concerns about mosquitos targeting chickens

[centrarchid]

Where I live mosquitos that target birds are abundant. On some nights, like this one, when I check birds with flashlight mosquitos are easy to see sucking on my charges. Anyone ever try to keep mosquito numbers down? Habitat management not a real option since squeeters breeding off my property mostly.

West Nile might a concern?

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
They're real bad here too, we live close to a large swamp. I have a bug zapper, sticky fly pest strips hanging in the pen and I've read others use those vanilla air fresheners for cars as repellents. I havnt tried the vanilla air fresheners yet. I have installed fine mesh screen on the coops air vents. I also put the screen on the entrance to the coop, it's pinned back just enough for them to go inside and lay their eggs and go back outside.
Mosquitos carry all kinds of diseases...I've dealt with fowl pox because of them. Hope this helps.

 

[centrarchid]

Most of my birds kept off grid so no zapper. Repellents though might work. Could vanilla be fed to birds and still be effective? Wind to strong I think to keep stink in roosts. I could almost run an airturbine here.

 

[flgardengirl]

If you live by a swampy area it is hard to keep the mosquitos away from your birds. We put some screen on the outside of our coop windows over the hardware cloth to try to help keep most of them out at night. Some will still get in during the day but it helps with the hoards of night skeeters. I also had fowl pox due to mosquitos last fall. If you have any standing water around make sure it either gets dumped or if you have a pond like I do, put mosquito dunks in it. Also any water containers that sit out over a day or two need to have mosquito dunks. For larger ponds they make a pelleted form of mosquito dunk that kills mosquitos. The mosquito larvae will eat the pellets/water that has the dunks in it and then die. Mosquitos still lay thier eggs in the water so you may still see the baby mosquito larvae but then the larvae eat the dunks and that is how the cycle is broken so they will not reach adulthood.

 

[mariel37]

This morning I was surprised to see a large mosquito in my kitchen.

He is no more.

Threw alfalfa to my horses, and noticed one horse with several mosquitoes on him.

They are no more as well.


I am surprised to see so many already!

 

[Caddy-Corner-Chick]

My chicken coop is near a wooded area, and the Mosquito's are terrible under there. I have a roll of window screen so this weekend I am going to cut to size and cover all the vents. During the day I just open the door wide open and let them go in and out, but the mosquitos are not bad in the direct sun, just under the trees.

I didn't realize how bad it was until I was hanging up their fencing to the run last weekend.

 

[centrarchid]

I now have two hens brooding clutches next to each other on front porch. Mosquitos (>50 individuals) are tormenting the the red jungle fowl but largely leaving American game alone. Why would this be?

I will be trying to use some of the organic options to get skeeters to go elsewhere.

 

[purpletree23]

I just went out to lock up the girls tonight and all of them were shaking their heads. I used my flashlight to see what was going on and mosquitoes were after them. I managed to kill most of the mosquitoes but I'm sure some are left. Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to keep them from bothering the chickens and not having a case of fowl pox. I think that's what they can catch from those rotten insects.

I have 2 mosquito magnets going in the yard (they really don't make a dent in the population)

I can apply permethren but I wouldn't dare go near their faces and of course that's where the mosquitoes can bite.

I was wondering about lemon balm. I've read to crush the leaves and rub the oil on your skin and the insects will stay away but I haven't tried it.

Anyone have experience with lemon balm?

I'll crush the leaves and rub the chickens with them....will get close as I dare to their face but will try to apply some to comb and waddles and inside coop walls.

Any input is greatly appreciated

 

[centrarchid]

I am considering trying to make my roosts at least into giant scent traps where plant smell would linger among birds to repell skeeters. ID of proper plant extract to use is problem.

My birds and song birds as well get sick a lot during summer which I think mosquitos are causing.

 

[welasharon]

We use skin so soft on us to repel mosquitos. I will need to find the bottle and read the ingredient list but I wonder if we could spray it on them? I cannot control the mosquitos here either. There is swampy land behind us. I could put the screen on the pens but there still would be a problem with them free ranging which I know your birds do. I have never tried the citronella plant.
sharon