Japanese Beetles

[davidw1961]

I need to get rid of the japanese beetles on my roses without harming my chickens. Any suggestions?

 

[Blue Raptor]

I need to get rid of the japanese beetles on my roses without harming my chickens. Any suggestions?

Looked this up on the internet:
"Spraying your entire lawn with a soapy mixture of 2 tablespoons dish soap to 1 gallon of water will help force Japanese beetle larvae to the surface, which in turn will attract hungry birds (this should be done in fall and late spring, when Japanese beetles are in the larval stage of their life cycle)."
Also your chicken will eat the beetles, one of mine did today!

 

[Blue Raptor]

Looked this up on the internet:
"Spraying your entire lawn with a soapy mixture of 2 tablespoons dish soap to 1 gallon of water will help force Japanese beetle larvae to the surface, which in turn will attract hungry birds (this should be done in fall and late spring, when Japanese beetles are in the larval stage of their life cycle)."
Also your chicken will eat the beetles, one of mine did today!

Check out this thread too: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/japanese-beetles.1479637/

 

[CluckerFamily]

I make my morning and dusk route around the yard and push or shake the beetles into a bucket of soap water.
I don’t do this during the day because they will fly away but in the morning and at dusk they just fall into the bucket.

 

[RoyalChick]

Go out early in the morning with a bucket of water. You can sweep the beetles into the bucket very easily. A tiny dash of dish soap helps.
Give the bucket to the chickens and they will eat all the beetles.
Repeat daily.
After a couple of seasons you won’t have any Japanese beetles and the chickens will expect you to provide an alternative snack.
Worked for me.

 

[hennylover]

I need to get rid of the japanese beetles on my roses without harming my chickens. Any suggestions?

I have been giving my girls olive oil in water for quite some time, and I came up with a novel idea for killing Japanese beetles as well. I get a plastic container half olive oil half water and use a stick to knock the Japanese beetles off my plants, they fall directly into the olive oil and the girls follow me around like I am the pied Piper! They absolutely love the Japanese beetles, and they dig around for the larva! I feel like I am killing two birds with one stick haha hope this helps!

 

[davidw1961]

Yep, I started just grabbing them and hand feeding the beetles to the chickens

 

[TooCheep]

Yep, I started just grabbing them and hand feeding the beetles to the chickens

This is the best answer. One permaculture principle is "the problem is the solution".

I've been doing this for a few years now. Capturing Japanese Beetles into a container of water is easy (no oil or soap needed). Their primary defense is to fall off the plant and fly away, so you just put the container under them and you try to wipe them off the plant. Some will evade you and dive in themselves. Some fly off, but I catch 60-70% that way.

Once I've collected the beetles, I then put it down on the ground and the girls then go bobbing for beetles. Free food, high protein, quality time with the girls, pest control and not introducing new toxins into my local environment all in one procedure.