Flies And the proper way to deal with them in masses

[3LilBirds]

Good to know about the fish, we were planning on putting a koi pond in this summer.

 

[LavendarFeather]

Does this product kill bees? And if so, will it affect them if you spray only in your chicken and dog areas, on a non-windy day, and not on the flowers the bees like?

 

[sherylreno]

Yes, this does kill bees and you must keep it away from where the bees could land. As long as you don't have any flowers, flowerings shrubs and such you should be okay. When I used the spray the chickens were sleeping but my ducks were around it. There wasn't any issues with any sneezing or such for any of my flock.

I do get a fly every so often but then they're gone before I know it.

 

[Kiowa]

I am "the most" uneducated "Chicken Momma" on this earth, the nickname I gave myself. So everything is learned as I go. My question now is a friend gave me a product called Poultry Protector.I am assuming this will be helpful but there are other precautions I need to do. Can you give me the basic check list for making a healthy environment before they start laying eggs? They are about 2-3 months old. We built the coop out of an old shed and recently finished the run. I'm having arguments with my 11 girls (hens) about sleeping on top their nests but we're workin on getting the slope steep enough they can't get up there.I didn't realize pests can kill so I don't want to see that!

 

[lclough1998]

Great info, thanks so much for sharing, hate the flies. ughh

 

[sherylreno]

I am "the most" uneducated "Chicken Momma" on this earth, the nickname I gave myself. So everything is learned as I go. My question now is a friend gave me a product called Poultry Protector.I am assuming this will be helpful but there are other precautions I need to do. Can you give me the basic check list for making a healthy environment before they start laying eggs? They are about 2-3 months old. We built the coop out of an old shed and recently finished the run. I'm having arguments with my 11 girls (hens) about sleeping on top their nests but we're workin on getting the slope steep enough they can't get up there.I didn't realize pests can kill so I don't want to see that!

You should start by looking up tons of information on here. Raising baby chicks is a good start and then go to egg laying and such. That's what I did. I read all day long everyday before getting the chicks and then every second I could once I got them. There is so much information it's very hard to start.

I hatch eggs too so I really read a lot on here. When I first got my chicks I fed them the medicated starter. I don't do that anymore. If you've never had chicks before there's no need for it IMHO. All the medication does is block cocci and cocci is all over in the ground. It's not prolific every where such as Nevada so I do not worry about it any more. Cocci blocks vitamin B and it can affect their feathers such it did with my flock. I then went to using layer's feed but it didn't have enough amino acids in it for their feathers and my birds were eating the feathers. I switched to a flock raiser and that' really the best I've found so far. I was using Purina but again the amino acids were way too low and their feathers looked bad. I'm now using Nutrena which has a higher everything in it. The first ingredient in wheat and wheat is what the farmer's always fed their chickens. In Purina the first ingredient is corn and corn gives them high energy, sometimes to much energy.

This is just me though. I only have 1 friend feeding the layer's feed and that's because it was the cheapest feed she could find.

 

[GENTLMAN FARMER]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I am glad it helped. I know i was pulling my hair out untill i did the rearch and tests neccesary. anyways it was a reeal fun article. I am currently doing a study on egg production in extreme heat amd the benifit of provide additional electrolytes ( gatorade). Should be interesting. Keep following me and the ladies appriciate your support

 

[Frustr8dTenant]

Hey gentleman farmer,

I am Zeke, and I live in the greater Richmond, VA
Area. I recently rented a house in a quite neighborhood, on a cul-de-sac. It's VERY NICE, and it fits our needs to the tee, so we signed the lease right there on the spot because The Owners said they had 7 or 8 others that had appointments to look at the house after us. And so I'm sure u know what's coming next, THE BUT, LOL.
But, when we, (my wife Angle & I), toured the house, it was a little cold out, and that usually keeps pest away. So we did not see anything out of the ordinary, & of course the owner "FORGOT" to mention the HUGE FLY PROBLEM!!!!!
I mean it's so bad that I actually had one fly into my mouth! And After Projectile Vomiting, I decided to pass on the property. Well we had already signed the lease, and now I'm stuck, we signed a 2 year lease as the monthly rent was 200.00 cheaper, & The deposit was waived with the multiple year lease. The Owners are actually a great couple that we have known for a LONG TIME, & we like them a lot. But the fly problem is so bad that we are thinking of simply vacating the property and dealing with the consequences later. The culprit of the infestation are raspberry bushes. And the Owners are vehemently against the removal of the bushes. I thought about an "out of control " fire barrell (wink, wink) but the bushes are directly up against the wooden deck & I don't want to take a risk of not only passing off our Owners/Friends, but catching the deck & house on fire as well. Not to mention, I'm a very laid back guy that tries to find the WIN/WIN in every situation, but I do not have enough knowledge in this area of expertise, so I'm deferring to you in hopes of finding the win/win in this case. I'm a peaceful guy, so if I can do this without getting the Owners upset, I'm all for it. Please help!!!!!!!!
I will be indebted to you for eternity if you can find a peaceful,(win/win) solution to my problem, so I won't FLY OFF THE HANDLE, ( no pun intended ) and ruin a great friendship/property/opportunity.

Warmest Regards,
Zeke

 

[yellowchicks]

Hey gentleman farmer,

I am Zeke, and I live in the greater Richmond, VA
Area. I recently rented a house in a quite neighborhood, on a cul-de-sac. It's VERY NICE, and it fits our needs to the tee, so we signed the lease right there on the spot because The Owners said they had 7 or 8 others that had appointments to look at the house after us. And so I'm sure u know what's coming next, THE BUT, LOL.
But, when we, (my wife Angle & I), toured the house, it was a little cold out, and that usually keeps pest away. So we did not see anything out of the ordinary, & of course the owner "FORGOT" to mention the HUGE FLY PROBLEM!!!!!
I mean it's so bad that I actually had one fly into my mouth! And After Projectile Vomiting, I decided to pass on the property. Well we had already signed the lease, and now I'm stuck, we signed a 2 year lease as the monthly rent was 200.00 cheaper, & The deposit was waived with the multiple year lease. The Owners are actually a great couple that we have known for a LONG TIME, & we like them a lot. But the fly problem is so bad that we are thinking of simply vacating the property and dealing with the consequences later. The culprit of the infestation are raspberry bushes. And the Owners are vehemently against the removal of the bushes. I thought about an "out of control " fire barrell (wink, wink) but the bushes are directly up against the wooden deck & I don't want to take a risk of not only passing off our Owners/Friends, but catching the deck & house on fire as well. Not to mention, I'm a very laid back guy that tries to find the WIN/WIN in every situation, but I do not have enough knowledge in this area of expertise, so I'm deferring to you in hopes of finding the win/win in this case. I'm a peaceful guy, so if I can do this without getting the Owners upset, I'm all for it. Please help!!!!!!!!
I will be indebted to you for eternity if you can find a peaceful,(win/win) solution to my problem, so I won't FLY OFF THE HANDLE, ( no pun intended ) and ruin a great friendship/property/opportunity.

Warmest Regards,
Zeke

I read it on a different thread that those vanilla Christmas tree car fresheners would work to repel flies. So when I had a fly problem, after screwing up the carbon/phosphorus balance in my compost bin, I hung those yellow trees everywhere near my coop and around the compost drums. It worked within 2 days! Still do after three months. I kept changing the trees out every several weeks, and spray vanilla air freshener on the little trees to "refill" its aroma as a precaution measure. Now that I have the compost under control, it doesn't attract flies anymore, so it is hard to tell if I had eliminated the source of the problem or the vanilla trees actually chased away flies. Perhaps try these cheap yellow trees as a temporary measure.

Meanwhile, inspect those raspberry bushes to find out why they harbor flies. These links might provide a better long term solution for you:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/rid-black-flies-raspberry-bushes-57142.html
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/tiny-black-flies-raspberry-canes-91883.html

 

[Tomhusker]

Interesting read. I wonder though, if you use this stuff and it works as well as this says, what will be left for my free ranging ducks and chickens?