Need to know about buffalo gnats

[Magepalm]

Just heard about these today from someone who was asked if we'd lost any ducklings to them and they didn't elaborate. Never heard of this and these are my first babies. What the heck are they, why are they a problem and how can I get them to not be near my baby ducks? They are still in the house. Are these the same things that always got in my eyes and such when I was a kid playing in the woods? I'm in central Arkansas in the sticks. I didn't know this was a thing in order to research it before and now I'm really scared about when it comes time to put them outside!!!

 

[MrsEskew]

They are horrible little boogers, this buffalo gnats are. What I do for my chickens is mix vanilla extract and water and spray it on them a few times a day and it does repel them for a while after each spray. Apparently gnats hate the smell of vanilla. I also hang vanilla scented car trees all over the place. It does seem to help. We have sprayed permethrine all around the pens but it doesn't completely eliminate them. Good luck!!

 

[Magepalm]

Cool! I will definitely try all of that. Do mothballs help and is it a good idea even to have those laying around outside? I know it's likely a terrible idea to have them anywhere that the ducks could get to them but kinda wondering if the smell from them wont be a problem? I put some out recently because the snakes were getting really bad by me, just about got bit gathering clothes off the lines a few weeks ago :S

 

[MrsEskew]

I've honestly not heard anything on whether mothballs are a good idea or not. And yikes, very glad you didn't get bit!