With all of the cold weather, natural bug repellent is probably the LAST thing on your mind…but with spring quickly approaching, it’s never too early to get stocked up on bug spray!
While Bug Soother was originally created for humans, our customers continually show us new ways to use our all-natural insect repellent! One popular use of Bug Soother is on animals. From horses to dogs to tigers, customers use Bug Soother all the time to keep their furry friends safe, happy, and gnat-free. But, outside of the animals we mentioned, it is also effective at keeping the gnats away from our feathered friends.
Although it is not widely known, gnats can be more than just annoying; a large swarm of gnats can be very harmful to chickens, even leading to death in some cases. There are over 56 million chickens in Iowa alone, so as you can imagine, this can be a big problem! At a very basic level, the extra energy exerted by chickens as they move around to avoid the gnats can cause them to suffer from heat stress, especially as gnats are typically most prevalent in already hot weather. But worse than this, black flies (“buffalo gnats”) which are typically the culprits, bite, and their saliva creates an allergic reaction. For humans, this usually just causes an itch. But for chickens, this can lead to allergic shock. Gnats also tend to get caught in chickens’ nostrils and airways, leading to suffocation. We’ve even heard a story of a chicken owner finding her beloved bird covered in gnats, not breathing. She says she “brought her chicken back to life” with Bug Soother when she sprayed her chicken with Bug Soother, and the gnats dispersed!
Whether you have a large poultry farm, or simply a small coop in your backyard, gnats can be a big problem in the summer. So, the question remains: what should you do to keep your chickens gnat-free? Because gnats thrive in hot, sticky environments, putting a fan in your coop can help deter them. Additionally, gnats are drawn to light, so keeping the coop dark inside will discourage them from bothering your chickens.
A final solution is to use our natural bug spray, Bug Soother, which comes in a gallon jug, making it simple to spray your whole flock! Whether you find one of these natural solutions helpful, or you come up with your own way to keep the gnats at bay for your chickens, we hope you are able to keep your flock gnat-free! How do you keep YOUR chickens or any other outdoor pets & livestock gnat-free?
