weird bugs

[DuckDuck23]

Hello. In my duck coop there are these tiny gray bugs everywhere. There are probably thousands of them. I sprayed some healthy pen spray, but it only worked for a day. These bugs can fly too. I haven’t been able to find any threads about them that look like the ones I have. Does anyone know what they are and how to get rid of them for good? I tried getting the best pictures I can. Most of them were by the duck pool and the ducks were splashing around so I didn’t want to get all wet haha.

 

[azygous]

It would help to know your geograpgic location and climate as insects can be associated with those two criteria.

 

[Jpat]

They look like drain flys, They lay eggs in still water like in your sink drains, so you could try and get rid of any standing water, But thats hard to do with ducks

Research Drain Flys or Sewer Gnats

 

[DuckDuck23]

It would help to know your geograpgic location and climate as insects can be associated with those two criteria.

I live in Arizona. Right now it’s pretty cool outside, but the bugs have been around since late summer when I moved the ducks outside.

 

[DuckDuck23]

They look like drain flys, They lay eggs in still water like in your sink drains, so you could try and get rid of any standing water, But thats hard to do with ducks

Research Drain Flys or Sewer Gnats

Looks like that could be it

 

[azygous]

Ah, the desert. There are nine different no-see-ums or midges as they're also called, that I've looked at, having spent much of my life in the southern deserts. I know there has to be dozens more. Have you been bitten by these insects? Have you looked at them under a magnifying lens? The no-see-ums look like teensy house flies, and most bite. You'd be amazed at their cutting jaws.

They are drawn to moisture, but exist just fine when it's dry. You're heading into spring down there and no-see-ums are a plague of springtime. I suggest you hang some fly strips or fly traps to control them so they don't breed and become a nightmare nuisance.

Permethrin poultry dust is also an effective insecticide against midges. You can also find permethrin in a liquid so you can spray the walls. There is also a great product, a tad pricey, called Elector PSP that is a liquid concentrate and it would also be effective. I buy it from Amazon.

 

[DuckDuck23]

Ah, the desert. There are nine different no-see-ums or midges as they're also called, that I've looked at, having spent much of my life in the southern deserts. I know there has to be dozens more. Have you been bitten by these insects? Have you looked at them under a magnifying lens? The no-see-ums look like teensy house flies, and most bite. You'd be amazed at their cutting jaws.

They are drawn to moisture, but exist just fine when it's dry. You're heading into spring down there and no-see-ums are a plague of springtime. I suggest you hang some fly strips or fly traps to control them so they don't breed and become a nightmare nuisance.

Permethrin poultry dust is also an effective insecticide against midges. You can also find permethrin in a liquid so you can spray the walls. There is also a great product, a tad pricey, called Elector PSP that is a liquid concentrate and it would also be effective. I buy it from Amazon.

I haven’t been bitten by them, and the ducks haven’t been affected either as I can tell. They do crawl around on the ducks, but that’s just because they’re all over the place out there. I’ll try the permethrin though.

 

[azygous]

I just did some searching, and it appears that since these midges are water born like mosquitoes, the larvae are vulnerable to the same insecticides used on mosquitoes. Have you heard of Mosquito Dunks? These are silver dollar size doughnut shaped discs that kill larvae in ponds such as duck and fish ponds.

You can buy them at most garden supply places or good old Amazon. One dunk lasts quite a long time and kills larvae in the water without being the least bit toxic to animals drinking or bathing in the pond. One dunk is effective for ten square feet of water surface.

 

[DuckDuck23]

I just did some searching, and it appears that since these midges are water born like mosquitoes, the larvae are vulnerable to the same insecticides used on mosquitoes. Have you heard of Mosquito Dunks? These are silver dollar size doughnut shaped discs that kill larvae in ponds such as duck and fish ponds.

You can buy them at most garden supply places or good old Amazon. One dunk lasts quite a long time and kills larvae in the water without being the least bit toxic to animals drinking or bathing in the pond. One dunk is effective for ten square feet of water surface.

I will definitely be buying and putting one underneath their pool and see if that helps. Thank you!

 

[azygous]

You need to put the dunks directly into the water. I use them all the time here in ponds where run-off collects and wildlife drinks from them. It won't be effective unless the dunks release their larvacide into the water where the larvae are hatching.