Pest Control Information
Insects are another good reason to maintain proper aviary or loft hygiene. It is important to keep the insects that are attracted to your aviary or cages under control at all times. Ants for example will actually enter your cages to gain access to your birds water and even more so your baby birds. They will kill your baby birds for food if given the opportunity. There are a host of other insect which will enter your loft trying to get to the seed, water, birds and some of the other products which are available to your birds.
Almost all bird seed has flower moth eggs and other insect eggs already mixed in the seed when it is harvested from the fields where it is grown. During the warmer summer months these eggs will hatch into larva, eat the bird seed and eventually turn into beetles, moths, etc…. To help eliminate this problem we add a small amount of food grade ingestible diatomaceous earth into our seed mixes which will kill any hatching insect larva and also helps to irradiate any crawling insects.
The ingestible diatomaceous earth will also help to kill any internal worms your birds might get from ingesting the seeds they eat daily that the Ivomec does not kill.
Should you already have a flower moth problem from seed previously purchased elsewhere, we offer both the ingestible diatomaceous earth and the flower moth sex lure traps on our shopping pages.
These traps work by attracting the female moth with a sex lure pheromone, the moths then get stuck to the sticky part of the trap and die. Remove all the female moths and the problem will eventually get under control. They can be very stubborn once an area is infected and it can take a whole season or more to irradiate them all. If you use these traps and keep the diatomaceous earth in your seed and loft area you will eventually get rid of the flower moths.
The ingestible diatomaceous earth is also a safe powered insect killer to be used inside and around the aviary which is great for crawling insect control like ants, crickets, beetles, weevils, earwigs, millipedes, pill bugs, larva, worms and any other crawling insects which might be after your baby birds or seed and this product is perfectly safe for your birds. It will only work in dry conditions though. Once it gets wet it looses its insect killing properties. Because of this it is sometimes necessary to use something stronger “outside” the loft as an added barrier for the more stubborn insects.
Lice and mites may also pose a problem to your Gouldians, more so with outdoor aviaries. If you notice your birds constantly looking down at their feet or rapidly shaking their feet smacking them on the perch they’re on, they probably have red mites or scale mites.
If you use the Ivomec once annually and the other products mentioned, poultry dust in the nests, diatomaceous earth, etc, you should not have any problems with lice or mites but if you do, you should spray your birds and any exposed wood in your cage, aviary or loft with Permectrin II.
Mix the Permectrin II per the suggested rate on the container in a pump tank sprayer for a more precise, controlled application. Be sure to spray all the exposed perches, shelves, nooks and crannies where the birds roost.
You may also spray Permectrin II directly on your birds to control lice and mites according to the directions on the label. You should be careful spraying around any nesting boxes, especially if they have young babies in them.
Permectrin II spray insect control around the outside of your loft or aviary. It will take care of any crawling or flying insects. Mix it according to the directions for the best results and residual. The smell of the insecticide will dissipate in a few days.
Be sure not to get any of the insecticide spray in your birds water, seed or food supplements they may eat or drink inside the aviary. Permectrin II is poisonous and could kill your birds if they were to ingest too much over a period of time.
Permectrin II is available on our shopping pages and is our recommended insecticide for spraying your birds, cages, aviaries, perches, wooden areas, inside or out.
This product is not for indoor use.
CLICK HERE: Permectrin II FOR ADDITIONAL PRODUCT INFORMATION