For the last week we've had huge swarms of nats. I can't do anything outside because there are so many. They also bite, and now my neck has ugly red bumps all over that itch terribly. Does anyone have solutions/suggestions for this? I can't hang out in the chicken pen for more than a few minutes at a time!
Anyone else having problems with bug swarms?
Is this the same as the "Buffalo Gnats" and "Black Flies" of the previous thread? Are they biting the chickens as well? If so, I think they just go away after a few weeks. Does any one know?
Well, my chickens won't leave their house, they are all huddled in a corner, and I lost two this morning and thought that a cat did it. Now I'm wondering about these gnats. I have one hen who is not acting good. She's just kinda standing around with her head down. Maybe it is these gnats. What should I do for the hen?
Go to the feed store and ask for a fly repellent that can be applied topically to poultry. There is a thread here somewhere about Buffalo gnats...they were killing chickens too. I'll see if I can find it and bump it up. Here it is:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/838650/
This message was edited May 18, 2008 5:02 PM
Down here we have sand fleas that bite , but only near the beach or water .
This sounds terrible though.
We have knats that get our eyes and aggrevate .But don't bite .
Hope they leave you soon .
OMG! After I wrote that last post I went outside to check on my chickens and two more adult chickens were dead and the brand new baby chick : ( They were fine two hours before. I was watching the chick and the hens in the yard. The gnats are killing my chickens. I actually clear out a room, laid newspaper all over and brought the remaining flock inside. Their combs are pale, and the Salmon Faverolle can barely stand. I put electrolytes into their water and mixed it with food to help rehydrate. They were really eating it, but the Salmon I basically force fed. Poor guys. I am depressed, I have never seen anything like this before! If I would have left them out, the gnats would have killed my entire flock!!! I sure hope they can build up their blood supply/oxygen. I'm exhausted.
your poor chickens, and poor you! i'm so sorry... just keep them inside till they pass. i think once they have nothing to bite they move on... do you have a garage or someplace where they can stay longer?
hope it clears up soon,
tf
Thanks for your words. No, no garage, today I plan on going and getting either DE or sevin dust and putting it on the ground of their pen and in their house and I guess I'll cover them with sevin dust also. I had to thow out all these eggs that they were setting on because they went cold again, and I decided that I wanted the hens to eat and drink inside instead of focusing on the care of their eggs. It's really depressing, and I'm covered with these horible bites. I kept waking up itching all over, especially in my neck and face. Then at 5:30 AM, my roos started crowing in the next room, lol! They are acting much better, although some are still quite pale, they made it through the night and are not being eaten alive anymore. I feel bad because I could've saved them earlier if I would've known what was happening. I just can't believe this DID happen, completely unreal!
Patch they've hit here too. I'm covered in bites from trying to get my garden work done. They bother the goats too. I can see them itching.
Someone said they applied something. Try this thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/838650/ to see what she did.
MollyD
Is this something new ? Or have these bugs been around awhile?
We are having a terrible tick problem here .I can't even walk my trail without geting one on me. I have already had to take the strongest antibiotic known to man from tick bite several years ago. Our dog is in our fenced yard and we pull ticks off her all week long.
I had to soak her leg in hot salt water last night because of infected tick bite that has absessed.If not better today, to the vet she goes and that is always exspensive.Advantage doesn't work that good .Making her hold herleg n a 5 gallon bucket is not fun for her or us. But she did it after a few scoldings.
Hot salt water saved my life from blood poisoning in my hand from sardine can cut when I was a kid.The doc called the police to my mother because she would not let them take my arm off. She hid me in motels and soaked my hand in hot salt water till all the poison and red streaks up to my shoulder and neck were gone.
Sometimes the country life is dangerous.Wwhen we were kids living in the country we would get ticks, but never got sick from them .We were always in the woods .
I know I grew up in the country too, but have never seen gnats like this before. That's one crazy story about your hand by the way.
Insects are getting bad . I am sorry you lost the birds, I know that is painful for you .
Crazy story but totally true. I have been a believer in salt water [ table salt,not epsom ] every since. But dog has appt. with vet today ,too much to do to sit and hold her leg in water,plus she needs the antibiotics to stop blood poisoning , things are different now, than they were then I think.
Yep, I do believe your right about that!
If you "dust" your chickens with food grade DE it should relieve the problem for the chickens. If you "dust" your chickens with sevin dust it is recommended that you do not eat the eggs for one or two weeks after dusting. There is no waiting period for the food grade DE however! You can e-mail me if you need DE.
whatsupdoc how did you make out with your dog and the tick infection?
MollyD
Scramble thanks for the heads up on the sevin dust (I already dusted them with that as I could not find DE).
Can those eggs be composted so it's not a total loss?
MollyD
well, they contain poison. so i wouldn't unless you closely monitor your compost temperature. of course, i meant pathogens LOL
if i had to use sevin dust, i would wrap those eggs in plastic, then paper, then plastic, put them in a feed bag, and straight to the city dump!
We use Sevin to dust our dogs for fleas and they lick it off, no problem!Must have tough stomachs!!
MollyD
I used it on my goat and he never got ill, but goats are tough little guys!
We had a terrible infestation of what we call "Bee Flies." They look like miniature bees, but don't sting. Wherever I watered, they swarmed. They appeared for only about a week or two and are now gone. We also get swarms of honey bees looking for a new place for their queen. Then there's the flying ants that land on my Fruitless Mulberry and fall off, losing their wings, and disappear into the sand.
Cactus
Great, raining again! These things will never go away. Oh, and after spending all that time sevin dusting and putting petroleum jelly on faces and combs they lasted about five hours until the gnats swarmed all over them again. I made an emergency run to Orscheln's and purchased a spray with pyretherim(SP) in it. I sprayed down the henhouse and then when nuts outside killing hundreds. It worked so well that roaches were coming out of the woodwork and dropping! I have to keep spraying and keep an eye out though, because they could become a huge swarm again. Right now there are small annoying swarms out there still. According to some sites online, when the water reaches something like 70-75 degrees, it will kill the larvae and they will go. They have a three week life cycle and the females are bloodthirsty. Apparently they can devastate a poultry farm, it's happened in the past, and this year people are afraid of losing whole flocks! I think they are disgusting, and wonder if they have a natural predator?
We're waiting for things to heat up too here so they'll die off. My chicks are indoors so they haven't been touched by them. The goats have been annoyed by them, the dogs hide and I stay dressed for the north pole in order to keep from being bit. I had blood dripping on my legs where they got me.
MollyD
OUCH! i hope ducks or something will eat them... i hope you are using a mask when you spray that!
Actually TF I did not use a mask, I know I'm supposed to but I didn't have one on hand and saving the chickens was the only thing on my mind.
My cousin just emailed me something about using Listerine mouthwash as a mosquito repellent. You are suppose to spray it around your yard and door frames as well as applying it to yourself. I have no idea if it really works on mosquitoes, let alone gnats or black flies. But maybe.....
if you could find out the life span and gestation, then find where they lay their eggs, you could possibly stop this... just a suggestion from DH... mouthwash sound good!
The things that repel mosquitoes don't seem to bother these gnats! Not even those commercial sprays and lotions.
How do you track down something that is about 18th of an inch long as an adult and never seems to stand still?
MollyD
Quoting:
... just a suggestion from DH...
enough said? LOL
LOL
HAHAHAHAHAAAA!
Insects are getting more dangerous, I wear light weight clothing its the only thing that really works for me.
Yep I have to cover up all exposed skin to keep them off. Then I only have to watch out for my face and when I get that hat with a veil not even that.
MollyD
Well, the swarms have finally broke and we're down to a few here and there. The one real good thing about all this heat!
got a new hat on clearaance at a discount shop. just needs a bug net and a cord to keep it from blowing off. that will suffice until my birthday...
Patch here there aren't as many but what remains are the biters. They're still biting given half a chance. We're suppose to hit 80 by this weekend so maybe that will finish them off. I sure hope so.
MollyD
well, we hit 1-oh-8 today, and the flies have gone mad and started biting! just regular houseflies. DH says it's my fault, they bite me because i feed them.
squaemish don't read next line:
i always put enough liquid into the chicken/cat bucket and leave it sit just enough days to hatch out maggots. makes a great treat for whichever bucnh of chickens isn't free ranging at the time.
the flies are in the house becasue we finally got a cool breeze [dcooler than upstaris] adn i opened the bedroom/outside door. think i'll close it now LOL. and find a huge piece of tule to sleep under! ^_^
tf
Blah! Yucko!
I TOLD YOU NOT TO READ IT!
now somebody who is NOT squeamish, please back me up on this. it's the circle of energy. you create a protein source from a plant source to feed to the animals to create a nitrogen source for the plant source...
anybody gonna back me on this?
and don't tell my Mom, she would freak, she thinks i am jsut slow or lazy or busy and don't take it out often enough LOL
Thanks, Tamara, never thought of that.
GG