DE is AWFUL!!!

[TnChickHen]

Ok, so I've pretty much DE'd everything in sight. And to no avail, I STILL have flies. Will the madness ever stop?? Is there something else out there that I can use??? I'm just tired of being mauled by flies each time I go out to the coop......

 

[Noncentzter]

I read on here that vanilla scented air fresheners work well with getting rid of flies.

 

[jjthink]

I cannot personally attest to the efficacy of this but some find that vanilla deters flies. There is a thread somewhere here on BYC that goes into this extensively. Try the "search" function up above.
JJ

 

[dsqard]

How often do you rake your run? How close do you have your compost pile? Things to think about when it comes to flies. Sometimes you just have to deal with them.

 

[sabianshepherds]

DE only kills the larvae on things that the flies lay eggs on, it does not kill the actual flies. If they are hatching in your neighbors yard or a place you don't know, DE won't help. I have flies in the trees!!!! ugh!!!
I have pretty much tried every natural concoction to ward off flies, to no avail. I have resorted to hanging up fly traps in inconspicuous places, and using the automated fly insecticide. I hate to do it, but the flies are biting my dogs.

 

[mons02035]

I live in central Maine and we have a wicked black fly season up here. Back in late May I changed the coops litter and in the process I was being swarmed by hundreds of black flies. Well, once I started the process of putting down the stuff that McMurray sells which contains some DE, they fell from the sky. I looked down at the floor of the coop and it was littered with black flies. Now, I know black flies are not the same as the flies you are trying to kill but it does work for some things. My chickens actually chase the flies around trying to get them, it's funny to watch..... Come to think of it, my black lab does it too but she knocks things over and scratches up my walls trying to get them.

 

[crawfordmama]

Check out this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6887302#p6887302

I'm going to get some tonight!

 

[larryj57]

I put 6 of the vanilla scent car air freshners in my coop every month so far fly problem sloved.

 

[TnChickHen]

well, just went out there after spraying some yard spray (not allowed to let anything on it until after it dries, it's pretty hot here, so I think that it will be dry this evening, if not, I guess the dogs might be losing their kennels tonight) and WHAM!!! MAGGOTS!!!! So, I sprinkled the rest of the DE that I did have, which was about 2.5 lbs, and I'm waiting on it to work . I may need to use this yard spray 2-3 times a week. I did notice that AFTER I sprayed it, the fly population kind of went away. I clean out the coop every 3-4 days. I'm thinking this might be what is causing my chickens to be sick! The maggots. And, as I was scooping out the straw, I saw a creepy crawly BUG that had a similar tail to a scorpion. hmmm....

We do not have a compost pile this year. Don't know how yet, and our garden went to crap after our flooding. So we burn most of what we take out of the coop.

 

[BayouPoules]

We use the disposable fly traps. the Rescue brand from Walmart has worked best for us,. there is a noticeable difference and no scary poisons since we free range the flock. It's pretty disgusting towards the end when it has a thousand flies in it but it's great to throw them out!