Buffalo Gnats!

jenjscott

Mosquito Beach Poultry
11 Years
May 24, 2008
3,701
45
256
Southeast Arkansas
For those of you who have trouble understanding how gnats could kill a chicken, I have posted the following picture. This is the result of a single buffalo gnat bite. Now chickens don't swell like this, but you can imagine the effect of the toxins that must be present in multiple bites that chickens are susceptible to. In addition they can suffer from blood loss, and plain out suffocation from hundreds of gnats blockin their respiratory passages. The scab on the nose is a coop injury, not attributable to gnats, I dropped a lift-up door on it.


10901_gnat_bite.jpg
 
OMG ... Thats crazy ... I am glad we dont have those round here.... The NOSEEUMS are bad enough... Does benadryl help with the swelling? DOes it HUrt? You poor thing...
 
I have a 3 inch diameter welt that is raised about 1/2 inch on the back of my arm right now.

Last week one got me under my right eye. Looked like a REALLY nice shiner with out the discoloration.

I sooooooo hate these dang gnats!!!!!!!!!!!!


Shout out to Indi..... I grew up in Indiana (Near Wabash)... no yo don't have these things there. I was rudely greeted by teh buffalo gnat welcoming committee my first summer in Iowa.
 
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Nope, we have enough of those too. Still got some craters on my ankle to prove it. When the water came up, a big nest of them moved up the hill into the turkey pen. We're trying to get rid of them.
 
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I hate those bugs so bad! Sorry one got you.

My buff orps have lost the feathers on their chins from scratching at them with their feet. I'm at a loss and don't know what to do. I've hung bags of water with pennies...haven't seen any flies...I have a giant fly sticky thing hanging and another smaller one in the run. They're both covered with gnats. Seven dust doesn't help.

I'm going to try pure vanilla on cotton balls hung by strings from the top of the run. It will look pretty silly out there until the gnats run their course, but if it helps, I'm sure the girls won't mind.
 
We have those things horribly here in Missouri. We lost 8 Chicks ranging in age from 4 weeks to twelve weeks in a matter of a few hours. I had no idea that was what was causing it. The next morning I called the Co-op, Department of agg. and the extension center trying to find out what could of happened to the chicks. They told me what was the most likely cause as they had already had 4 calls that morning. I went to the co-op and got some permectrin ll. Followed the directions and within an hour no more gnats. I didn't like the idea of using a chemical but didn't like losing my birds either. A friend of mine told me about the vanilla trick so I'll try next year. My husband has been putting it on when he's in the garden and they quit bothering him. So I'm sure it will work for chickens. That bit looks painful!!
 
They have been driving me bonkers. I put some local folklore together , try this.

Take an almost empty Downy Wrinkle Free spray bottle ( a teaspoon or so in the bottom) fill 2/3's with water, then add big squirt of Dawn liquid dish detergent, two tablespoons of plain salt, fill to the top with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. Shake well. Spray on the chickens as they eat, around the coop, on the inside of the coop, on you. It seemed to work pretty well. Let me know, good or bad, whether it worked or if it just worked here.
 
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Also I might add that IMITATION vanilla extract IS NOT what you want. You want PURE vanilla extract. Also My brother says that he uses the vanilla oil from wal-mart the one you burn for room freshening. He puts that on himself and that works. But I dont know about putting it on your chickens, however maybe using the oil around your coop might be cheaper than the extract.
 

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