Gnat Attack! NEED HELP AND ADVISE

[Farmer Kris]

We all know that the gnats are bad right now and I have heard that vanilla does the treat of repelling them. Is that true? If so, can I mix vanilla and water and spray it on my chickens without harming them? They just love to be out and I hate to see them fight the gnats. I have put up several vanilla air fresheners in the coop but when they are outside they are unable to enjoy the weather without being attacked. I have, sprayed the coop a little but am still scared to harm my chickens. If anybody could HELP I would be grateful. I love my chickens and hope to protect them. I have lost chickens in the past to gnats but am looking for any way to protect them this time. Please Reply!

-Farmer Kris

 

[so lucky]

I came on here looking for suggestions for the buffalo gnats, too! I know their season isn't very long, but they sure are aggravating. I think I read a while back that they could suffocate the chickens if they get a bunch of them in their nostrils. ??

 

[sn0wwhite]

someone else posted on here, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/782956/3-out-of-4-hens-dead-what-do-i-do-with-the-last-one, that you could put some vanilla on the chickens heads and spritz the coop with vanilla to deter gnats.

I don't know what ratio of vanilla to water you'd need for spritzing though.

I also just did a search and found this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/368487/flies-no-more-found-the-perfect-fly-repellent

Vanilla scented air fresheners to repel flies. Maybe that's all it will take for gnats too?

 

[farmer boy]

is a gnat a black fly because i have black flies and i typed in black flies and they look the same .. do gnats bite people a lot to ?? if so then i think there here to theres a bunch but they only come out around this time of year .. so are they the same thing ?

 

[De Wet]

any picture of this pest

 

[Farmer Kris]

I hate the gnats and they can be so annoying. I too have heard that they kill a chicken by entering the nose. What these gnats do is fly on the chicken, find a spot, and suck blood. They even do the same to humans. I find several fat, blood filled gnats in my chicken house and I kill each one. I have even seen one of my New Jersey Giants squeeze over and over again because a gnat got up their nose. I often check my chickens over to make sure the gnats are not on them. I do all I can to protect them and I wish these gnats would leave! I hope you find a solution to your gnat problem, please share if anything works.

 

[Farmer Kris]

is a gnat a black fly because i have black flies and i typed in black flies and they look the same .. do gnats bite people a lot to ?? if so then i think there here to there's a bunch but they only come out around this time of year .. so are they the same thing ?

I am not sure if a gnat is also known as a black fly. But they are a very small insect that looks like a fly but is very very tiny. As for what they do to people. Well they have been known to bit humans but they are very noise. If you have ever heard that annoying buzzing in your ear or those bugs that all around you but can't see them well that is probably the gnats. They seem to attack the ears around here. I just wear vanilla bug spray with leaving the house and use vanilla air fresheners with my chickens. If I find any information I will share it with you.

 

[chickcrzy]

I too was wondering about the gnat problem. I created a post wanting to know of how to apply Equisect on chickens, but no one replied. I am going to apply to their coop tomorrow when I clean it out, and will be using a cloth to apply to their feather and near face. I don't want to spay it on them incase it's not good for them to inhale it. I will let you know how it works.

Last week was my 11 week old americanas went out into their new coop. The following day my two cocks hadn't sang and after seen all their heads shaking my husband and I began researching. I noticed the gnats full of blood coming out of their feathers near their ears, horrifying scene. Since then I have ben rubbing copertone sunscreen on their exposed skin near their ears and face as well as feathers. I have noticed they are happier and wounds are healing. I have also used the imitation vanilla, which I diluted with water. The vanila dosen't seem to bother them. I have watered down some sunscreen and spayed the outsided the coop and run. It is a lot of work to do this on all seven chickens but it has been getting easier and they are worth it.

I hope the Equisect works and the gants season comes to an end.

 

[pigeonman]

yes we have the buffalo gnats here in s.e. missouri killing young chickens and pigeons they bite them and suck the blood
the females are blood feeders I have hung cotton balls soaked in extract of vanilla and hung on strings and hang in coop and lofts
I also use DE on floors and roosts I have only lost one 10 day old pigeon it was covered with them. Avons skin so soft will deter them off of humans also they will leave once the temp. reaches 80 and above.Maybe this will help.

 

[Coralietg]

I came here to try and figure out a solution to the gnats. I've spotted several on my poor chucks faces, full of blood. They are whitish looking, biting gnats or "no-see-ums".