Backyard "Ranging" & Flies

[MissusC]

I did a search and read a ton of threads about flies, but didn't find anything that was truly helpful for our situation. We are new backyard chicken keepers in suburbia and I put my 10ish week old chickens out in a tractor of sorts to forage (until they are big enough to not get picked on by cats/birds etc.). Since they have been out in the yard (our yard is 2000 SF maybe) our fly population has skyrocketed. We also have a very large dog, but his poop gets cleaned up almost daily. Do I need to try and rake up the chicken poop in the yard daily or is there another way to manage this?

I have the hanging fly lures/traps with water (that smell like death), sticky hanging strips and vanilla trees near the house. I was an exterminator for awhile but I was a commercial tech (as in businesses not farms) so I am clueless on this.

Thanks!

 

[triplepurpose]

Muscovy ducks will EAT flies like crazy... Maybe you could keep a couple with your chickens?

 

[MissusC]

I can't legally have ducks per city code.

I forgot to add to my original post...can I put DE or sweet PDZ out on the yard? Something to keep the smell and the flies down?

 

[mmktdox]

Do you move the tractor every day or so? I tractor meat birds and I hose down the area after the tractor has been moved. Then the next day as long as it's dry enough I rake. It helps some. We still have flies but we're not over run!

 

[MissusC]

Do you move the tractor every day or so? I tractor meat birds and I hose down the area after the tractor has been moved. Then the next day as long as it's dry enough I rake. It helps some. We still have flies but we're not over run!

I move the pen every day, max 2 days. It has been really hot and humid here (for us) and I am sure that's not helping the situation. I was watering the ground every day after I put the birds away and was wondering if that was making the fly situation better or worse.

 

[MissusC]

Bumping to try and get an answer on the Sweet PDZ or DE. Does anyone know if this is ok to use on a yard? We had grass (before the chickens) and we have a dog that uses the yard.

 

[triplepurpose]

Bumping to try and get an answer on the Sweet PDZ or DE. Does anyone know if this is ok to use on a yard? We had grass (before the chickens) and we have a dog that uses the yard.

I don't know what Sweet PDZ is, but DE won't hurt your yard or the dog. But I don't know if DE will do much for flies, and I do know it also doesn't do anything at all while it's wet (from rain or whatever). Sorry I can't be more help... Maybe somebody else can say...

 

[galanie]

I'm going to jump in and probably get H*ll for this, but here goes. If you have a lot of flies, then there's a lot there for them to eat. Consider what they're attracted to and remove it. I think for many, that means too many birds per the amount of space they have. I have a fly problem when I put out certain things. And there is an area that gets more than the "normal" amount of poo so they are attracted to that. But what are they eating? Remove it.

We have an unusual amount of flies because of the mild winter. It didn't kill off as many as per the usual. But remove the attractant, and the flies go away. This is from my experience this year.

 

[MissusC]

I'm going to jump in and probably get H*ll for this, but here goes. If you have a lot of flies, then there's a lot there for them to eat. Consider what they're attracted to and remove it. I think for many, that means too many birds per the amount of space they have. I have a fly problem when I put out certain things. And there is an area that gets more than the "normal" amount of poo so they are attracted to that. But what are they eating? Remove it.
We have an unusual amount of flies because of the mild winter. It didn't kill off as many as per the usual. But remove the attractant, and the flies go away. This is from my experience this year.

I don't know why you would get h*ll for that, it's a very valid point. In my original post I asked about raking up the poop in the yard. I have a very large dog and we pick up his poop, so it's not farfetched that chicken poop would need to get cleaned up as well. I just am not sure how to go about it. I pick up the rinds/peels of whatever I have given them from the garden, but I don't know what else the flies are on.

Thanks.

 

[galanie]

One way is to use a strong jet of hose water and wash it down into the soil, but that might not be practical for you. The reason I think I'll catch it is because I mention having too many chickens for the amount of space you have as a possibility.