Excessive flies

[LN2008]

Hi! I'm new to this and just wondered how many flies is too many? I just put them out in their coop/run last night and they seem to have a swarm of flies around them.. I mean.. SWARM. They've barely pooed in there too! I guess I'm just concerned about bird health and neighbor complaints. Thanks!

 

[Nicole01]

I clean/scoop the coop and run daily of their poo. The coop I sprinkle DE on the roost and floor. I don't have any flies in the run or coop. Poop management is a must. It takes me just a few minutes a day to clean. Good luck.

 

[Orangina]

Weird, is there anything else they could be attracted to? Is there a garden nearby, or anything with moisture? Is it really warm where you are? Reason I ask is because obviously flies will lay their eggs in anything, and if it's warm they will hatch like crazy. What about setting up a fly trap? If you google it, there are really cheap and easy ways to make your own traps out of empty milk jugs or even plastic water bottles. I tried to keep turkeys once, and oh my, those little poop machines were straight up fly magnets. I was cleaning up twice a day and still it was almost unholy how many flies there were.
Hope you get to the bottom of it and good luck.

 

[chittyn]

the most important thing is keeping the coop clean and DRY

 

[chittyn]

z

 

[Heiko27]

Question- Do green bottle flies or houseflies eat fruit? Like off the tree, breaking the skin? I live in the city and my neighbor has fruit trees, though he hasn't had them for many years and we are having a very moist year for this area. He says the flies are ruining tons of his fruit, he only has a few trees though, and showed me one tree that did have a couple of flies in it. But it also had other bugs on it. He claims my newly acquired duck pen this year is the problem....I don't think flies do that in their natural cycle- not unless its overly ripe. So am I wrong? My duck pen is messy- I try to put bedding in it and have a kiddie pool that I change the water of everyday and try to put most of the water out of the pen, and rotate spots so the ground does get a chance to dry. My other neighbor does not claim to have any problems with extra flies in their yard, but complain of an odor sometimes..... I can't give them more space right now because I need a fence, though they do get to run around the yard for a few hours everyday. And I don't actually live on the property with them but across town in an apartment, so they can't stay out longer. I am hopefully moving out to the country and buying a house.

 

[Brandon97]

i recently had a swarm of flies, it will pass over in a few weeks

 

[Mattemma]

I had issues with flies in the yard on the less formed poo.Stuff you can not scoop.Put DE or something on it to absorb it.Sticky fly ribbons. I had more flies in the yard on poo than in the coop.Ofcourse it was easier to clean all poo in the coop thanks to the sawdust-like pine shavings.

You could try some fly predators next year. I know there are flies that lay eggs in apples.I just get a lot of bees on the rotting fruit.

 

[effie]

Check this out!!!! My son and his girl ate in a restaurant in FL-outside on the covered porch and these gallon bags with water and a penny in them hanging up kept the flies out-he said there were no flies on the porch bothering them while they ate-I have heard it really works-maybe you could hang one in the doorway to the coop or the window



http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/water-bags-repel-flies1.htm

 

[fargosmom]

I think the real question is what is really damaging your neighbor's fruit? I don't think flies are the culprit, but until you convince him otherwise he's going to continue to want to blame your birds, instead of looking for the real solution. Perhaps there are more fruit-eating rats, or squirrels, or possums . . . . ? Or maybe . . . wild birds? I know my neighbor's fig tree is swarming with all of those right now, since the tree is loaded with figs. Hope you get this resolved amicably - it would stink to have your ducks become unwelcome for something they haven't caused. Good luck!