Should I mosquito proof my new coop?

[j_morgan76]

I bought 2 chicks a few weeks ago and I have been constructing a coop for them. I live in Florida and the mosquitos get pretty bad at times. My wife seems to think I should add screen under the chicken wire to mosquito proof the coop. I am wondering if this necessary? Do mosquitos bother chickens? Can they affect their health. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Moabite]

I don't know exactly how important it is to protect them, but chickens have been used as mosquito bait for encephalitis and West Nile Virus testing. I used to help give blood test to chickens to see if they tested positive. On a positive note: Chickens (being an old world animal) are more resistant to WNV than Corvids.

Mosquitoes love chickens and it would be nice to protect them.

 

[gsim]

Quote:
I would put up screening everywhere if it was my coop. Mosquitos cause more death and illness in humans than everything else on earth including wars. Only old age kills more people. Why would animals be immune?

Gerry

 

[kuntrygirl]

If you can mosquito proof your coop, PLEASE do it. South Louisiana has a mosquito problem as well. They are the size of butterflies!!! I HATE MOSQUITOES. When you hit them one time, they DO NOT DIE! I have open air coops because of the hot summer temps but then my girls have to fight with the mosquitoes. My project before the mosqitoes come out this year is to mosquito proof my coops but I have no idea where to start. If you come up with a plan, please share with me.

This is why I hate MOSQUITOS!!!!!!! If you don't want your chickens to look like this, you may want to mosquito proof.

 

[TigerLilly]

KuntryGirl, (stupid question) how do you know mosquitoes did that? Mostly curious because I have one with a couple of spots like that...

 

[elmo]

When I built my new coop last summer, I did put mosquito screening under the hardware cloth covering the windows and vents. Most of my flock got fowl pox the summer before anyway, but it certainly can't be pleasant to have your comb and wattles bitten by mosquitoes all night. So I put in the screening.

By the way, do you realize that chicken wire won't keep predators like raccoons out of your coop? If you use chicken wire to cover your vents and windows, your chickens will have a lot more to worry about than mosquitoes. And, nope, insect screen won't slow a raccoon down much, either.

Welded wire (sometimes called hardware cloth) is much stronger and much safer to use.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Fowl pox is transmitted by mosquito bites. Chickens can catch it other ways, but mosquitoes are frequently the culprit.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-diseases-AvianPox.html

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I did research online at different sites and on BYC. I posted her pic on BYC and the chicken experts on BYC confirmed that it was Avian Pox and was caused by mosquitos. Please see the thread below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=422568

ETA: NOT a stupid question. We are all here to learn.

 

[Moabite]

Mosquito proofing my coop and run will be easy. I really should have thought about this a year ago, though.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Yea, I felt sorry for my girls and boys as well. To have to sleep all night with mosquitoes biting the CRAP out of you and you can't swat them away. Blood drips down from the combs and wattles and you can't do anything.

Where did you get your mosquito screening? Do you have any pics? I need to get started like this weekend on mine coops. Did I say, I HATE MOSQUITOES!!!!