Exterminating effect of wood vinegar to red mites and its safety to chickens

Abstract

Effects of wood vinegar (WV) on red mites, safety test for chicks, and egg production performance were examined. In the counting of red mite numbers at cage knots using RGB color range of red mites by the image analyzer, the red mite were decreased after spraying (P<0.01). In a WV safety test for 8-day-old chicks, one ml of water, original WV, or WV diluted 500 and 1,000 times were tube-fed twice daily for 6 days. The rate of body weight gain was decreased in original WV group than that in the control (P<0.05), but it was not different in both WV dilution groups compared with that in the water-only group. In spraying one ml WV to the hen's face twice per day for 8 days, the egg production performances of WV group did not changed so much compared with those of the control and initial day. These results suggest that the WV did not reduced production performance. From these results, WV could exterminate red mites, and did not reduce egg production, suggesting that WV is a useful natural substance to exterminate red mites without harmful effect. © 2014, Japan Poultry Science Association.