4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[unpave my path]

Hi,

I wonder if any of you knowledgeable chicken keepers could give me some advice on a fly repellent for use on my chooks.

I have just had a bad experience over the weekend with one of my chooks going down with flystrike. As soon as I noticed my husband took her to the vet for me and she was put to sleep. I can understand why this chicken was likely to attract the flies (messy poo) but it has made me paranoid about the rest of bantams.

I am going on holiday next week (ash cloud permitting) and my neighbour will be looking after my chooks for me and I would have liked to have been able to give my chooks a good spray with something before I went. They free range at the bottom of the garden and I don't seem to have a fly problem but would hate for this to happen again.

I was hoping I might be able to buy a spray of something to squirt them with - something natural would be ideal but I can only find on the net and locally products for horses and larger farm animals. I did however find this on the net and wondered if anyone has used it before http://www.roullierwhite.com/mrs-whites-swatnot-all-natural-fly-spray---250-ml-1951-p.asp?gclid=CI-nyraAgKkCFYYOfAodxBiGUA. I also thought about buying something like this http://www.valleyanimalsupplies.co.uk/naf-off-citronella-fly-repellent-200ml-3378-p.asp and diluting it for bantams. I have noticed that Omlet sell fly repellent for rabbits but not chickens. I did ask my vet but she didn't know of a suitable product and referred me to a local animal husbandry store who were extremely helpful and interested but didn't know of anything for chooks.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

PS sorry links aren't linked correctly - can't seem to get them to work

[Chucky Mama]

You can use citronella around the coop etc but I am not sure about the chickens themselves. People do use ivermectin based products and Permetherin Sprays which of course are not licensed for poultry (although some are licensed in birds -Johnsons & Beaphar both have sprays) and are not 'natural' if that is what you are looking for. There is a product called F10 that is a fly repellent but is generally used around wounds or in animals that are in poor health to keep the flies away. Hope this helps

[LunaKiw1]

We add garlic powder to our horse's feed as the smell then comes through her skin and it seems to help keep flies off. I guess adding garlic powder to the chooks food would mean they'd also absorb it and maybe the smell of the garlic in the grub would also help keep flies away. Last year we also used to dunk an old flannel in citronella oil and attach that near the run so that it wafted in the breeze - again helps deter flies.

[unpave my path]

Thank you all so much for your helpful replies.

I had read about the Johnsons and Beaphar products for small animals but didn't know that they were licensed for birds. I did think about contacting the manufacturers to enquire whether they were suitable for poultry and will still do. I hadn't come across the F10 spray before so thanks for the tip especially as I read that can be used for preventative purposes too. Their product leaflet is illustrated with pictures of birds so this sounds quite hopeful but again I am going to contact them to confirm that it is suitable for chooks. When I visited my local animal husbandry store for their advice, they did at first look at Strike Plus but weren't sure whether it was suitable for poultry so they very kindly rang the company and spoke to a chemist who informed them that it was not .

In the meantime, the citronella cloth and the garlic powder is something I can put into practice before I go on holiday.

Some really good advice.

If I get any answers from Johnsons, Beaphar and F10biocare I will post back here.

Thanks again.

[Chucky Mama]

No manufacturer will be able to 'advise' you to use their products on poultry. As they are not licensed in poultry it is illegal for them to say that you can use them even if they know that they are safe. There is very little that is licensed in poultry as it is costly to add a species to a product license - especially a 'meat producing' animal because extensive testing & egg withdrawal time calculations are required to prove safety for an animal that is part of the human food chain. Products are frequently used on poultry that are not licensed but you do it at your own risk.

[lillybettybabs]

I ivermectin mine and also do the plant pot soaked in citronella oil thing ( i read this somewhere on here)

and hang it right a the top of the run roof.

[unpave my path]

No manufacturer will be able to 'advise' you to use their products on poultry. As they are not licensed in poultry it is illegal for them to say that you can use them even if they know that they are safe. There is very little that is licensed in poultry as it is costly to add a species to a product license - especially a 'meat producing' animal because extensive testing & egg withdrawal time calculations are required to prove safety for an animal that is part of the human food chain. Products are frequently used on poultry that are not licensed but you do it at your own risk.

 

Not quite true. I spent the morning telephoning the various companies in my earlier posting and you are correct in that Beaphar gave me a definite NO as their products aren't for use on animals that enter the food chain.

However, Johnsons told me their Fly Strike Protector was perfectly safe to use on my bantams but because the product contains permethrin, suggest an egg withdrawal period of 3 or 4 days. Unfortunately the spray only lasts for 4 days so not a practical longterm solution although for a temporary holiday solution where all the eggs collected whilst I am away are discarded was a possibility.

Better still is the news from F10 Biocare, who informed me that their product is perfectly safe to use on poultry with no egg withdrawal period at all. All I have to do is spray their fluffy behinds once a week and the flies should be repelled. Apparently the spray would last longer except for the fact that the chooks in preening and grooming, are likely to remove some of it - so a bottle of F10 Germacidal Would Spray and Insecticide has been ordered .

[Chucky Mama]

F10 is fine as is not a 'medicine' I am quite a fan of F10 and have used it for a while but I am surprised that Johnsons told you that as they are not supposed to