Update for Birds kicking and scratching - very bothered - strange development - need more help

[BennieAnTheJets]

So I did treat with Elector PSP and will let you know tomorrow or so if it helped.

Only treated 5 birds for starters after long conversation with the Elector PSP folks on the phone.

The strange thing is that we have a swarm of tiny flies now, smaller than gnats, I think, in the coop and around the birds.

I was first terrified of "fly strike" but I think the fly strike flies are much bigger and eat the animals alive from the anus inward and you would see the maggots. The five birds I treated did not have any maggots on them.

I think the "gnats" swarm or whatever they are, is related to the itching and kicking of the birds - the flying gnats are new. As if they had been crawling around on the birds and now hatched in a batch.

Anyone know what this could be or how serious it is - we love our birds - and if Elector PSP is the right for this and if they will be ok???? Please let me know.

Thanks so much!!!
-Bennie

 

[azygous]

Where I live, there are a large variety of tiny gnats, and half of them bite, or at least leave itchy welts where their saliva has irritated the skin. They seem to bother me more than they do the chickens, though.

Elector is supposed to work on some varieties of flies. I certainly would use the Elector on the chickens, and mixing a quarter teaspoon in a quart spray bottle of water would be a convenient way to treat the chickens. It should work immediately. Depending on how much sun the chickens get, you might need to re-spray them every week during this outbreak.

If that doesn't seem to do the trick, dusting the chickens with permethrin powder or Sevin dust would probably protect them from the biting gnats.

I really like Elector, and just tonight used it in a soaking basin to treat two chickens with scaly leg mites. It's worked great for everything from lice and mites to ants and darkling beetles.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Cool. Thank you, azygous!

Yeah, I hope it works for us, too, and they are not too weakened from these pests that have been plaguing them for a bit now.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Where I live, there are a large variety of tiny gnats, and half of them bite, or at least leave itchy welts where their saliva has irritated the skin.,,, I really like Elector,.. It's worked great for everything from lice and mites to ants and darkling beetles.

Darkling beetles???? Oh My Goodness, don't tell me that your killing you meal worm producers too!!!

 

[azygous]

Darkling beetles???? Oh My Goodness, don't tell me that your killing you meal worm producers too!!!

No, I'm speaking of the wild kind that are capable of carrying harmful bacteria that can make a chicken sick if they eat them. My chickens happily eat the mealworms and dead meal worm beetles that I raise indoors.

 

[Ccaplan]

Where I live, there are a large variety of tiny gnats, and half of them bite, or at least leave itchy welts where their saliva has irritated the skin. They seem to bother me more than they do the chickens, though.

Elector is supposed to work on some varieties of flies. I certainly would use the Elector on the chickens, and mixing a quarter teaspoon in a quart spray bottle of water would be a convenient way to treat the chickens. It should work immediately. Depending on how much sun the chickens get, you might need to re-spray them every week during this outbreak.

If that doesn't seem to do the trick, dusting the chickens with permethrin powder or Sevin dust would probably protect them from the biting gnats.

I really like Elector, and just tonight used it in a soaking basin to treat two chickens with scaly leg mites. It's worked great for everything from lice and mites to ants and darkling beetles.

Question: I'm about to use it in the coop and I have one mom and 4 day old chicks in a hutch and soon a brooder in the coop. I KNOW mom has mites as everyone has mites. Can I treat her? I cannot find an answer anywhere... Thank you.

 

[Ccaplan]

Where I live, there are a large variety of tiny gnats, and half of them bite, or at least leave itchy welts where their saliva has irritated the skin. They seem to bother me more than they do the chickens, though.

Elector is supposed to work on some varieties of flies. I certainly would use the Elector on the chickens, and mixing a quarter teaspoon in a quart spray bottle of water would be a convenient way to treat the chickens. It should work immediately. Depending on how much sun the chickens get, you might need to re-spray them every week during this outbreak.

If that doesn't seem to do the trick, dusting the chickens with permethrin powder or Sevin dust would probably protect them from the biting gnats.

I really like Elector, and just tonight used it in a soaking basin to treat two chickens with scaly leg mites. It's worked great for everything from lice and mites to ants and darkling beetles.

Question: I'm about to use it in the coop and I have one mom and 4 day old chicks in a hutch and soon a brooder in the coop. I KNOW mom has mites as everyone has mites. Can I treat her? I cannot find an answer anywhere... Thank you.

 

[azygous]

Elector is perfectly safe for chickens, and I use it directly on their bodies for lice and mites. It's a biological control, not a petroleum based insecticide.

 

[Ccaplan]

Elector is perfectly safe for chickens, and I use it directly on their bodies for lice and mites. It's a biological control, not a petroleum based insecticide.

One last super quick question: My barn is much smaller than what the application calls for on the bottle. I only have a 2 gallon sprayer -and my barn is 100 square feet where I need to spray, how much Elector PSP do you think I need to add to the 2 gallons? I don't want to over do it in such a small space with only 11 hens to treat. I suppose this may be more of a math question... but would rather defer to someone that has used it! Thank you!

 

[azygous]

You would add 1 and 1/4 teaspoons Elector per one gallon of water or if you have such a small area, you could mix 1/4 teaspoon Elector into one quart of water and put into a hand spray bottle.