gnats

[toddo]

gnats are awful this year, I lost 5 chickens from them and Goldie is the only one left. I have been spraying Goldie with flea and tick spray as well as inside the coop seems to be working so far. Any other ideas or just stay with the spray I'm using.

 

[frogz]

Bug screen, like you would put on a screened in porch, is awesome for putting on runs and coops! I have had no one die since I put the screening up. Other than that, get some vanilla extract and put it on your chickens' faces every day, but I suggest the screening more. They don't like getting vanilla-ed.

 

[toddo]

Sorry for the late reply but thanks will try the screen

 

[Messipaw]

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry to ask but how do chickens die from gnats?

 

[toddo]

They swarm by the hundreds and get into the chickens nose and mouth and suffocate the chickens. I couldn't beleive it myself until I say it.

 

[Messipaw]

that is scary and horrible

 

[mcramer]

I am starting with 50 pasture raised broilers in Iowa. When we moved them to the New Terra Farm style chicken tractor at 3 wks the gnats (aka black flies) attacked them so relentlessly that they were picking themselves bare and bloody. The birds piled up in the corner and I lost 20 in less than 24 hrs. We sprayed them down with vanilla and moved them back to the brooder and they are recovering quickly, but even with the reduced numbers that can only be temporary.

Most of the posts I saw are dealing with small numbers and coops that can be screened. Our adult laying hens seem to be fine in their coop, but that won't work for the broilers. If I spray a little vanilla on them in the morning will it last all day; how about 24 hrs? I thought about trying a bug zapper; anyone tried that? Is the light enough to attract the bugs away from the birds? Is there enough shade in a chicken tractor with the tarp down to attract the bugs away from the birds during the day?

Thanks for any help you can provide

 

[thechxwhisperer]

That is so horrible, I am very sorry.
One question, where do Buffalo Gnats live?

 

[mcramer]

I am in East Central Iowa. We typically get some for a short period each year, but this number and duration is unusual. They are more common closer to the Mississippi R. Perhaps the very wet spring influenced it. I think this is the same type of gnat they call black flies up around the lakes up in Northern MN, Ontario, and Manitoba.