Ron -- that bag is grossly stinky when it's full of drowned, dead flies; flies in the process of drowning; and fly maggots. I, for one, wouldn't want to cut into that thing to feed any of my chickens. I'd rather buy an order of live meal worms at PetsMart or online and give them good treats. You...
No, no poison. The flies enter through a baffle on the top of the bag, get trapped, and drown in the water. The attractant is in dry form when you buy the back, inside a mesh bag. When you add the water the dry solids (rotten egg yolks) dissolve into the water in the bag. That attracts the...
Superb long term fixes. Short term? Try a bag.
But DON'T put them at the end of the run--place them off to one side of the run at least 20-30 feet. They will stink and attract the flies AWAY from the coop/run. We use them in the front yard as well, but made a huge mistake. We hung one in...
My chicken mentor, George Mihalik, taught me one of his tricks for raising healthy show chickens: he fed boiled eggs blended (or mashed) together with grated carrots, powdered vitamin supplement, and a few things I can't remember. Bottom line--mashed boiled eggs are super as chick food. I've...
Here's what I do--and there are other posts on flies in this forum that offer other ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/792569/oh-no-flys-flys-flys/20
Juvie is a crested Swedish Flower Hen--looks more like a pullet (based on what the other Ks and Ps in that hatch look like) but could be a cockerel.
Mom is a Cuckoo Marans who was always "alerting" when I clanged the feed bucket (that's the dinner bell on my acre).
The "possible Dad" (OK...