Mosquitoes have the potential to be incredibly annoying. Depending on the climate where you live, you might have a big problem with mosquitoes during certain times of the year.
Sometimes mosquitoes will get so bad that you won’t be able to go outside without getting bitten. In this situation, many people will choose to have their properties sprayed by professionals to get rid of mosquitoes.
You can also buy mosquito spray at a store and try to handle things yourself. If you want to do this, then you might need to think twice if you’re taking care of animals on your property.
For instance, chickens likely also need protection from mosquitoes, but you might not be sure if mosquito spray is safe for them. You don’t want the chickens to have to deal with excessive mosquitoes either, but you have to ensure that you do things safely.
Read on to learn whether or not mosquito spray is safe for chickens. This will help you to determine what you should do to take care of the mosquito issue on your property when you have chickens.
Some Mosquito Sprays Will Be Safer Than Others
The answer to whether mosquito spray is safe for your chickens or not will be sort of complicated. It isn’t a simple yes or no answer because there are many different types of mosquito sprays on the market.
Many mosquito sprays will be safe enough to use if you have chickens, but it will depend on how you’re using the spray. For instance, if you’re planning to spray the exterior of your home, then it shouldn’t be bad for your chickens.
However, if you’re planning to spray a broad area with mosquito spray, then you’ll need to use specific sprays that won’t harm animals. Some mosquito sprays are made using food-grade materials so that they won’t harm animals when the spray gets on the ground.
This means that you need to be careful what type of mosquito spray you’re using when you’re concerned about farm animals or pets. Chemical sprays are not good for pets, but you do need to be able to solve the mosquito issues on your property somehow.
It might be best to hire professionals who know what they’re doing to get the job done. They will be able to use the safest type of spray for the job that you want them to do.
Going this route is going to be much more expensive than buying a chemical mosquito repellent spray from the store, though. It will be safer for the chickens, but not everyone wants to spend this kind of cash to get rid of mosquitoes.
It’s also true that not everyone agrees that the methods used by professional companies will be safe for chickens. Some people feel that mosquito sprays are going to be a danger to animals no matter what.
For this reason, it’s going to be a good idea to look into natural mosquito repellent methods. There are things that you can do to try to protect your chickens from mosquitoes using natural things.
Plant Marigolds
Did you know that planting marigolds can help you to keep mosquitoes at bay? It’s true and it’s going to be an excellent way to protect your chickens from mosquitoes.
Marigolds give off a smell that helps to drive mosquitoes away from the area. If you choose to plant marigolds near the chicken coop, then it should provide your flock with protection.
This is great news for anyone who is looking for a safe and easy way to protect chickens from mosquitoes. Marigolds are very easy to care for overall, and they can even add some beauty to your property.
People often plant marigolds simply to add a bit of color to the area. If you want to plant marigolds as a mosquito repellent method, then it’s definitely going to be a solid idea.
Some people even hang marigolds around the coop to try to keep as many mosquitoes away from the chickens as possible. They really do an excellent job of keeping pests at bay.
The only potential downside will be if your chickens happen to start stripping the marigold petals. If the marigolds are within the reach of your flock, then they might start ripping at the marigolds when scrounging for food.
You can remedy this situation by simply placing your marigolds just out of the reach of your flock. Overall, marigolds will be one of the better options to keep mosquitoes and other pests from bothering your chickens.
Plant Citronella Plants
Planting citronella plants is another option if you don’t want to use marigolds to get rid of mosquitoes in the area. Citronella plants have been popular as a mosquito repellent method for a very long time and they’re completely safe for chickens.
People often use citronella plants to repel mosquitoes when they’re having a tough time with them. You’ve probably seen many commercial mosquito repellent products that make use of citronella as well.
Burning citronella candles can help to keep mosquitoes at bay, but you don’t need to burn the citronella for it to work properly. The scent of the citronella plant is going to do the job nicely.
You could go about protecting your chickens with citronella plants in a few different ways. Surrounding the coop with citronella plants will work if you want to do that, but you could also simply hang some potted citronella plants.
The point will be to have citronella plants close enough to the chicken coop so that mosquitoes won’t want to come near it. It’ll keep your chickens from being bothered by mosquitoes and it should help to repel other flying pests such as flies and gnats, too.
Some people also choose to place citronella plants in nesting boxes. You might have good luck going this route and it’s definitely something that people have found to be useful.
Much as with marigolds, citronella plants are easy to take care of. You don’t need to be an expert gardener to take care of citronella plants, and this makes planting citronella plants as a mosquito repellent method practical for most people.
These plants also look really nice overall and they smell really good. If you want a new plant that will add charm to the area while helping you to solve your mosquito problem, then try planting citronella plants and see how things go.
Lemongrass Also Works
Lemongrass is going to work well when you’re trying to get rid of mosquitoes, too. When you get down to it, lemongrass helps to repel mosquitoes in a similar fashion to citronella.
The lemongrass contains a chemical that helps to keep bugs away. It does a really good job of keeping mosquitoes from biting you during the summer, and it’s another safe option for the chicken coop.
This is another plant that people place in nesting boxes as well. It can help to protect the flock while they’re laying eggs and that’s certainly important.
Remember that lemongrass can be quite invasive in certain ways. When you plant lemongrass in an area, it has the potential to spread faster than you might expect it to.
It might be necessary to prune lemongrass regularly to keep it from getting out of hand. You shouldn’t find this to be too annoying, but it’s important to understand before you decide to plant lemongrass somewhere in your yard.
Planting lemongrass somewhere safe where it’s off on its own will keep it from harming other plants. If you want to plant something in front of the chicken coop to drive mosquitoes away, then you should probably only plant lemongrass in the spot while avoiding putting other plants too close to it.
Don’t let this information keep you from planting lemongrass. It isn’t as if lemongrass is that hard to deal with, but you will need to work a bit to tame it.
Get Rid of Standing Water in Your Yard
Now you know about things that you can plant to repel mosquitoes. There are also things that you can do to try to reduce the number of mosquitoes that you’ll have on your property.
You may or may not know that mosquitoes need water to breed. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and this means that standing water sources will be important to mosquitoes.
If you take the time to get rid of standing water sources in your yard, then you’ll have far fewer mosquitoes to deal with. It’s going to be worth your time to do this if you want to give your chickens a reprieve from the mosquitoes.
Try to go around cleaning up your yard and do what you can to eliminate standing water. You might need to remove small pools that you forgot to put away or you might have to solve puddling issues on your property.
Your gutters might be causing water to pool in a specific spot because they aren’t routed correctly. There can be many different things that can cause water to start pooling, and you’ll just have to go around solving the problems however you can.
Cleaning your gutters regularly can help you to prevent clogs, and this will solve many pooling issues near your home. Changing birdbath water regularly should help you to avoid having to worry about mosquitoes laying eggs in the water.
Simply being proactive and trying not to ignore standing water will make a difference. Now that you know this, you’ll be able to keep your eyes open from here on out.
Clean Debris in the Yard
Cleaning up debris in the yard will also help you to reduce mosquito numbers. Mosquitoes can also lay eggs in damp soil, decaying logs, piles of leaves, and other types of gunk.
This means that going around and cleaning the yard up can help you to keep it from being appealing to mosquitoes. You can rake your leaves and dispose of them to ensure that mosquitoes won’t be able to utilize the leaves for breeding purposes.
It’ll also be wise to get rid of fallen branches and other types of wood debris that you have on your property. Disposing of the piles of wood properly will be much better than allowing the decaying wood to help to create more mosquitoes.
Keeping your grass cut will make a difference as well. It’ll help to make your property less ideal for the mosquitoes in the area.
Maintaining your yard properly helps you to reduce mosquito numbers. For the most part, this is standard yard maintenance, but it is going to make a difference.
Whether you’re keeping chickens in your backyard or if you live on a farm, it’s going to be important to maintain the grounds. If you do the best that you can, then the number of mosquitoes on the property won’t be unbearable.
Final Thoughts
Mosquito repellent is supposed to be safe to use near chickens so long as you’re using the right type of repellent. Some repellent types are marked as being safe to use near animals, but others will be completely unsafe.
Many of the commercial mosquito sprays on the market will be bad for chickens. Some of them might be okay, but you’re going to want to check before using the spray near the chickens.
If you’re trying to find a good way to protect the chickens from mosquitoes, then you’re probably going to be better off using natural methods. There are many plants that you can utilize that will repel mosquitoes from the area.
You could choose to plant marigolds, citronella, or lemongrass near the chicken coop. These plants are safe for the chickens and mosquitoes won’t want to get near them.
Some people even put citronella and lemongrass in nesting boxes to protect chickens while they’re laying eggs. It can really be good to use natural repellent methods such as this so that your chickens can stay safe from pesky mosquitoes.
It’s also wise to do what you can to reduce mosquito numbers on your property. Eliminate standing water sources and clean up debris so that the mosquitoes won’t have it as easy.
So long as you follow this advice, you should be able to keep your chickens safe. Let your friends and family know what you’ve learned if they’re also taking care of chickens.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house. Growing up, I had pet dogs, cats, deer, sugar gliders, chinchillas, a bird, chickens, fish, and a goat.