At Home With Tori: protection against

It's Buffalo Gnat season. They arrived yesterday much to our chickens' dismay. The poor girls and Ringo spent the day snapping at them in the air, eating them off themselves and each other, and trying to hide from them.

Running for cover.

I had been dreading the three week invasion of these nasty little biting flies after I had heard of all the damage they had done to chicken flocks here in the past few years. I dreaded it even more than the fox that managed to get one of our Rhode Island Reds one early evening while she was free ranging with the rest of the flock. We can watch and take precautions and action against the fox and other predators, but these teeny tiny flies are a different story.

Buffalo gnats can kill chickens. The gnats arrive in swarms. The swarms can kill chickens and small mammals by biting and sucking their blood, much like mosquitoes. Many chickens who survive the bites have fatal allergic reactions. The flies can also block the chickens' nostrils and asphyxiate them. There have been reports of people losing whole flocks to the blood thirsty little flies in one day.

What can you do to protect your chickens if you have buffalo gnats in your area?

Make sure your chickens have shade. Dense dark shade is best. If you don't have a shady spot, you can create one simply by leaning a large board against a fence or tree.

Our make shift lean-to. It provides dense, dark shade.

If your coop is large enough, you could keep them inside. Keep it dark inside. Turn off all the lights. You may want to add some fine screening over any windows or vents.

Buffalo gnats do not like wind. You can use a fan to create wind in your run and/or coop.

Check for standing water and remove it and keep it cleared away.

Some people apply vanilla or Skin So Soft to the chickens heads, combs and wattles. You can burn citronella torches around the run. There are a few people who hang fabric softener sheets around the coop. The vanilla does work. I use it on myself and sprayed our chickens with it yesterday. It didn't last very long. You have to reapply it quite often.

EDIT: Editing in from my comments below: We did find something that provides instant relief for them but you do have to catch them to apply it. It's 'Skeeter Skidaddler, a 100% natural bug repellant. It from Gentle Breeze Farm http://tremblingleaf.com/ . We used the furry friend formula. We have applied it a minimum of twice a day to their combs, face and waddles and any exposed areas on their body. The bugs left them alone for 2 to 3 hours each time.

Pray for hot weather. Buffalo gnats do not like temperatures over eighty degrees.