Already have flies in the run...

[FirewifeJess]

My babies are still very little and only going out in the large run a couple hours a day, but already there's flies all over the poop in the grassy run. How do I remedy this? Can I "flour" the grass with DE? Should I? Also going to be getting some Sweet PDZ for inside the coop tomorrow but don't know what to do about the grassy run when it's warm and not rainy to dilute the poop into the grass. Thanks all!

 

[FirewifeJess]

bump

 

[itsren]

I'm not sure what you'd think about this - there's a fly trap you can get at Lowe's. It's a bag. I use it during certain times of the year when the flies start to bug me when I'm working in the garden. It works very well - so well that I think it actually attracts more flies to the area. Over a couple of hot sunny days it will completely fill up, top to bottom. I'll usually use a bag or two over a week or so, then take a break from the gross factor of it.

If we get flies in our run, I plan to hang one outside our run - a bit away from the chicks in hopes to attract them away from the coup.

The worst part is about the bag is it stinks to high heaven when it is more than half-way full. The scent almost resembles the scent of a corpse. We double bag ours before throwing it in the trash.

 

[devora]

bump

Not sure if it's still true, but I think this is not cool on BYC. Mods?

 

[FirewifeJess]

Thanks itsren! I will look for those, but I'm also wondering what to do with all the poop in the grass in the run right now. I know it won't stay grass for very long with 13 chicks eating it up like crazy, but it could still take weeks. What do I do about all the flies during this hot weather; they love the chicken poop that I can't clean up!

 

[geepy]

Get a fly trap and wash the poop with a water hose. Fly traps work well. The cleaner the are the better. I have 60 chickens, I clean up after them everyday.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Thanks geepy! I'll use the hose tonight and hopefully it'll help out with our weather tomorrow.

 

[FirewifeJess]

So each night after the girls are locked away in the coop I have been hosing down the grassy run. The poo is getting watered down and soaking into the ground and by morning there's no stink at all. So nice to have the poop gone in the morning! I also picked up some fly traps and vanilla scented car fresheners and hung 6 of those outside. NO MORE FLIES!

Once the grass is gone from the girls eating it and trampling it, what does everyone use on the ground in the dirt run??

 

[RonC]

Some put sand in their runs. I just use a rake and work the poop into the soil. Have to do it about every other day and the soil has to be loose like in a garden. May be putting sand in mine, it get's MUDDY when it rains.

 

[FirewifeJess]

I'll have to look into cheap sand here soon, since we get a LOT of rain. Our run will be covered though, so hopefully it'll stay mostly dry.