TRY THIS! Attracting Japanese Beetles to Pens of Chickens!

[centrarchid]

For giggles and a departure from another thread where Japanese Beetles are to be used as a feed stuff, I put out the pheromone pieces on two elevated pens and boy are we having fun! Major bio-attractor with potential of a joke to pull on friends and others.

Beetles coming to look like a small swarm of honey bees. Numbers high enough the chickens, most anyway, are backing away. A couple juvenile chickens are getting right in the middle of the mess. All are eating a couple have what appears to be crop fill in less than 5 minutes. Normally the chickens do not even approach feeders this time of day yet many are coming out into full sun to eat the beetles.

Second image shows beetles landing all over where I touched my self after handling pheromones. A good joke would be to touch someone hat or other clothing after you handle the pheromone containers then walk away. Beetles if about will then swarm where you touched!

 

[centrarchid]

Brief video of juveniles eating Japanese Beetles.

Behavior now markedly different after about 30 minutes. Most birds have distended crops and are simply standing among the buzzing beetles consuming them with minimal expenditure of effort.

 

[centrarchid]

Hitting a couple walls with this. First, temperature is creeping into the low 90's F and chickens are retreating from sun. The feeding activity of chickens is really backing off, but they are full as ticks. Now we have way more beetles than the chickens can process. Beetle abundance and feeding activity are not synchronized. Second, most of my chickens are either in the barn or under trees. The beetles are not going to bait in the shade. Traps on porch will have a few lbs by end of day so that will help there.

 

[centrarchid]

I also collected Japanese Beetles in mass and poured some into multiple pens of chickens. Reactions varied greatly. Birds with minimal experience foraging consumed actually appeared scared of the mass of beetles on the ground. Those with lots of experience free-ranging consumed the beetles in mass even when crops where nearly topped off.

 

[AlderCreekFarms]

Interesting experiment, where did the pheromones come from? Do you think if you use less it would draw fewer bugs? Like maybe just dinner or a snack size bug mask? Or is that even possible...

 

[centrarchid]

Juvenile chickens really consuming lots of beetles. Those hanging back in shade are very much full. Beetles are starting to denude some plants in the poultry yard.

 

[centrarchid]

Interesting experiment, where did the pheromones come from? Do you think if you use less it would draw fewer bugs? Like maybe just dinner or a snack size bug mask? Or is that even possible...

Greatlakesipm.com

Purpose I am using them for not intended by them.

 

[nminusyplusm]

That's my kind of entertainment, I could watch it for hours!

 

[AnimalGeek23]

Interesting!

 

[AlderCreekFarms]

Chickens being how they are I bet it was hilarious. And my post was supposed to say, "....snack" not mask