Blood Sucking Knats - help for bird!

[Chicky-dees]

Here in central TX, knats are worse than the mosquitoes right now. My birds are having a tough time with blood sucking knats that land on them in the late evening and get into/around their ears and eyes and one of my adorable polish babies has practically scratched out the entire back of the plumage on his head. I use a permethrin based spray, spray my hand and rub it into his head with my fingers and it keeps them off for about 24 hours and he gets relief. I also spray the house and bedding regularly too, but I worry about too much exposure over a long period of time.

Anyone know of a better product or solution to try? His poor little head is so raw and irritated!

 

[Judy]

I used to have a pitiful rescue dog with an undiagnosable skin condition who I kept moistened with Skin So Soft, just the plain old fashioned bath oil. I believe she got a fair amount of relief.

 

[zazouse]

If you have power to your chickens coup you can place a couple box fans turned on med to keep the Nat's and sketers off them.
Just make sure you clean the fan when the dust and dirt get built up on them so they will last longer and not become a fire hazard.

 

[Chicky-dees]

Thanks so much - I have box fans and skin so soft! His poor little head was just a mess a couple of days ago and I worried about him becoming a target for the other birds. Luckily, they weren't interested and since he's a rooster in with a group of hens, he tends to defend himself well enough.