Mosquito problem in chicken coop

[FabulousMandy]

I would LOVE to have some ducks, but I live in Uptown New Orleans, and space is pretty limited in my backyard

. I suggested ducks a while ago to DH and he shot that down rather quickly.

 

[purpletree23]

Just locked my girls in for the night and they were all shaking their heads. Went back to the house to get a flashlight and could see that they were being harassed by mosquitoes! I have screen on the windows so they must have come in through the pop door during the day.

Has anyone ever tried lemon balm to keep the skitoes away? I've never tried it on myself but did read that you can squash the leaves and then rub the leaves on your skin and it will keep them away. Tomorrow I will try it on myself and if I have no ill effects THEN on my spoiled monsters.

Mosquitoes seem really bad this year. We have 2 mosquito magnets but they really don't make a dent in the population.



Please give me your input.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Someone once had a webcam on their scovy that was hatching eggs and I was horrified by the number of mosquitoes pestering the poor duck. They were ALL OVER HER and she definitely wasn't eating them. It was actually painful for me to watch her sleep getting constantly interrupted by all the activity of those terrible little bugs.

 

[True Grit]

I have mosquitoe screening over all the ventilation and in overlapping strips over the pop door. Seems to work pretty well.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Forst, mosquitoes are a danger to your birds as they spread fowl pox among other diseases!

Second, if your county/city sprays for mosquitoes, ask about getting a mosquito trap. What this does is collect the mosquitoes in your area or even your yard or coop for 24-48 hours. There is a mosquito attractant in the trap, that will draw them in from the very local area.. After the alloted time, the county (in my case) will pick up the trap and take it to check the number of mosquitoes collected, and the specific species. Depending on the number and types, they may choose to spray in your area. For my county, any number over a specified level, or ANY of certain types wll cause them to spray, and that usually occurs very rapidly.

I'd suggest

1) putting hanging screen over the pop door,
2) thoroughly spray the coop and bedding with a good mosquito insecticide
3) each evening spray the coop with repellant.

Also, consider using Country Vet or one of the similar automatic sprayers to spray a burst of insecticide at a predetermined interval. The Automatic sprayers are not inexpensive, but you can use the insecticide spray with the automatic air freshener sprayers as a more economical option. However, my opinion is that the air freshener sprayers do not last as long--but that is an assumption as I have not used the official Country Vet sprayers. The air freshener sprayers should last the summer.

http://www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/2650-Time-Mist-Mosquito-Fly-Spray.aspx

http://lysol.com/cleaning-products/ultimate-freshness/neutra-air-freshmatic

http://www.country-vet.com/products.php?cat_id=8

 

[purpletree23]

Thank you for the information.

 

[triplepurpose]

In Hawaii there are mosquitoes everywhere, year round, including in the chicken coop (inevitably). I and my chickens have grown up accustomed to dealing with mosquitoes. The chickens don't seem very bothered by them (along with all the other birds, and animals outside, farm animals, pets, and wild). I've never even seen fowl pox in twenty-some years (although it does exist here), or had any other epidemics for that matter, let alone mosquito-born ones. Obviously, it's up to you to use your own judgment in this particular case, but it's easy to overreact to these types of things, and if I were you I'd try to be sure you have a real issue on your hands, before busting out the heavy insecticides. That stuff is pretty nasty--do you really want traces of those toxins polluting your food, etc? Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease, especially if the "disease" isn't doing any harm in the first place...

 

[crazyhen]

I have a small light in the coop also I have a large fly catcher paper in there. It is covered with mosquitoes. Just be sure you put the paper where the hens will not fly into it. Like in a wire cage.

Gloria Jean

 

[LeafZoo]

Make sure to read all of the warnings on each product. There's a product out that you can clip to yourself that repels mosquitoes, and it specifically says not to use around pets, or for humans to breathe the fumes. (I was going to use it in my dog run last year.) A different kind of citronella burner from the same company - I think - says not to use within like 100 feet of fish ponds or it could kill the fish.

Mosquitoes can hatch in as little as a teaspoon of water. Make sure to check your yard regularly for any little thing that might be holding water in which the larvae can hatch. There are natural products to put into things like ponds that won't harm the wildlife. A natural way to keep them down in non-drinking, non-widlife water is putting a few drops of liquid dishwashing soap in it. Soap prevents the larvae from breathing by breaking the surface tension of the water. I've toyed with using a hose sprayer attachment, like the miracle grow one, and putting the dishwashing liquid in it, then spraying down everything. But no idea if that would be very effective.

Good luck!

 

[areyoumymother]

BATS are also good mosquito controllers.

We bought a bat box to put up on the side of the barn last year, haven't done it yet but we have it ! LOL

Hmm, maybe this weekend

As I understand they are very effective in controlling the mosquito population in the area as they are their main food source.