Spraying for insects

[rrgrassi]

Bats also carry rabies, so if you see one during the day, do not mess with it. Also I would not want them near the chickens because of that. They could get bitten if they decided to try and peck at it.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Rabies in bats is uncommon, contrary to popular belief. Your chickens are much more likely to get bitten by a stray dog with rabies than they are a bat with one:
http://www.batconservation.org/content/Batsrabies.html

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Try hanging Magic Tree Vanillaroma air fresheners in the coops. It drives away flies and helps with the mosquitoes as well. See this link:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=368487

 

[patandchickens]

There is no point in spraying for mosquitos, more will just arrive in about an hour

Seriously.

One thing you could *try* if you want mosquito-repellency is those garlic-oil or garlic-extract sprays they sell. Effectiveness depends on how often you get rain, and on what exact species of mosquitos are your problem where you live. But it's worth a whirl. FWIW, this is the first year I've tried using them, and we are a HUGE mosquito-swamp, very bad... and while by no means does it keep all the skeeters away, it really does seem to substantially reduce the number hanging around in sprayed areas. I have to re-do the chicken building and the bushes around the cat run every couple weeks, but YMMV. It is totally safe, provided you are not doing weird things like drinking it or spraying someone's eyeballs directly or like that

Rrgrassi, I am not getting why you're concerned about the (extremely rare and unlikely!) scenario of chickens pecking at a bat and getting bitten. Suppose the bat was even rabid ( rabies is still quite uncommon in bats even in the worst-affected parts of North america, but, for the sake of argument, let's suppose). So what? Birds have been experimentally infected with rabies in the lab but it is essentially non-transmittable to birds in The Real World, i.e. for all practical purposes birds cannot get rabies. So, not a big deal.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[tomingreeneco]

They need water to breed. Find the water and toss in some Mosquito Pellets (you can find theses on-line). They kill the larva and will not harm other insects or pets.