Who eats the Colorado potato beetle from birds: wild and domestic

All gardeners who grow potatoes in their gardens and household plots every year face their most hated enemy – the Colorado potato beetle. Chemical control measures aimed at the destruction of this pest do not always give a result. However, domestic and wild birds eat this insect, which can be used for their own purposes. From this article you will find out which bird eats the Colorado potato beetle.

Which bird can help

The natural enemies of the Colorado potato beetle are many insects that are found on the territory of our country. Such insects include, for example, lacewing. But the use of insects to combat this pest is impractical, since the harm from them will still be greater, and it will not work to breed them.

But in addition to insects, several species of birds live on the territory of the CIS countries, which in this situation can act as assistants in the fight against the Colorado potato beetle. Which bird eats it? The list of such birds that live in our country includes:

• guinea fowl;
• phase;
• turkeys;
• ordinary chickens;
• partridges.

All of the above birds are domestic and therefore can be used to destroy the Colorado potato beetle in vegetable gardens. In this situation, breeding guinea fowl is considered the most effective. Guinea fowl – a poultry related to chickens, has tasty meat and is absolutely unpretentious in breeding. This “destroyer” of the Colorado wide insect is grown in our country for the following reasons:

1. dietary meat;
2. guinea fowls lay hypoallergenic eggs. Therefore, they are great for feeding young children;
3. good tolerance to any weather conditions, for which our country is so diverse, including even the winter period;
4. resistance of birds to many diseases. Unlike ordinary chickens, guinea fowl get sick much less often. The most common are diseases caused by spoiled and moldy feed;
5. can eat many harmful insects, including the Colorado potato beetle.

Another advantage of these birds, along with turkeys, is that they do not rake the soil in search of food. Such a bird eats beetles and their larvae from the leaves. Thanks to this, you should not worry about planting cultivated plants.

For these reasons, the use of guinea fowl to combat pests is considered the most optimal. Keeping them outdoors will allow you to significantly reduce the population of harmful insects in the garden. Guinea fowls recognize pests by their specific striped coloration, which stands out against the background of green tops. For them, the larvae are a real delicacy that fully satisfies their nutritional needs. Indeed, in fact, all insects contain proteins and pure protein in their composition.

Walking guinea fowl or other poultry to destroy the pest population should be done at the beginning of the larval development period (first half of summer). Partridge and pheasant also eat the larvae of this pest. They, like guinea fowl, will also perfectly cope with the task. With their use, an effective fight against a number of harmful insects is possible. At the same time, gray partridges are more preferable, since they can be grown in any weather conditions. By the way, therefore, they are widespread in the wild.

Turkeys, after guinea fowls, partridges and pheasants, are ranked fourth in the “ranking” of beetle exterminators. But the disadvantages of their breeding include the fact that they are prone to various diseases and have a difficult disposition. Turkeys are prone to depression, which is manifested in the refusal of feed.

All of the above poultry perfectly withstands temperature fluctuations in a fairly wide range – from +30 to -30 degrees.

The use of birds makes it possible to effectively reduce the population of beetles and their reproduction in the future, and besides this, also obtain food products such as meat and eggs.

In addition to the above domestic species, wild birds can also reduce the population of these pests to a certain extent. These include:

• starlings;
• crows;
• sparrows;
• grouse;
• cuckoos, etc.

As you can see, there are fairly simple methods to control and contain the population of the Colorado potato beetle.

How to train chickens to eat bugs

Domestic chicken and other types of domesticated birds can act as insect exterminators when they are accustomed to this, since they still rarely guess to peck the larvae themselves. The bird eats them purposefully only after a certain preparation.

It is necessary to start accustoming future exterminators to eating bugs at the age of three to four months. Although some experts recommend that it is for domestic chickens to start training from the age of three weeks.

At this age, it is necessary to add crushed larvae to the food in order to evoke a visual association in the wards. In the future, they themselves will move around the garden, pecking parasites from the leaves.

Also, chopped potato tops and a little grated potato can be mixed into food. This will teach the chickens to smell the potatoes. A week after the start of the training process, their dose in the feed can be increased. At the age of three months, your wards can already gradually begin to be released into potato plantings.

As you can see, it is quite easy to train birds to eat the Colorado potato beetle. And there will be a lot of benefits from this.

Video “Colorado potato beetle”

On the video you will find information about potato pests and how to deal with them.