California Caged Layer Pest Management Evaluation

The Food Quality Protection Act and other regulatory initiatives have pointed up the dearth of information available on current pest management practices employed in animal agriculture. In an effort to address this lack, the California Pest Management Alliance for the Egg Industry (composed of egg producers, allied industries, regulatory agencies, and California Cooperative Extension) developed an assessment plan to survey producers regarding pests and suppression strategies. One of the major animal agriculture commodities in California is the egg industry. There are over 26 million caged laying hens in California, down from 30 million less than a decade ago [l], with approximately equal numbers in southern California (primarily Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties) and northern California. The major arthropod pests of caged layers are house flies (Musca domestica), little house