eggs underneath the bush they were on. And congratulations! Now, you've got a larger problem on your hands for next year (takes a year for the beetles to mature and they eat the roots of the grass as they pupate.) So throw away the traps, they are creating more problems for you than you know....

 

[DmCrawlz]

I'll volunteer to be the neighbor who attracts them! Great chicken treats. I've never noticed them previously, so hopefully they don't end up being too much of a nuisance. I have been raising meal worms for a year now and debated stopping because it is so much easier to catch the beetles. I'm in Florida, hopefully they aren't seasonal here...I'd hate to lose them. I'm probably the only one on this site who is looking for a way to get more...

 

[shortgrass]

Ew! Get some milky spore, or the grubs are going to eat you out of lawn and garden next spring! My DH doesn't let a year go by without 2 applications, spring and late summer... It's a microbe, not a poison, targeted SPECIFICALLY at Japanese beetles....
http://www.ecolandscaping.org/05/pe...-milky-spore-disease-or-beneficial-nematodes/

Absolutely safe for chickens, you, the cat, worms, bees...death to the beetles

 

[DmCrawlz]

After reading about Japanese Beetles, I'm not sure that's what I'm catching. Mine are solid black. Rice Beetles?

 

[lazy gardener]

LIG, while I agree with your logic re: Jap beetles being attracted and the problem becoming worse if you put out a trap, I continue to trap them. I love having skunks visit my yard and don't mind the little divots they turn up. IMO, letting chickens range, trapping beetles and feeding them to the chickens,turning the chickens loose in the garden after beetles have laid have all worked to reduce J beetle population over time. While folks are saying this is the worst JB season they've seen, my population is lighter than in past years. Besides, all those beetles that get trapped never get to lay eggs! My lawn has never been plagued by them enough to cause damage to the grass. Having a mixed species lawn instead of one that is weed free helps in that regard, I'm sure!

 

[Life is Good!]

LIG, While folks are saying this is the worst JB season they've seen, my population is lighter than in past years.

My lawn has never been plagued by them enough to cause damage to the grass. Having a mixed species lawn instead of one that is weed free helps in that regard, I'm sure!

This isn't a bad year in IL either....at least not from what I've seen on our dogwoods, buttonbushes and serviceberry bushes. Now, four years ago...that was a bad year.

We're on too big a field to try and do much other than mow it 3x/wk...so we do notice brown patches (that's where the clover grows next season!). And the skunks are very, very busy. Our poor dog has gotten skunked 2x this spring and summer already. It's rather nasty, as the dog doesn't realize that the skunk isn't his cat (he chases the cat and tries to bite the tail). So both times, the spray went down his throat! His breath smelled like skunk for 3wks or more each time....and he was 'burping' up skunk for at least a week. Poor guy had the funniest look on his face. LOL! Nasty breath....man, I'll take regular ol' dog breath any time over dog/skunk breath!

But we've found if we DON'T put out the traps, the load of bugs is lighter. Although it was always so satisfying to see how many were dead in the traps.....guess I'm just a little vicious about the nasty things....even if the hens think they're the best treat EVER. Ewww....