Environmentally Friendly Fly Solution?

[0range]

I know flies have been discussed here pretty heavily but I haven't found an answer to my specific problem.

We live on a heavily wooded property bordered by marshland in Wisconsin. Deer ticks were a huge problem last year so we increased our flock (free ranging) size to help reduce the tick population. It has worked wonders! But this year the flies are crazy. I think the increased amount of chicken poop in the woods has created a breeding ground for flies I don't have an issue with flies in the coop.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on dealing with flies in areas where cleaning poop isn't an option. I've tried fly traps without success. I even tried making a homemade one I found online using raw shrimp as bate. I was thinking some kind of spray but I don't want to hurt the environment/pollinators. Any ideas?

 

[Folly's place]

Spalding's fly predators are very helpful against stable flies, and fly traps set up away from areas you visit can help. Don't hand them where you want to be!
Otherwise, it's likely about insecticides, and I won't use them in a woodland area either. Mary

 

[CrystalMosko]

I'm interested in this as well....

 

[0range]

So I ended up using a combo of fly traps and lots of them. I think quantity was key! I used a bunch of those Rescue fly traps with bate that you add water to plus some of the Rescue blue sticky ones meant for biting flies. I put them all throughout the woods surrounding my house. I also put some around my compost pile. After a few weeks the flies were no longer a problem so I feel like it was worth it but disposing of the water traps was disgusting! Next year I plan on putting them up before it gets too warm to try to prevent any future fly problems.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I use this hanging in my run.