Arizona Chickens

[Michelle Guynn]

Mine try to catch the flies. They also eat ants.

 

[DesertChic]

While we are on the unfortunate subject of pests...in the last few days we have been suffering what can only be described as a massive fly infestation. They seem to be the little black house flies, not the giant horse flies. I have not noticed any bites, not on myself or the chickens. But, of course, they are attracted to the chicken area due to the poop and the misters. I am keeping it as clean as I can but it's almost as if they are swarming the areas with water. They seem harmless but are a huge nuisance. We have the smelly fly bags, fly strips, and a big sticky fly tube from the feed store...I am still outnumbered. Anything I need to know in the seemingly never-ending battle of the bugs?

Oh my gosh....the flies are HORRIBLE this year! My husband and I joke that the swarms are a sign of the apocalypse or something. All of this rain has really increased their populations. I'm using all kinds of fly traps and changing them out at least once per week, and there are still thousands of flies. I'm now considering investing in fly-killing nematodes.

 

[FeatherPugs]

@City farm - Hello! Long overdue check-in. Ducks doing okay. Sorry you are down to only one silkie. But I also understand having 4, 5, 6 year old girls. We haven't heard from Mary in forever!!
Yes the flies have been horrid - even with my fly eliminators I get from Arbico in Tucson/Oro Valley. Seems the last stretch of rain brought them out like crazy. I really don't like the poison thingees but I did hang one up in an area that was even worse that other areas. With the drying ground and the drying air the flies are a bit better but the mosquitoes are ready to turn me into one big ugly bump! I am told this too shall pass!

 

[nicollee]

Hello all! I am relatively new to BYC and to raising chickens. I am not sure if there is a way to search just our "Arizona" forum, so please forgive me as I am sure this must have been covered somewhere along the way... Does anyone in Tucson know of a processor that will process our non-laying hens? I read the tutorial on processing myself, but would rather not unless I can't find another way. I don't quite trust my cutting capabilities and don't want to botch things up for the poor hens.

You say that you are new to raising chickens...
How old are the hens you are done with?
Like people they start their cycles at different ages...
I had one hen that did not start laying when her sisters did,, but now she leaves me eggs every day.... Also, for some hens,,, the heat is really hard on them, and they take a "break"

 

[nicollee]

OH I wish I could get my girls up in the middle of the night to eat the stupid cockroach's!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

any suggestions on how to get rid of them without poison??
Currently trying DE, but I think the bugs are too big for it to affect them.

 

[MagicChicken]

While we are on the unfortunate subject of pests...in the last few days we have been suffering what can only be described as a massive fly infestation. They seem to be the little black house flies, not the giant horse flies. I have not noticed any bites, not on myself or the chickens. But, of course, they are attracted to the chicken area due to the poop and the misters. I am keeping it as clean as I can but it's almost as if they are swarming the areas with water. They seem harmless but are a huge nuisance. We have the smelly fly bags, fly strips, and a big sticky fly tube from the feed store...I am still outnumbered. Anything I need to know in the seemingly never-ending battle of the bugs?

I use Fly Eliminators from Arbico Organics. They are fly predators - tiny wasps that lay eggs in fly larvae. I have 40-50 chickens and I get a 1/2 unit of fly eliminators every four weeks, starting in March and running into October. They are not cheap but they work. Arbico sends extra batches in the summer. The number of free extra batches depends on how many batches you paid for. Flies are not totally eliminated, but the numbers are significantly reduced. Most of the time I don't notice any flies at all. Right now, after all the rain we've had, I'm having a small outbreak. Which means I notice a few flies around but they aren't annoyingly abundant. Without the fly eliminators I would have been overrun.

Those smelly fly bags are awful. I tried them for a while. I got tired of my back yard smelling like a rotting corpse. And even though they did catch flies, I still had flies everywhere. That's when I switched to the Fly Eliminators. Those things are worth every penny. And the supplier, Arbico Organics, is based in southern Arizona:

http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/fly-control-program

Keep it local!

 

[MagicChicken]

Oh my gosh....the flies are HORRIBLE this year! My husband and I joke that the swarms are a sign of the apocalypse or something. All of this rain has really increased their populations. I'm using all kinds of fly traps and changing them out at least once per week, and there are still thousands of flies. I'm now considering investing in fly-killing nematodes.

Use the Fly Eliminators from Arbico Organics. They work. And the company is local.
Edited to add I have no relationship with this company, other than being a happy customer.

http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/fly-control-program

 

[MagicChicken]

@City farm - Hello! Long overdue check-in. Ducks doing okay. Sorry you are down to only one silkie. But I also understand having 4, 5, 6 year old girls. We haven't heard from Mary in forever!!
Yes the flies have been horrid - even with my fly eliminators I get from Arbico in Tucson/Oro Valley. Seems the last stretch of rain brought them out like crazy. I really don't like the poison thingees but I did hang one up in an area that was even worse that other areas. With the drying ground and the drying air the flies are a bit better but the mosquitoes are ready to turn me into one big ugly bump! I am told this too shall pass!

It has taken me a few years to tweak my fly eliminator program. This year has worked well. I started in March and ordered fly eliminator shipments through October. Maybe I just got lucky this year, but my bonus packages of fly eliminators have helped keep the fly load down a lot. I have some flies now after all that rain in July. They are at the "oh, look, there are a few flies" stage. Not the annoying "get me the flamethrower, we're being overrun" swarms I used to have before I started using the fly eliminators. I think you can call Arbico and get some extra fly eliminators if the flies are taking over again. They have a pretty good customer service program.

 

[MagicChicken]

OH I wish I could get my girls up in the middle of the night to eat the stupid cockroach's!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

any suggestions on how to get rid of them without poison??
Currently trying DE, but I think the bugs are too big for it to affect them.

You could try putting out something the roaches will hide under, and then turning that object over so the chickens can grab the roaches during the day. In my coop the cockroaches like to hide in the hole of the concrete block I've got the water fount sitting on. If I pick up the fount during the day the chickens come running, grabbing cockroaches out of their hidey-hole in the concrete block and squabbling over the six-legged treats.

 

[igorsMistress]

OH I wish I could get my girls up in the middle of the night to eat the stupid cockroach's!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

any suggestions on how to get rid of them without poison??
Currently trying DE, but I think the bugs are too big for it to affect them.

A friend at work used to be an exterminator. He told me if they're coming through your drains into your house, put a little steel wool in the drain hole, make sure you can get it out when you use the sink. It tears up the roaches shell. I did, we don't have them in the house.