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Progress Report Series No. 71 December, 1958
ACGRICULTURAL EXP XSTATION
of The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.
E . . V. SMITH, Director . . .
EFFECTS oj FEEDING BORON a HENS
PREVENT FLIES
J. G. GOODMAN, Associate Poultry Husbandman
Flies are a problem to poultrymen with caged layers.
If not controlled, they cause wet droppings, strong odors,
and in some instances can be a health menace in cage
-h4ouses.
Many insecticides and larvacides are used to combat
flies. Materials such as DDT, malathion, diazinon, lin-
dane, and pyrethrum are used to kill adults and larvae of
common house flies. The use of these materials is labori-
ous, time consuming, and costly. In many cases it may
fail to properly control flies. For several years cage
operators have dusted manure with Polybor-3 (disodium
octoborate tetrahydrate) to prevent fly development in
the droppings.
TESTS
In tests by the Agricultural Experiment Station of the
Alabama Polytechnic Institute during the summer 
of 1957,
boron in the form of Polybor-3 was fed to caged 
layers in
an attempt to control fly breeding in manure. This 
boron
product is stable, easily mixed with feed, and inexpensive.
Single Comb White Leghorn pullets of laying 
age were
used in the tests. They were kept in individual 
cages in
an open shed-type house. Rations fed contained 
4 ounces,
2 ounces, and 1 ounce of Polybor-3 per 
100 pounds of
ration. There were 7 birds in each lot during 
the 135-day
test. Fifty-pound lard cans (15-inch diameter) 
were used
to trap emerging flies. These traps were 
placed over
manure 5 times. Each time the traps 
were left for 2
weeks. Flies emerging were killed and 
counted and traps
were placed over new areas.
In 1958 tests hens were fed Polybor-3 
at the rate of
4 ounces, 3 ounces, 2 ounces, 1 ounce, 
3 ounce, and
3. ounce per 100 pounds of ration. 
The hens were kept
in colony cages, 15 hens per cage, in 
a typical laying house
with concrete floor. Length of the 
test was 183 days.
A second test in 1958 was conducted 
with two 200-
hen flocks kept on the floor. One 
flock was fed 4 ounces
of Polybor-3 per 100 pounds of 
ration and the other was
kept as a check. These birds were 
mated at two different
periods. The eggs were saved 
and incubated to observe
the effects of boron on fertility 
and hatchability. The hens
were fed boron in the ration for 14 weeks before saving
eggs in the first period and 22 weeks in the second period.
FLY CONTROL
Fly development in manure from hens fed different
levels of boron was reduced in all tests.
In the 1957 test of 135 days the average adult flies
per trap were:
Rate Polybor-3
per 100 lb. ration
4 oz.
2 oz.
1 oz.
No treatment
Av. adult flies
per trap, no.
5
7
8
188
In the 1958 test of 183 days the average number of
fly larvae and pupae was as follows:
Rate Polybor-3
per 100 lb. ration
4 oz.
3 oz.
2 oz.
1 oz.
Check
Av. larvae and
pupae per lb. manure, no.
0
0
0
0
67
88
86
Many fly larvae were observed in the manure of hens
fed one ounce of Polybor-3, but they died before matur-
ing. Manure under cages of hens fed 1 ounce or more
of boron was much drier and had less odor than the
check. Water appears to evaporate much faster from
manure when hens are fed boron than from hens not re-
ceiving boron. There were no watery droppings from
hens fed boron as are often seen in some cage houses dur-
ing extremely hot weather. Fresh droppings from hens
fed boron and hens receiving no boron were analyzed and
found to contain about 70 per cent moisture. The ap-
parent dry condition of the manure from hens fed boron
may be the result of no fly larvae in the manure.
EGG PRODUCTION
Polybor-3 fed at a level of 4 ounces per 100 
pounds of
ration reduced feed intake and markedly reduced 
egg
production. However, one ounce of boron or less in 
the
feed had no such effect. Birds receiving 
a ration of 3
ounces of Polybor-3 per 100 pounds or less 
showed no
visible outward effects.
The egg production for these tests is 
given in Table 1.
Results indicate that 1 ounce or less per 
100 pounds of
ration did not affect rate of egg production.
TABLE 1. EFFECT OF POLYBOR-3 IN RATION
ON EGG PRODUCTION
Polybor-3 per 100 pounds ration
4oz. 3oz. 2 oz. oz. 'oz. 
,oz. 0
pct. pct. pct. pct. pct. pet. pct.
1957
Egg production
(135 days) 52 - 57 61 - - -
1958 A
Egg production
(183 days) 42 50 55 61 
71 65 58
1958 B
Egg production
(180 days) 45 -
- - - - 51
FERTILITY AND HATCHABILITY
A flock of 200 Leghorn hens 
on floor with 10 males
were fed an all mash ration containing 4 
ounces of Poly-
bor-3 for a period of 14 weeks before 
saving eggs to test
fertility and hatchability. A same 
number was used as a
check. All eggs were saved 
for 2 days for this test. A
total of 208 eggs from boron-fed 
hens was incubated and
the fertility and hatchability 
were 89.4 and 81.2 per cent,
respectively. There were 
229 eggs incubated from con-
trol pens with 82.9 per cent 
fertility and 72.5 per cent
hatchability. Chicks from 
these eggs were brooded in
batteries and fed normal broiler 
ration for one month.
There were no losses in chicks 
from boron-fed hens.
In the second test conducted 
on the same birds 8
weeks later, 180 eggs were incubated 
from each pen. The
fertility of eggs from boron-fed 
hens was 80 per cent and
hatchability was 53.8 per 
cent, whereas, eggs from the
control pen had 77.2 per cent 
fertility and 70 per cent
hatchability. These chicks 
were brooded in battery brood-
ers and fed a normal ration. 
Mortality for these chicks
was approximately the same 
for both groups. These 
data
indicate the 4 ounces of Polybor-3 
per 100 pounds breeder
ration had no serious effect 
on fertility or livability 
of
chicks. However, this level 
of boron reduced egg pro-
duction and produced physical signs of toxicity 
in some
hens.
BORON IN EGG AND TISSUES
Polybor-3 fed to layers at the 
rate of 4 ounces per 100
pounds of ration increased the 
boron content of the eggs
and body tissues. The boron 
content found in body tis-
sues is given in Table 2.
TABLE 2. BORON CONTENT OF
EGGS AND FOWL TISSUES, 
1957*
Control 4 oz. per 100 lb. feed
Item 
group Polybor-3 
for 135 days
p.p.m. 
p.p.m.
Yolk 5.4 
36.0
Albumen 17.5 
39.5
Breast meat 7.5 
30.0
Liver 1.7 
62.4
Fat 1.8 
45.1
Kidney 3.1 
45.1
Feathers 
97.5
* Boron content determined by Agronomy 
and Soils De-
partment.
The boron content of eggs and 
body tissues of birds
fed this high level of boron 
was not as high as is normally
found in some other foods. For example; 
dried apricots
had 38 p.p.m., carrots, 
41.6 p.p.m., and turnips, 
30.6
p.p.m. This compares with 36 p.p.m. for egg yolk 
and
39.5 p.p.m. for albumen from hens fed 
Polybor-3 for 135
days as given in Table 2.
In 1958 hens fed a ration containing different 
levels
of boron for 183 days produced 
eggs with the amounts of
boron given in Table 3.
TABLE 3. BORON CONTENT OF EGG PARTS
Polybor-3 Boron in albumen 
Boron in yolk
100 lb. feed 90 days 183 days 
90 days 183 days
p.p.m. p.p.m. p.p.m. p.p.m.
4 oz. 15.4 10.0 3.9 
3.7
3 oz. 8.1 8.1 3.7 
2.5
2 oz. 7.3 6.9 
2.8 2.5
1 oz. 4.9 5.6 
2.5 3.1
,2 oz. 4.5 3.7 2.4 
2.5
, oz. 2.9 3.1 2.0 1.3
0 2.5 1.9 1.8 
1.3
SUMMARY
Polybor-3 fed in small quantities 
to laying hens will
greatly reduce fly development in 
manure under cages.
Boron added to feed and consumed 
by hens increases
the boron found in eggs and body 
tissues.
The addition of 1 to 2 ounces of Polybor-3 
per 100
pounds ration will control flies in cage houses 
and will not
greatly increase boron content of 
eggs produced.
The addition of 4 ounces of Polybor-3 per 
100 pounds
ration will reduce egg production and 
show signs of
toxicity. No harmful 
effects to fertility and 
hatchability
of eggs from hens fed this ration for 14 weeks were noted.
Hatchability was reduced when 
this level was fed for
22 weeks.
The Pure Food and 
Drug Administration 
must give
permission before Polybor-3 
can be mixed in the poultry
ration.