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Sleeping next to a live chicken will protect you from mosquitoes

In the midst of all this hot weather, more and more people in Ireland are suffering from mosquito...
Newstalk
Newstalk

14.54 21 Jul 2016


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Sleeping next to a live chicke...

Sleeping next to a live chicken will protect you from mosquitoes

Newstalk
Newstalk

14.54 21 Jul 2016


Share this article


In the midst of all this hot weather, more and more people in Ireland are suffering from mosquito bites.

While we do our best to defend ourselves during the waking hours, we're almost completely defenseless against the little blighters when we head off to bed and try to get a few hours of sweaty sleep in.

However, it turns out we do have one way to keep our blood to ourselves... Chickens.

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Or more specifically, sleeping next to a live chicken will keep the mosquitoes away, because they can't stand the smell.

Professor Rickard Ignell, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, said: ‘We were surprised to find that malaria mosquitoes are repelled by the odours emitted by chickens."

In an article published on Malaria Journal, tests were run in Ethiopia to see which animals the insects were most drawn to, and while cows, sheep and goats all got fed upon, chickens were avoided entirely.

Ignell continued: "This study shows for the first time that malaria mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species, and that this behaviour is regulated through odour cues."

So there you have it, the smell of chickens will protect you while you sleep.

Whether or not you can sleep through the smell yourself is another issue, however.


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