Mosquitos killing chickens?

[jktrahan]

Is that even possible that the mosquito bit and the chickens die? My brother had a flock of about 30 different chickens and it is down to around 10 now. He's loosing 2 or 3 a week now and does not know what to do

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

put up screen wire on your windows that misquitos cannot get through and put vasiline on your chickens combs and wattles and feet

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Mosquitoes can and DO carry diseases that can harm just about any animal they bite. Fowl pox is the one that ones hears about most, and if the bird becomes infected internally, death is very common. Infection via the skin is ugly and uncomfortable fo rthe bird, but rarely causes death.

However, mosquitoes also carry other diseases, such as various types of encephalitis, and those can definitely kill.

Remove standign water, spray the area with a good mosquito killing product (and preferably one that will also kill eggs), cover the openings of the coop and run with insect screening, use mosquito repellant on the birds.

 

[jktrahan]

I'm going to have him send one off to the local extension service. I think they will test for West Nile Virus.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chickens do not get ill from West Nile; they are essentially immune to it. Doesn't mean that West Nile might not be found in the blood--just that that would not be what killed them. However, sending them off for a necropsy is probably a good idea--it will hopefully find what they are dying from.

 

[theFox]

He might also look for signs of predators being around, they can scare birds and cause them to fly into walls and break their necks, or to bunch up in a pile in a corner and suffocate.

Also if the birds get a heavy load of mites, lice, or worms.