Mosquito Larvae in Water

[SolaScriptura]

Changing the water every day is not going to happen. I have searched and read but really cannot find where people really recommend how much bleach or apple cider vinegar to add to the water. I would prefer the vinegar instead of bleach. How much apple cider vinegar per gallon of water to prevent mosquito larvae? I've looked into the mosquito dunks but that treats the surface of the water. Would the chickens not just peck at and eat the disc? If you put it inside the waterer it's really not doing anything to the rest of the water is it?

 

[Tonyroo]

Why don't you use water nipples, if your having issues with mosquitoes.

 

[Weeg]

Where do you get oregano oil? Do you order essential oil from somewhere or can you get this in most stores?

I wouldn't put bleach either.
I put 2 drops of oregano oil per gallon in my waterers sometimes. Oregano oil is helpful to the birds as an antioxidant. The mosquitos don't seem to like it either.

No no and no. I LOVE Oil of Oregano! Its great for any kind of immune boosting. I use it on myself all the time. First off, I'm talking about OIL OF OREGANO. Not oregano essentail oil. I would never eat that. Its extremely potent, and can be toxic for a delicate chicken at such high potency. I would not give any type of essential oil to a chicken. Personally, I wouldn't feed Oil of Oregano to anything long term. I'd be very concered about dosage being too high. You could kill them.
I do feed as much of the fresh herb as I can to my birds. You can't overdose fresh or dried oregano. I am pro herbs, and immune boosting through them. Personally I think I'm a very holistic person. But Oil of Oregano is very strong and I would be very concerned about putting it in the water. I highly recommend against it.

 

[Weeg]

I do want to eventually get to that. It's just taking the time to run the pipe and set up the barrel to store the water for it. I've got a great place to put it so that the barrel and pipe would be out of any direct sunlight. They would have constant access to cool clean water.

Why not just take some nipples and screw them into a 5 gallon bucket? Then refill the bucket as needed. Simple, cheep, and solves the problem.

 

[SourRoses]

It does not require daily cleaning to keep buckets mosquito free.
We have a mosquito bucket to collect larvae to feed my Bettas, and the whole process of letting the water get aged enough to attract the bugs and for the eggs to hatch to larvae takes around a week. Mosquitoes need organic material in the water to host microorganisms for their larvae to feed on, so they don't lay in fresh water.
Every time a chicken drinks, microparticles (at least) of feed, dirt, bedding, and chicken dander/oils from grooming is deposited in the water. That's a lot of organic material. Most water sources already carry the algae and microbes ready to "bloom" in the right conditions. Yet it takes time for that bloom to happen.

If you scrub (not just dump, but scrub the walls of the bucket) once a week, you won't have mosquito larvae. If you only dump and refill every other day, you won't have mosquito larvae.
Our run water buckets are within 25ft of the Mosquito bucket, and we don't get larvae in the chicken waterers because we scrub them before refilling. Having a good stiff brush with a long handle makes the job easy and fast.

Putting bleach or vinegar in the water, with the potential reduction in drinking from taste, is more harmful than eating larvae (chickens eat bugs).
So, if you're determined to forgo maintenance you can just let them have some "snacks" when they drink.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I wouldn't put bleach either.
I put 2 drops of oregano oil per gallon in my waterers sometimes. Oregano oil is helpful to the birds as an antioxidant. The mosquitos don't seem to like it either.

 

[SolaScriptura]

I wouldn't put bleach either.
I put 2 drops of oregano oil per gallon in my waterers sometimes. Oregano oil is helpful to the birds as an antioxidant. The mosquitos don't seem to like it either.

Where do you get oregano oil? Do you order essential oil from somewhere or can you get this in most stores?

 

[SolaScriptura]

Why don't you use water nipples, if your having issues with mosquitoes.

I do want to eventually get to that. It's just taking the time to run the pipe and set up the barrel to store the water for it. I've got a great place to put it so that the barrel and pipe would be out of any direct sunlight. They would have constant access to cool clean water.

 

[nuthatched]

I don't have a barrel set up. I am interested what I can do right now with waterers that I'm not going to be able to change the water in every day.

Skeeter lay eggs on long the egde of the barrel, at the waterline, just keep that scrubbed and they should be kept at bay.

 

[Brooks_]

Changing the water every day is not going to happen. I have searched and read but really cannot find where people really recommend how much bleach or apple cider vinegar to add to the water. I would prefer the vinegar instead of bleach. How much apple cider vinegar per gallon of water to prevent mosquito larvae? I've looked into the mosquito dunks but that treats the surface of the water. Would the chickens not just peck at and eat the disc? If you put it inside the waterer it's really not doing anything to the rest of the water is it?

Mosquitos lay eggs in very still to stagnant water. How long do you plan to go between refreshings?