O.m.g. In The Chicken Run

[annie3001]

hello.
because of all our rain here in ct. my run has been muddy. today was our first warm day.
and there are what either is mosquitos or fleas all over the run in/near the mud which is trying to dry up.
is there anything i can use to spray and kill off them? i espeically dont want my girls back in the run till its cleared up.
they are outside with me free ranging some delicous grass.
thanks in advance!

andrea-
ps. hopefully this was the right place to post this thread.


oh and i currently do not have any d.e

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

It is nice and dry here in the desert, so I am short on ideas for you. I hope someone else can help. good luck!

 

[LuvinMyPeeps]

I think if you put a few drops of Dawn in the water, the properties of the soap will cut the surface tension of the water and drown any mosquito larvae.

 

[annie3001]

i ended up getting rid of them. i went in the coop and sprayed fantastic bleach on them. they all died. then i removed all the dirt. it will dry for tonight. i wont let the girls in the run until tommorrow. my husband said they might be maybe "sand fleas".
never had them before, and hope not to. i can deal with flys, not these little buggers.


andrea-

 

[patandchickens]

You really need to identify what the critters ARE. If they are harmless, ignore them (and the chickens will probably eat some of them

); if they are a pest, you need to know what KIND of pest they are to know how to get rid of them.

Honestly this time of year I would not be surprised if they are springhoppers (collembollans) -- they are tiny, don't fly, but can go 'boing' and sort of disappear to elsewhere, similar to a flea. You can tell them from fleas, though, because the commonest ones have fairly conspicuous antennae (fleas have no visible antennae) and fleas are very flattened from side-to-side like a sunfish, whereas collembolans are not.

If they actually fly around on wings, they could be mosquitos (sit there and see if they land on you and bite you) or the very-similar-looking but totally-nonbiting chironomids; or they could be any of a variety of gnats, a few of which bite and can be problems, most of which do not. Or fungus gnats.

Really, spend some time googling to try to figure out what they are. There is a good chance they are harmless, and even if they're not, you are not going to be able to achieve lasting control without identifying them.

Goodluck, have fun,

Pat

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Congrat's on getting rid of them for now!

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
thanks for the response,
ill be sure to take a closer look tommorrow should i see any.
i have never seen fleas? ever. so that was my first guess. they are tiny. they move real fast. and had wings.
ill keep checking, and leave be.
thanks again for the helpful information.


andrea-

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
thanks!