Flies. Annoying. Everywhere.

[123ChickieLou]

Does anyone have any tips for keeping flies at a minimum? They're all over the pen and yard. Everywhere the chickens go, the flies are swarming.

I'm also having a lot of problems with mosquitoes in the pen area. Even though it's open aire, the mosquitoes congregate in the pen.

What do you all do to minimize flies and the like?

 

[Kaitie09]

I have those sweet water traps you can get at Lows or Home Depot. The flies are attracted to them and once they fly in they can't fly out and the sweet water is laced with a poison to kill them. They are good because the chickens can't get into them. I put sticky traps on the ceiling in the coop, but that is 9ft high and they can't reach it.

 

[123ChickieLou]

So the sweet water traps can be placed low enough that the flies will get in them (all my flies are near the ground) but the chickens won't be able to get in them? I have one baby chick too; she won't be able to get in it right?

 

[crumptz]

Are you using DE? You should sprinkle DE in the coop and the run. This will keep flys to a minimum due to drying out feces which is attractive to the flys.

 

[123ChickieLou]

Are you using DE? You should sprinkle DE in the coop and the run. This will keep flys to a minimum due to drying out feces which is attractive to the flys.

Thanks, I just sprinkled yesterday. How much should I use? I bought a large container of it and used about 1 cup. But all I did was dust the pen with the 'poofer' bottle. Should I use more? Or keep doing it for a few days? Should I rake everything out and spread a layer of DE, then a layer of clean straw, then poof some more on top?

 

[Kaitie09]

So the sweet water traps can be placed low enough that the flies will get in them (all my flies are near the ground) but the chickens won't be able to get in them? I have one baby chick too; she won't be able to get in it right?

The hole at the top is pretty small, so I don't think they would be able to get into it if you secure it right. If you are unsure, just go check them out at a local store. Most places carry them in their garden centers right now. I can't find a picture of mine, but they look similar to this:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16043

You can also make homemade ones using soda bottle. just google homemade fly traps and there are a ton of tutorials.

 

[crumptz]

Honestly, I've never seem specifics on how much DE. ( Remember... food quality DE only.) In my coop I put a layer.. just like snow on top of the shavings and then put another inch of shavings on top. The chickens scratch around and mix it in. In my run (10X5) I sprinkle about a cup... again, it is like a lite dusting of snow. You can see it, but it's not a quarter inch thick. Then, I toss some shavings on top (about an inch thick). I chuck about a shovel full of lawn clippings on the shavings and the chickens mix it all together when they are scratching for the lawn clippings.
This guy at the feed store told me to put a kitty litter box with 2 inch play sand, 1 inch DE mixed together. The chickens all dust bathe in it and it keeps all the lice of 'em.

If it rains, the DE will no longer be useful so you have to do it again. Remember, use a mask and wear glasses when using this stuff. It's really fine dust and it stings the eyes and isn't good in the lungs! Apparently, no issue for chickens though... go figure

 

[suzeqf]

I use something similiar to the sweet water traps but I get mine from TSC and it kinda stinks but works great, I hang it about 3 ft off the ground in a place i know they won't get to it, last year i hung it behind the roost and they actually knocked it around a bit but it never spilled, i used the sticky traps but they didn't work so good somehow my silly polish roo got all tangled up in one and got the other one stuck to his head we still haven't figured out how he managed to do it

 

[123ChickieLou]

I got a water trap from the feed store. It's the disposable kind and it was expensive. I'll be looking for one like the one posted above.

Man did that stuff stink!! I think they put pure rotten egg in there!

I remembered too that I've seen people hang baggies full of water with a penny in it. It's supposedly to keep flies away. I'll try that too.

As for the pen, do I need to dust with DE every time I clean it out? Yesterday it got a good dusting (and so did I) but I'll be cleaning it out soon too. I suppose I could go two routes, I could throw more straw out there and dust w/DE before and after or I could get rid of the old straw, then dust the ground and the top of the new straw. ???

 

[JackE]

Check this old post out.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/385613/vanilla-air-fresheners


People say it works.
Jack