- Jul 4, 2012
- 42
- 3
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Hi folks! Thought I'd share in case anybody else is having this issue...
We've had a big issue with gnats (buffalo that bite!) this year due to a lot of rain, frequently! I have thought my girls, mostly my EEs, were going through a molt - I've just had chickens for a little over a year and haven't yet experience a molt. It's been going on quite a while now and it doesn't seem like new feathers are growing in over the bald spots, so have been starting to wonder. I have noticed more recently that my girls weren't getting out and foraging very much, compared to the normal constant foraging, and have been consuming a lot more of their feed. I finally put two and two together and realized that the gnats are attacking my girls, probably causing the loss of feathers, and the girls are just trying to hide out from the gnats and staying in the coop a lot. I also just noticed that some of my new chicks (Memorial Day) have a small bald patch or two and decided that is also due to the gnats. After a little research I tried spraying them all with vanilla water, and also placed covered dishes of vinegar with small holes poked in the lids to trap the gnats near the coops. The traps don't seem to be doing much and the vanilla alone may have helped a little, but not a lot...so I added some Rosemary essential oil to the vanilla water. I've sprayed the chickens with that mixture the last couple of mornings before letting them out and it seems to help a lot! The girls are back to foraging and not spending so much time in the coop, and not eating so much of the feed.
I also spray down the doorways to the coops each morning.
We've had a big issue with gnats (buffalo that bite!) this year due to a lot of rain, frequently! I have thought my girls, mostly my EEs, were going through a molt - I've just had chickens for a little over a year and haven't yet experience a molt. It's been going on quite a while now and it doesn't seem like new feathers are growing in over the bald spots, so have been starting to wonder. I have noticed more recently that my girls weren't getting out and foraging very much, compared to the normal constant foraging, and have been consuming a lot more of their feed. I finally put two and two together and realized that the gnats are attacking my girls, probably causing the loss of feathers, and the girls are just trying to hide out from the gnats and staying in the coop a lot. I also just noticed that some of my new chicks (Memorial Day) have a small bald patch or two and decided that is also due to the gnats. After a little research I tried spraying them all with vanilla water, and also placed covered dishes of vinegar with small holes poked in the lids to trap the gnats near the coops. The traps don't seem to be doing much and the vanilla alone may have helped a little, but not a lot...so I added some Rosemary essential oil to the vanilla water. I've sprayed the chickens with that mixture the last couple of mornings before letting them out and it seems to help a lot! The girls are back to foraging and not spending so much time in the coop, and not eating so much of the feed.
I also spray down the doorways to the coops each morning.
