Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I really wish I knew how to get rid of flies. Too bad there isn't something that would instantly turn chicken poop into inert matter! We have those biting flies here and those things bite me when ever I get a splash of water on me or sweat at all. Worse yet is I can't keep flies out of the house. I can keep it shut up like a tomb and they still manage to get in.
Now we are having our annual run of fruit flies. That's the worst thing about produce from the garden. I think they must come in on it.

 

[HEChicken]

Now we are having our annual run of fruit flies. That's the worst thing about produce from the garden. I think they must come in on it.

Same here! Last year my DH said "they're coming up from the drain in the sink". That made no sense to me and I scoffed, asking why on earth they'd be down there. Then I googled it and what do you know - he was right!

I made fruit fly traps that work really, really well and are so easy. Just take a glass jar, then take piece of scrap paper and form a cone. You want the wide end at top and the narrow end down in the jar, about an inch from the bottom of the jar, so when making the cone, size it to fit the jar you are using. Then in the bottom of the jar, put about 2 tablespoons of ACV and 1 teaspoon or so of liquid dishwashing detergent. That's all there is to it. Place the jar near a spot where you have a lot of fruit flies (I have them hover over my compost crock and any bowls of harvested tomatoes) and they will be attracted to the smell of the ACV, travel down the cone and into the jar, but then can't figure out how to get back out so they drown in the liquid. The dishwashing detergent makes sure they die fast.

I had one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen last year and every week or so I'd have to empty them as they would be so full of drowned fruit flies. Then I'd start over with fresh. I just set one up again in the kitchen the other day and already the bottom of the jar is full of dead fruit flies.

 

[zigzag45]

Hi All - I like to check in every so often. I'd been reading posts pretty faithfully, then fell off the wagon and got behind.

@HEChicken -- My problem right now are possums. Inside the city limits, one is very limited in what they can do to deal with such pests. I'd trap them, but then I have to walk them into the animal control which affects leaving for work. Oh, and we do the same thing for fruit flies but use some banana peal in the bottom. However, they don't drown in there.

My birds are doing great -- mostly. I lost my only welsummer a little while ago for some reason. She laid beautiful egg.

We had three birds go broody all at once a month ago. We decided to put eggs under one as my oldest really wanted to hatch some chicks. It's chicken math, we didn't need any more birds - but we did it. The broody hen was taking a break when the other birds got into her nest (my fault, they aren't usually allowed out into the yard at the same time) and made a mess of things. She abandoned the nest for a few hours and fast forward, we had maybe two sorta hatch, but were pretty much dead. For the birds' sake and my kiddos, we bought some day old chicks and the broody accepted them and is happy, protective mother. I love seeing them out working the yard.

Flies aren't bad around here yet -but that is the worst part of having birds. I put out one of those bag/bottle fly traps but then my back yard stinks. And, dealing with it when full is super gross. First year, I thought I would save some money and empty/re-bait it. After almost throwing up a couple times I moved past that idea. $8 is now a wonderful bargain for a new one - I love how affordable they are.

I had a black australorp that was about 18 months old develop a big tumor or something on her chest. Poor thing - she'd kinda use her leg to push up against it when walking. Since I'm not a chicken surgeon I had to put her down. Hate doing that.

Hope everyone is well.

 

[chicken danz]

I used the fruit fly trap thing last year as well cause my sister said it worked. I don't know what was wrong but it didn't do a very good job. I've learned to keep a little bleach down in the drains which helps control them there. I guess I'll rig up some more traps and see if that helps. However since I'm bringing in tomatoes and such they seem to like them an awful lot. Wish I had a place to keep my tomatoes without refrigerating them besides in the house.
I've already been out and gotten filthy and covered with sweat. I got the birds nearly watered and did some mowing. I had to give up and come in to cool down some.

 

[HEChicken]

Maybe try putting some overripe tomatoes in the bottom of your jar and see if that makes a difference?

I just learned something new. I had always heard never to put tomatoes in the fridge so when you said that Danz, about not having room, I went to look up the reasons WHY they are better off at room temperature and learned that it is now outdated information. Apparently some tests have been done recently that show that tomatoes stored in the fridge not only last longer but taste better and have better texture than those stored at room temp. The reasons it used to be recommended to store them at room temp was they were assuming room temp was below 70. So, if you keep your house cooler than 70, you might still want to store them on the counter. However if you go above 70 - we've splurged this year and are keeping the thermostat at 82, down from 85 in previous years - the tomatoes really are better off refrigerated. So - I've just put a whole bowl that I picked the other night, in the downstairs fridge. I'm so glad to have found this out now, before they got too overripe and had to be given to the chickens.

 

[rlh1]

Hello everyone! I'm not new to BYC but I am new to Kansas. We just got our 25 chickens out of the brooder and into the coop. I post pics of the coop in that forum. I'm so excited about it!

For those of you using the jar type fly traps with the stinky bait...throw away the stinky stuff and just fill it with cheap apple juice. It works MUCH better! We didn't have as good of luck with the bait as we do with apple juice.

 

[HEChicken]

Welcome rlh1.

The problem with all of those jar type fly traps....they don't trap the kind of flies that are a problem for us and our animals. There are hundreds of different varieties of flies and they eat different things. Some are attracted to sweet things, some to the aroma of death, and some to the blood of a living animal. The jar type traps you can buy for a few dollars are baited with stinky stuff that attracts the type of flies that go after dead and decaying animals. By replacing it with apple juice you will attract flies that like sweet stuff - but neither of those types of fly is the biting kind that you really want to attract. So - the traps are essentially worthless.

Flies have big eyes but see differently than we do - it is more of an infrared type image that they see. Biting flies home in on a warm animal more by sensing the heat it is putting off than by seeing it as we "see" things. So - the type of trap you would need to catch and kill biting flies would have to "look" to them like a warm, live animal that has blood coursing through it. Such a trap has been invented but costs around $5K

so is out of reach of most of us. About the only people that have them are the big commercial dairies - and maybe some of the racehorse farms in Kentucky. If money were no object, I sure would love one - especially when I'm getting swiped in the face by the cow as I'm milking

 

[chicken danz]

Maybe try putting some overripe tomatoes in the bottom of your jar and see if that makes a difference?

I just learned something new. I had always heard never to put tomatoes in the fridge so when you said that Danz, about not having room, I went to look up the reasons WHY they are better off at room temperature and learned that it is now outdated information. Apparently some tests have been done recently that show that tomatoes stored in the fridge not only last longer but taste better and have better texture than those stored at room temp. The reasons it used to be recommended to store them at room temp was they were assuming room temp was below 70. So, if you keep your house cooler than 70, you might still want to store them on the counter. However if you go above 70 - we've splurged this year and are keeping the thermostat at 82, down from 85 in previous years - the tomatoes really are better off refrigerated. So - I've just put a whole bowl that I picked the other night, in the downstairs fridge. I'm so glad to have found this out now, before they got too overripe and had to be given to the chickens.

I often pick the tomatoes a little before they are totally ripe and let them ripen on the counter. But I will move the ripe ones to the fridge. I just did that a couple days ago when I was battling the stupid gnats. So far not one single gnat has made it into my jar. I was lazy and just put a funnel on top. I'm wondering if the dish soap fragrance is deterring them. I really do like tomatoes at room temperature better to eat. But that is more because I have sensitive teeth than anything.

Hello everyone! I'm not new to BYC but I am new to Kansas. We just got our 25 chickens out of the brooder and into the coop. I post pics of the coop in that forum. I'm so excited about it!

For those of you using the jar type fly traps with the stinky bait...throw away the stinky stuff and just fill it with cheap apple juice. It works MUCH better! We didn't have as good of luck with the bait as we do with apple juice.

Welcome to our forum. Please post your coop pictures here too. Many of us only post on this forum or one or two others specific to our taste. Mostly because we don't have a lot of time to look through multiple forums. We'd love to share your excitement with you. And give you opinions and help you in any way we can.

Quote:

Welcome rlh1.

The problem with all of those jar type fly traps....they don't trap the kind of flies that are a problem for us and our animals. There are hundreds of different varieties of flies and they eat different things. Some are attracted to sweet things, some to the aroma of death, and some to the blood of a living animal. The jar type traps you can buy for a few dollars are baited with stinky stuff that attracts the type of flies that go after dead and decaying animals. By replacing it with apple juice you will attract flies that like sweet stuff - but neither of those types of fly is the biting kind that you really want to attract. So - the traps are essentially worthless.

Flies have big eyes but see differently than we do - it is more of an infrared type image that they see. Biting flies home in on a warm animal more by sensing the heat it is putting off than by seeing it as we "see" things. So - the type of trap you would need to catch and kill biting flies would have to "look" to them like a warm, live animal that has blood coursing through it. Such a trap has been invented but costs around $5K

so is out of reach of most of us. About the only people that have them are the big commercial dairies - and maybe some of the racehorse farms in Kentucky. If money were no object, I sure would love one - especially when I'm getting swiped in the face by the cow as I'm milking

That's correct HEChicken. Fly Predators sell hatching insects, they are actually little wasp like creatures that feed on flies and they send you specific ones based on the type of flies that you have. I am sure I have those attracted to poop and dead things and the biting kind. I think I read where flies can sense odors over 7 kms away or almost 5 miles. So if you are using bait that isn't already there you can be bringing in a lot of flies. Like all things the fly predators have predators as well so your birds could eat them rather than them killing the flies. They would work best in a barn or somewhere contained.
I guess at that cost I'll have to settle for having the biting flies around. Ouch! It would be nice to get rid of those suckers though.

 

[HEChicken]

We set up some of those old-fashioned sticky fly strips in our cow barn and those will work on any type of fly as they aren't attracted to the strips but will be caught by them if they happen to fly into them. The strips fill up pretty quickly with dead flies so they are for sure catching them - and hopefully some of them are the biting flies.

Otherwise, to combat them while milking, I make up a spray bottle that is mostly white vinegar. I add a few drops of eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils and that mix works surprisingly well. I spray the cow down before I start milking and can watch the flies dropping off her and flailing on the ground until they get their bearings again. Then we set up a fan behind her as we had noticed that the flies are worse on still days than on windy days. The cows seem to really enjoy standing in front of the fan while we milk and sometimes don't want to leave the stanchion when we're done

Even if the cows didn't care, we've found we enjoy having the fan on. Even at 6am, it is warm enough that the fan while we're working feels good.

 

[Trish44]

Same here! Last year my DH said "they're coming up from the drain in the sink". That made no sense to me and I scoffed, asking why on earth they'd be down there. Then I googled it and what do you know - he was right!

I made fruit fly traps that work really, really well and are so easy. Just take a glass jar, then take piece of scrap paper and form a cone. You want the wide end at top and the narrow end down in the jar, about an inch from the bottom of the jar, so when making the cone, size it to fit the jar you are using. Then in the bottom of the jar, put about 2 tablespoons of ACV and 1 teaspoon or so of liquid dishwashing detergent. That's all there is to it. Place the jar near a spot where you have a lot of fruit flies (I have them hover over my compost crock and any bowls of harvested tomatoes) and they will be attracted to the smell of the ACV, travel down the cone and into the jar, but then can't figure out how to get back out so they drown in the liquid. The dishwashing detergent makes sure they die fast.

I had one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen last year and every week or so I'd have to empty them as they would be so full of drowned fruit flies. Then I'd start over with fresh. I just set one up again in the kitchen the other day and already the bottom of the jar is full of dead fruit flies.

My biggest problem in the house is my compost bin in the kitchen. We don't have a garbage disposal so all of the coffee grounds & whatever isn't good for the chickens or other animals goes into that. The fruit flies get in there & lay eggs on the sides & inside top of the container. It's worst in the summer. We just have to take it out & wash it & then I use bleach & hot water to kill the eggs & get them off because they're really stuck to that container. I use the round drum type of fly traps in the coop & used to use them in the garage when I had rabbits in there. They have some kind of attractant on them for the flies & they do get filled up fast if there are a lot of them. I don't like those ribbon ones because if you touch them accidentally it's really hard to get that sticky stuff off. I found that the biting flies are worse on still days & when it's getting ready to rain for some reason.

Hello everyone! I'm not new to BYC but I am new to Kansas. We just got our 25 chickens out of the brooder and into the coop. I post pics of the coop in that forum. I'm so excited about it!

For those of you using the jar type fly traps with the stinky bait...throw away the stinky stuff and just fill it with cheap apple juice. It works MUCH better! We didn't have as good of luck with the bait as we do with apple juice.

Welcome to Kansas & to our thread! So are you new to chickens then? We would love to see pics here as well. What kind of chicks did you get?