Massive amounts of Mosquitoes every night!

[ChickInnMama]

Hi,
We just had a hurricane come through our area (FL) and now after I’ve put the girls back in their coop they are being swarmed by mosquitoes every night. There are so many that two nights we’ve put them back in the crates they were in during the storm and put them in the garage to get them away from the swarms. My neighbor that has chickens told me to use mint, I looked it up and everything I read said it was safe so I’ve gone out and sprayed peppermint water on their coop every night and some nights it seems to help but others it doesn’t. I’ve been reading all the threads and bug zappers seem to be working for some and not for others? I read to put a fan on them at night, we have a fan in their run that I can point at their coop but the window is kinda high and I don’t know if it would go on them at all, my other concern is them getting too cold because (thankfully) we have been in the 60s at night and a fan seems like it would make them cold. Most of our flock just got over Dry Fowlpox and I have one that has it now after everyone else got well, she started showing signs during the storm. I read vanilla extract also but I have no idea how you go about getting enough of that on the coop? Add it to water? Someone else said they sprayed Adams Flea and Tick Spray all around the outside of the coop… is that safe for chickens? Thanks so much for any help! I have to figure out something because my girls are miserable at night, last night it was so bad when I went to check on them they were moving around and restless and when I looked in the coop it’s because they were swarmed again. I worry about them getting sick again and I have some 5 week old chicks that will be going out with them soon (I’ll be vaccinating them for fowl pox though, i would have done that to my big girls but I’d never heard of fowl pox until they got sick) so I want to stop this issue asap for my hens sake and also the chicks. Thanks again!

 

[IvysAnimals]

I recommend getting the fly strips from the tractor supply that are 30 ft or the 40ft long tape, or maybe just the small simple ones Bug zappers aren't that helpful all the time. A fan might help, but not for long

 

[aldarita]

OMG I feel your pain. I know how bad mosquitos can get. I have had some success using Mosquito Magician. It is a mix of different essential oils that repel insects. The instructions are to mix it with water and spray on the area you need to repel them. I did that for a while but the smell does not last long (it smells like Italian salad because it has garlic oil). So what I have been doing for years when I have a mosquito problem is to soak some cotton balls with the solution (direct from the bottle, not diluted) and place them in small containers inside the coop in areas where the chickens cannot get to them. This product is a repellent so it is not 100% effective but it does repel most of them.
I was concerned about my girls respiratory system with all these different oils but I was desperate. They are fine, I have not had any respiratory symptoms in all the years I have been using this product. The smell is not so bad, like I said, it smells like an Italian salad and eventually you get used to it.
I hope this helps in your situation. I buy the Mosquito Magician on Amazon.
Good Luck

 

[centrarchid]

Lemon grass I would setup so as in a scent trap with the chickens. Partially cover crates with cloth to restrict airflow allowing scent from plant to build up. Should confuse mosquitoes. Most mosquitos I have dealt with also have trouble when it is windy so a fan directing constant and fairly aggressive airflow can be a help assuming you have electricity.

 

[Lspears218]

Hi,
We just had a hurricane come through our area (FL) and now after I’ve put the girls back in their coop they are being swarmed by mosquitoes every night. There are so many that two nights we’ve put them back in the crates they were in during the storm and put them in the garage to get them away from the swarms. My neighbor that has chickens told me to use mint, I looked it up and everything I read said it was safe so I’ve gone out and sprayed peppermint water on their coop every night and some nights it seems to help but others it doesn’t. I’ve been reading all the threads and bug zappers seem to be working for some and not for others? I read to put a fan on them at night, we have a fan in their run that I can point at their coop but the window is kinda high and I don’t know if it would go on them at all, my other concern is them getting too cold because (thankfully) we have been in the 60s at night and a fan seems like it would make them cold. Most of our flock just got over Dry Fowlpox and I have one that has it now after everyone else got well, she started showing signs during the storm. I read vanilla extract also but I have no idea how you go about getting enough of that on the coop? Add it to water? Someone else said they sprayed Adams Flea and Tick Spray all around the outside of the coop… is that safe for chickens? Thanks so much for any help! I have to figure out something because my girls are miserable at night, last night it was so bad when I went to check on them they were moving around and restless and when I looked in the coop it’s because they were swarmed again. I worry about them getting sick again and I have some 5 week old chicks that will be going out with them soon (I’ll be vaccinating them for fowl pox though, i would have done that to my big girls but I’d never heard of fowl pox until they got sick) so I want to stop this issue asap for my hens sake and also the chicks. Thanks again!

Hello former Floridian here , now in Louisiana for 4+ years. I hope you are recovering the devastating hurricane you went through. I currently live on a bayou and the mosquitoes are horrible. I thought it was bad in FL but this is like living in a padded room with millions that just never stop until winter ! My chickens suffered terribly when I first built their coop and I tried everything. I wound up caving and having to spend the money on a bug zapper. I purchased the black & decker one on Amazon. I was scared to spend the money but I will say if you use this properly (read the instructions you have to constantly leave it on , not just when you see the mosquito at night) it will be a miracle to see it work. I keep mine about 40 ft away from the coop closer to the front of my house but it has covered a large area and hasn’t let down. When it gets caked up with dead bugs use a blower or duster sprayer and they come off very easy.
I hope you get rid of those pests because they are so annoying. Good luck !

 

[FloridaChickie]

OMG I feel your pain. I know how bad mosquitos can get. I have had some success using Mosquito Magician. It is a mix of different essential oils that repel insects. The instructions are to mix it with water and spray on the area you need to repel them. I did that for a while but the smell does not last long (it smells like Italian salad because it has garlic oil). So what I have been doing for years when I have a mosquito problem is to soak some cotton balls with the solution (direct from the bottle, not diluted) and place them in small containers inside the coop in areas where the chickens cannot get to them. This product is a repellent so it is not 100% effective but it does repel most of them.
I was concerned about my girls respiratory system with all these different oils but I was desperate. They are fine, I have not had any respiratory symptoms in all the years I have been using this product. The smell is not so bad, like I said, it smells like an Italian salad and eventually you get used to it.
I hope this helps in your situation. I buy the Mosquito Magician on Amazon.
Good Luck

I sprayed the inside the inside of my coop walls, roosting bars and nesting boxes with apple cider vinegar (while the flock was out free ranging) it seemed to help quite a bit.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Take a five gallon bucket. Drill 1.5" diameter holes around the sides of the bucket up near the top, below the reinforcing ring, NOT in the top of the bucket. Take a mason jar, fill it with some sort of Crisco or even lard. Shove a tall candle down into the jar, leaving the wick at the top of the Crisco.Place the bucket close to the coop or even in the coop, put the mason jar in the center of the bucket. Fill the bucket up close to the top of the jar with water, add one of those mosquito dunks, light the candle and put the lid on.

The candle will burn for days and the CO2 generated will attract the mosquitos, some will drown, some will lay their eggs in the water, you will gradually reduce the swarms and interrupt their breeding cycle. Most importantly, you draw the critters away from the chickens.

Do this around your property and it will quickly reduce the swarms.

 

[Bawkbok]

We are in FL also and experienced Helene and Milton. I leave a fan running on low all night at the opposite end of the run from the coop, but facing them for constant airflow. It has drastically cut down on the mosquitoes. They don't seem cold and in fact, one of the chickens slept in the open doorway I think because she liked the air movement. It has been hovering around high 60s low 70s over night here also. I wouldn't worry about them being cold with the fan going. Not yet anyway. I also have lemongrass and rosemary in planters outside the run.