Updated mosquitoe information???

I read all the post about mosquito control in the chicken house and was looking for something that has been proven to work. I am about to move my babies (teenagers) outside and am worried about mosquitoes biting them. I live near Houston and we have water standing everywhere and had a major flood a week ago with more rain on the way. Anyone have a sure fire way to save my little ones?

Huh, are mosquitoes a problem? I haven't heard about it! I assumed they were safe, with their feathers and scaly legs. I've seen my chickens grab mosquitoes right from the air and eat them. We get a *lot* of mosquitoes here, there are plenty of water sources and they love our wooded area and I haven't had a problem with mosquitoes harming my chickens.

What's the mosquito post you are talking about? I'm really curious now!

if the mosquitoes sting them on the head/comb area they get a sore area, at least that is what happened to our chickens years ago. I just wanted to prevent this from happening again

I have also heard that mosquitoes can carry disease that can kill your flock. If I am totally wrong I sure would appreciate someone easing my mind.
thanks

Honestly, the only way you're going to keep your chickens mosquito free is to lock them in a sealed coop. I've had chickens for over 25 years and have never had a problem caused by mosquitoes. Could it happen? I suppose it could, but I think they are the least of your concerns. There are a number of things that *could* happen, but very few of them are worth losing sleep over.

Maybe you can invest in mosquito netting. You'd need to put it over every opening. Another option is to spray your hens with vanilla perfume, it is a natural deterant (just squirt it in your hand and rub to the comb and waddles being careful not get it in any eyes). Additionally, you could but Vaseline on all of the birds' combs and waddles which would make a barrier between the skin and the biter.

Whittni said:

Maybe you can invest in mosquito netting. You'd need to put it over every opening. Another option is to spray your hens with vanilla perfume, it is a natural deterant (just squirt it in your hand and rub to the comb and waddles being careful not get it in any eyes). Additionally, you could but Vaseline on all of the birds' combs and waddles which would make a barrier between the skin and the biter.

Click to expand...

Don't think putting vanilla, or any, perfume on a chicken's head would benefit their respiratory system...and could be a serious irritant.

Not trying making light of a serious question but I just teased my wife about her needing to go knit little mosquito net head covers for the chickens.

1schaefermaqks said:

I read all the post about mosquito control in the chicken house and was looking for something that has been proven to work. I am about to move my babies (teenagers) outside and am worried about mosquitoes biting them. I live near Houston and we have water standing everywhere and had a major flood a week ago with more rain on the way. Anyone have a sure fire way to save my little ones?

Click to expand...

I am in Brenham TX and like you, we have had a lot of rain lately, there are also ponds all around our property and as you know there is standing water everywhere. I moved my chicks to the coop over a week ago, and yes there are mosquitoes everywhere but not as many as I would have thought. I have small plastic containers with cotton balls in my coops and I put few drops of essential oils (geranium, lemon balm and lavender) that are supposed to be insect repellents. I also spray a natural product I found in my research for getting rid of mosquitoes

http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Magi...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

It gets diluted in water and sprayed outside the perimeter of the coop and yard in places where the chickens cannot get to it, like in the outside of the fence. It smells like garlic so it is not a pleasant odor but if it repels mosquitoes, so be it.


I also use granules in places where I have standing water.

http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Dunk...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

It is a constant battle, but I have noticed that with all these precautions, the mosquito population has diminished a lot and yes mosquitoes bring deceases like fowl pox.

Thank you so much aldarita for your input. I appreciate this so much. I knew there had to be a safe way to handle this.