Author Topic: Buffalo gnat control?  (Read 12930 times)

Guest

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Buffalo gnat control?
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2011, 01:29:41 PM »
Quote from: John
I had never heard of them, so I did a search and they are what we call black flies.

Yes, there are several names they\'re called accordng to your area; perhaps also to subspecies. I suspect the ones I\'m dealing with are a subspecies that prefers birds as a blood source. Everybody here calls them buffalo gnats, but I believe they\'re called turkey flies south of here.

ETA: I talked to the distributor today because even after two sprayings my coop and pen have reduced numbers, but they\'re still a problem. He\'s been on the phone to the manufacturer, and was told that in Canada they\'ve discovered that 12 oz [instead of 3] to the gallon was needed to kill/repel heavy blackfly hatches. He also stated the manufacturer suggested the canola oil was not necessary for blackfly control, but 2 teaspoons of Palmolive dish soap per gallon of mix was. The canola oil settles on still water that mosquitoes hatch from, and only a slight film of the mix on the surface will kill mosquitoes as they hatch.

Guest

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Buffalo gnat control?
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2011, 02:43:30 PM »
While the buffalo gnats are greatly diminished, I suspect that\'s due to the hatch nearing completion. I used the Mosquito Barrier mixed at 4 times the labeled instructions, as directed by the manufacturer, and sprayed the ground of the exterior, interior, and the netting itself, of a 10\' x 10\' First Up canopy with mosquito net walls. As soon as I sat up a grower cage and added chicks, a swarm of buffalo gnats formed outside of the downwind wall; they appeared to have been attracted to the scent of the chicks and not discouraged by the spray. The net walled canopy worked beautifully to protect the chicks.

Cooler weather accompanied by heavy rain and flash floods seems to have greatly reduced the buffalo gnat numbers; or else the hatch just naturally slowed. [Older locals told me the hatch usually lasts two to three weeks] For awhile my lawn and trees were completely lacking of any daytime birds................... it was kind of spooky. LOL Yesterday I saw alot of Jays, Cardinals, and Robins were back.  

Mike Gilbert

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Buffalo gnat control?
« Reply #17 on: June 02, 2011, 03:11:58 PM »
We have been having them here lately, but we are farther north.   All the birds are kept indoors now, so no problem.  I find a few gnats inside the coop  trying to get out the screens, but they are not a problem for the birds.  What few gnats may venture into the pens probably get eaten by the chickens.  Later, when the gnat population disspipates as it always does, the chickens  will be let outdoors again.

Guest

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Buffalo gnat control?
« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2011, 08:38:32 PM »
Quote from: Mike Gilbert
We have been having them here lately, but we are farther north.   All the birds are kept indoors now, so no problem.  I find a few gnats inside the coop  trying to get out the screens, but they are not a problem for the birds.  What few gnats may venture into the pens probably get eaten by the chickens.  Later, when the gnat population disspipates as it always does, the chickens  will be let outdoors again.

I hope and pray you don\'t have the plague hatch we had down here. The week before the main hatch, I would occassionally see a chicken shaking its head, but they mostly were pecking the gnats off each other and themselves. It appears that the population of blackflies here is back to numbers that don\'t pose a threat to birds; the wild turkeys were back to forageing along the road Monday and the song birds are back in my trees and yard. My survivors were forageing out in the pen yesterday, but still running back to the fan if just a few gnats gathered around them. For now, I\'m leaving the fan running and the chicks behind mosquito netting.