It sounds like a pretty 'fowl' suggestion but the odour of chickens could be the key to preventing malaria or even Zika, scientists believe.

Experiments by Swedish and Ethiopian scientists found that mosquitoes steer clear of homes which contain a live chicken suspended in a cage.

The researchers believe mosquitoes are wary of chickens because the birds eat the insects, and their blood is not nutritious enough to be worth the taking the risk.

Crucially the mosquitos do not even have to see the chicken to be diverted. The smell alone creates a poultry ‘odour bubble’ which deters even the hungriest mosquito from going anywhere near the pungent source. Most mosquitoes will not even enter a house that contains a chicken, let alone a bedroom.

But is suspending a chicken in your bedroom sounds a little extreme, scientists have isolated the chemical compounds and are now planning to develop a repellent.