Mosquito War Poll: Fight it, or Deal with it?

[davemonkey]

The more I research about mosquitos and the "controls" for them, the more I find there isn't much I can do about them that doesn't cost alot or potentially harm other animals or beneficial insects. Then I got to thinking..."folks back in the "old days" probably didn't bother fighting the mosquito war...and they still had eggs back then. I wonder how many people nowadays bother with it?"

So, for all the folks who live in high-mosquito-population areas and you know that mosquitos are "drinking" your chickens at night: do you fight the fight, or do you just let it be?

 

[TXchickmum]

We live in an area that swarms with mosquitoes a good bit of the year. -do what we can to help curb the issue. -empty any standing water containers and place mosquito dunks in our birdbaths (not harmful to the birds). We don't spray chemicals around the chickens. -chickens actually pick the mosquitoes out of the air. -hilarious to watch! My grandmother used to fill buckets with cow manure and light it. -claimed that it kept the mosquitoes away. (-don't have cattle, so I've never tried this one. I suppose it might keep most everything away...

)

 

[davemonkey]

We live in an area that swarms with mosquitoes a good bit of the year. -do what we can to help curb the issue. -empty any standing water containers and place mosquito dunks in our birdbaths (not harmful to the birds). We don't spray chemicals around the chickens. -chickens actually pick the mosquitoes out of the air. -hilarious to watch! My grandmother used to fill buckets with cow manure and light it. -claimed that it kept the mosquitoes away. (-don't have cattle, so I've never tried this one. I suppose it might keep most everything away...

)

LOL! Burning manure is a new one for me. I wonder if it really worked. I happen to live in a rural area where I could gather all the poop I wanted, but I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon.

I've seen soem of my chickens take mosquitos as food, but some don't seem to care for them. The chicks we are raising though, seem to really enjoy chasing and eating mosquitos.

 

[davemonkey]

Oh, I forgot to bring up an important sideline and failed to incorporate it into the poll:

Based on experience or knowledge, do you feel that mosquitos (controlling them, or not) play a *crucial* role in the amount of eggs you get.

Emphasis on "crucial". In other words, understanding that any stress factor can affect egg production, do you think mosquitos have a significant impact.

 

[TXchickmum]

We haven't noticed any drop in egg production because of mosquitoes. We saw a marked drop in August and September due to very high temps. The heat stresses our birds more than anything else. Mosquitoes are pretty bad 'round here from March/April - October. (Temps were mild in June & July, by Texas standards, and we had great egg production despite the mosquitoes.)

 

[cgmccary]

The more I research about mosquitos and the "controls" for them, the more I find there isn't much I can do about them that doesn't cost alot or potentially harm other animals or beneficial insects. Then I got to thinking..."folks back in the "old days" probably didn't bother fighting the mosquito war...and they still had eggs back then. I wonder how many people nowadays bother with it?"

So, for all the folks who live in high-mosquito-population areas and you know that mosquitos are "drinking" your chickens at night: do you fight the fight, or do you just let it be?

I keep honeybees so I very rarely use pesticides. I live in the humid South so mosquitos in the Spring, Summer and Fall. However, I am not bothered too much by mosquitos.

Six things I do as natural remedies:

(1) I do not let water sit.

(2) In my pond, I have a lot of minnows - (they are self sustaining; I started with a few and they have bred and live in mass in my pond).

(3) If I must have sitting water, I have used those non-pesticide mosquito dunks.

(4) I also have three bat houses on my barns to attract the Big Brown Bat. I see a lot of bats. A single bat can eat its body weight in flying insects per night. The best is to get a maternal colony to take up in one in early Spring.

(5) In the Spring and Summer (and up to October), I put out hummingbird feeders. I have to fill them during peak months almost everyday. This year I used 4 of those quart-size feeders. I have about a hundred at any given time during the season. Hummingbirds, among other insects and spiders, eat mosquitos.

(6) I run fans over the roosts in the coops in the Summer.

This all seems to work for me. It may not work everywhere, but I don't see many mosquitos anymore (and we had a very rainy summer too).

There is a natural concoction I used when I lived in the city (it worked spraying the bushes around the house and coops. It is like a tbls of lemon ammonia and 1 tblsp liquid lemon dish detergent, -- both I find for $1 at the Dollar Store & there may be another ingredient . . . . in 1 gallon of water, spray about once per week. I have not had to use this where I live now. Does anyone else do these things?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Any smoky fire will repel them, but it's not great for your birds (or you) to breath