Mosquito management & yr flock

[mxmarg]

Hi! Newb here. The mosquitos are coming out in full force here in Wisconsin. Before chickens, to help control the crazy mosquito population we would "fog" the gladey area of our property where we now have the chickies.

Is there a fogger that's safe to use around the chickens? Has anyone else found another method that's safe?

 

[RedDrgn]

None that I know of, no.

I don't know what your property is like, but I'd look to controlling your mosquito breeding (all standing water; natural and man-made) sites rather than fogging for adults. The use of mosquito dunks (which will not hurt chickens) in bird baths and other smaller man-made and natural water pools that cannot be drained is an effective (non-chemical) method. Keeping gutters clear so they drain and pots and other items that can collect water will help significantly. Now, if you're adjacent to a wetland area, there's not much that you can do other than to promote bats (get a bat house) to hang around your property.

We added screen (over our hardware cloth) on our coop windows/vents to at least give the chickens a mosquito-free place to sleep at night.

 

[chfite]

+1. I would see if there are any traps available for mosquitoes.

Chris

 

[RedDrgn]

+1. I would see if there are any traps available for mosquitoes.

Chris

Not ones that will trap all types of mosquitoes.

I spent a year working for the PADEP West Nile Virus Program monitoring mosquito populations. For trapping adults, we either had the "stink water traps" which used most potent homemade brew of stagnant water and epic stench you ever wanted to smell that you had to pour into an open container and then mount a powered mosquito fan trap just over the surface of. This trap attracted species of females that preferred to lay eggs in stagnant water (which included the species known to be the best vectors for West Nile).

Another trap we used was a CO2 (dry ice generated) powered fan light trap, which attracted a rather limited range of females, though a lot of males mosquitoes, which was useful for getting an idea of general species in the area.

Of course, neither trap accounted well for mosquitoes that prefer fresh/moving water or that are repelled by light....since they weren't vectors for West Nile, it didn't matter for us.

Anyway, always be careful with traps for any pest (especially insects). Used incorrectly, you could end up drawing in more of them than you're getting rid of.