American serama thread!

[larps1234]

Guys, how do I rid my chicken coop and run from knats and flys?

 

[larps1234]

Guys, how do I rid my chicken coop and run from knats and flys?

 

[muddyhorse]

Nothing will get all of them. I use fly tape ,make sure birds.can't reach it. And I sprinkle diatomaceous earth food grade around. This helps with mites too.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Ugh, and I was just outside at about 11:30 PM and saw cockroaches! YUCK, can I spray around the coop? I guess probably not Too bad the birds aren't active at night, they could make quite a meal of them if they were! It was the food left in their bowl that enticed them into the coop, grrr!

This will be my first summer with the coops, so I'm thinking I better get fly tape too.

 

[Brookhavens]

Guys, how do I rid my chicken coop and run from knats and flys?

Diatomaceous earth helps alot.

 

[larps1234]

Diatomaceous earth helps alot.

the coop is on top of the run. can i sprinkle it on both grass, and the plastic bottom of the coop?

 

[Brookhavens]

the coop is on top of the run. can i sprinkle it on both grass, and the plastic bottom of the coop?

You can put it just about anywhere you want. It is perfectly safe for the chickens. Just make sure to get "Food Grade DE" NOT the stuff for swimming pools.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Ugh, and I was just outside at about 11:30 PM and saw cockroaches! YUCK, can I spray around the coop? I guess probably not Too bad the birds aren't active at night, they could make quite a meal of them if they were! It was the food left in their bowl that enticed them into the coop, grrr!

This will be my first summer with the coops, so I'm thinking I better get fly tape too.

Quote: DE has to be dry to work well. It weakens the insect exoskeleton, and they dry out and die. (So also okay for chicken to eat any dead bugs.) Last summer we had ants trooping all over the coop to get to the water. I sprinkled a DE perimeter around the waterer and the coop and they were gone in a few days. DE in the nest boxes will deter mites. It should work on cockroaches.

You also might be able to set up some sort of a one way trap for the roaches. Bait them into a glass bottle that they can't get out of, and in the morning the chickens could have a yummy breakfast!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Ugh, and I was just outside at about 11:30 PM and saw cockroaches!  YUCK, can I spray around the coop?  I guess probably not   Too bad the birds aren't active at night, they could make quite a meal of them if they were!  It was the food left in their bowl that enticed them into the coop, grrr!

This will be my first summer with the coops, so I'm thinking I better get fly tape too.

You can put something on your coop (I have a tree round that I can lift), wet the ground under it and let it sit there for a while. Every once in a while lift it up and your chickens will get to enjoy the bugs that have moved in. Keeping it moist underneath will encourage more bugs.

 

[Haubitze]

Just to echo the rest of you, DE is a godsend. It's great for all kinds of things! Since I have my coop indoors, I don't really have a bug problem, but sprinkling some DE on the coop floor really helps keep any smells down, and it quickly dries up poop for easy clean up and no dirty chicken feet.