Gnat Attack! NEED HELP AND ADVISE

[settingdusk]

THIS > http://natashalh.hubpages.com/hub/DIY-Mosquito-and-Gnat-Trap-that-Works

Uses yeast to produce bait. Put it away from your area you don't want them in and it will attract them away and kill them.

 

[pigeonman]

the black fly and the black gnat or buffalo gnat are 2 different insects both will kill poultry the fly by getting
in their throats and the gnat is a blood sucker. cotton balls soaked in extract of vanilla hung on strings and hung in the coop has kept all my
chicks and pigeons alive,we have had them for about 2 weeks.

 

[Susan Mueller]

someone else posted on here, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/782956/3-out-of-4-hens-dead-what-do-i-do-with-the-last-one, that you could put some vanilla on the chickens heads and spritz the coop with vanilla to deter gnats.

I don't know what ratio of vanilla to water you'd need for spritzing though.

I also just did a search and found this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/368487/flies-no-more-found-the-perfect-fly-repellent

Vanilla scented air fresheners to repel flies. Maybe that's all it will take for gnats too?

I did not believe the air freshener story so I only bought one pack... now, I am a believer, and a hoarder. Every dollar General I go to, I clean out. My coop has 2 and my Goat barn has 5. I'm going to try straight van in the chickens, any alcohol evaporates.

 

[FraggleFlock]

With a Master's degree in the biological sciences, I usually scoff at "home remedies", but boy did I eat my words on this one...

Vanilla extract spritzed on the chickens actually works!!! I hung the Vanillaroma car air freshener in their coop too and that seems to be helping as well. Who would have figured??

 

[cmom]

I have never tried that but have used permethrin spray. I don't know about gnats but it does get rid of the flies. My coops had a lot of flies. After a couple of weekly spraying of the permethrin in the coops I hardly see a fly. There is no egg withdrawal period and my birds are fine.