extreme gnats

[Akane]

We've had horrible wet weather and now have the gnat version of flystrike going on here. A sebright hen just died with pinpoints of blood all over her and the whole time I was handling her even indoors gnats just kept coming out of her feathers. I sprayed the rest of them down with dog mosquito spray and they seem to be doing fine. Hopefully I didn't just kill them all but they were badly suffering. Several abandoned the coop. All my young chickens were hiding underneath it and we only managed to collect about half. This happened a few weeks ago and it was solved when the door to the screened porch accidentally got left open. The porch filled with gnats that flew between the screens and plastic we put up over the winter getting trapped. I sprayed them all and killed millions that day. It seems the next round has matured and is after the chickens again. I'm going to try building a gnat trap with vinegar tomorrow and clean the coop. Hopefully by monday we can get a bug zapper. Those do work on gnats right? I don't know what else to do.

 

[b.hromada]

I do believe that bug zappers work on gnats too. Wow, that must be some invasion!!

I hope you get a hold on those nasty things!!

 

[suburbanminifarm]

A friend told me to hang vanilla air fresheners to combat the gnats this year.

She read it on some gardening forum I think

 

[Chicks&Chihuahuas]

So sorry for your loss!

I know I would be worried about spraying chemicals near my girls, at least without a pro doing it. If you go to Atwoods (or similar F&G store) you can get trap-n-toss fly traps. They come with a tube of fly-attractant but since I was using them to catch gnats/fruit flies I have used water with a couple of smushed overripe strawberries, and am currently using water with lemon peels. This has totally cleared the swarms in my kitchen and back room. If you tried these (sounds like you'd need several) by your coop it might at least provide some chemical-free relief for your girls until you can get a pro out to take care of it. It says you just pitch it when done, but to save waste I just turned mine upside down and flushed it out with water and added fresh fruit.

Here is what they look like:

http://www.statelinetack.com/item/s...-7D81-DE11-9973-0019B9C2BEFD&mr:referralID=NA

Hope this helps!