Mosquitos and poultry - How to repel mosquitos from poultry

[Veggie Boy]

I have quite a few mosquitos around my place at the moment - lots of rain in recent times. I have noticed that the chooks have been stamping their feed constantly throughout the night. I've worked out that they are being annoyed by the mosquitos who have decided the chook roost is a great place to congregate.

Does anybody know of something I can use to repel the mosquitos from the roost/chooks.

Thanks.

[muttabuttasaurus]

Veggie Boy, I would bet that you could grow some beaut clumps of citronella grass. As has been noted elsewhere on this board lately, citronella grass is related to lemon and vetiver grass. The stuff I have seen is taller than your average clump of lemongrass and has a reddish hue down near the base of the clump. From memory there are some good clumps that you could propagate from at Northey St City Farm if you are ever up Brizzie way.
I reckon growing that around your chicken coop would be beneficial for the chooks in other ways in that its aromatic-ness would probably deter some other insect-poultry pests, and when you have a lot of it going you could cut it, dry it and add it to the chooks bedding...
Of course, there is also a citronella geranium; might look nice in hanging baskets around the coop where the chooks can't reach it!
What else, isn't tansy reputed to be a good general insect repellant? You could get truly hardcore and rub neem or tea tree oil into the perches!
Who'd of thunk that a chook would be bothered by mozzies. You'd think they'd eat the little devils. Maybe ducks would be better at that.

[Veggie Boy]

Putting herbs etc in the bedding sounds like a good idea. Don't have nay citronella or tansy growing, but will look to get some going. I'll also go to my herb bible and look for other plants that the mozzies might not like.

Thanks.

[Chook Nut]

Dito on the Citronella.... it grows exactly the same as Lemon Grass and likes a trim from time to time so makes a good mulch or bedding in this case for the chooks. Easy to grow from cuttings and can be divided every Autumn to get free plants :)

Dave

[Mont]

Tansy is vigorous and spreads via underground runners so would be good to trim regularly for your purpose. It's got a pretty pink flower (not particularly nice smell though) and is a companion for grapes so if you've got a vine, grow it underneath. It's supposed to deter all flying insects and will keep flies away 'especially when mixed with elder leaves' (according to an article in front of me) so maybe it will do the same with mozzies. Good luck!