Flies everywhere

[Jackson F]

First of all I am very new to chickens so bear with me. I have four hens and there are flies every where in the chicken run. I’ve tried vanilla little trees, water fly traps, DE, and herbs. And I still see flys everywhere. Is this harmful? Or is something that I have to bear with.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I have tons of flies every year. They don't bite the girls but they are super annoying. They've almost all left for autumn now, for me. It happens every year and I never do anything about it. If they are biting the girls, it would be a different story.

 

[Ted Brown]

I currently have 32 chickens in my coop/run. I use drop boards, deep bedding in the coop, deep litter in the run and a disciplined approach to removal of droppings from under the roosts (daily preferred but removal does occasional stretch to 4-5 days). I change the coop bedding once per year and have not changed the run litter in the 4+ years I have kept chickens.

I have never had more than an occasional fly in either the run or coop.

If I allow droppings under the roosts to accumulate the few flies that I get will increase. They are attracted by chicken waste and the attendant increase in moisture and smell.

If one has "flies everywhere" it is because the run & coop is not kept clean. Change that and your flies will disappear.

 

[Happy hen lover]

First of all I am very new to chickens so bear with me. I have four hens and there are flies every where in the chicken run. I’ve tried vanilla little trees, water fly traps, DE, and herbs. And I still see flys everywhere. Is this harmful? Or is something that I have to bear with.

Start putting wood chips in run to help with smell. I added lawn cuttings last week and the fly population went down.

 

[Acre4Me]

Our compost is outside the run-that is where the flies are. We use the throw away traps, but if the fly population is high, then we spray with a permethrin solution. Permethrin is synthetic form of a compound found in marigolds. But, id spray the area when the girls are locked up for the night, or lock them out if the coop for a few hours during the day. No egg withdrawal. Actually we’ve directly sprayed the girls with permethrin solution when they had poultry lice, so it’s really fine for the chickens (but, not for cats). But, you have to spray more than once bc flies lay eggs so you spray on an interval to get the hatched flies.

 

[Ted Brown]

A caution re the post immediately above.

Permethrin is an effective insect control treatment for many insects including lice and mites and is widely used in agricultural applications.

However, resistance to it's effectiveness can develop with frequent use. The use in compost can negatively affect cats, as stated and. in addition, "Water contamination by pesticides is known to induce harmful impacts on the production, reproduction, and survivability of living aquatic organisms, such as algae, aquatic plants, and fish (shellfish and finfish species)." (National Library of Medicine).

In general, the use of permethrin and other insect control treatments should only be used in response to specific and identified infestations that cannot be treated in other ways (eg to eradicate flies when other means of control such as removal of waste are available).

 

[Kiki]

I use both of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Bronco-Equin...lies&sprefix=bronco+horse+fly,pets,127&sr=1-3

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/martins-horse-stable-permethrin-citronella-spray-1-qt

 

[Acre4Me]

A caution re the post immediately above.

Permethrin is an effective insect control treatment for many insects including lice and mites and is widely used in agricultural applications.

However, resistance to it's effectiveness can develop with frequent use. The use in compost can negatively affect cats, as stated and. in addition, "Water contamination by pesticides is known to induce harmful impacts on the production, reproduction, and survivability of living aquatic organisms, such as algae, aquatic plants, and fish (shellfish and finfish species)." (National Library of Medicine).

In general, the use of permethrin and other insect control treatments should only be used in response to specific and identified infestations that cannot be treated in other ways (eg to eradicate flies when other means of control such as removal of waste are available).

True. Luckily, I only use permethrin when it is really needed. I think it had been at least a year (possibly 2) since I used it. I’m no where near a body of water, so that’s a bonus.

 

[DonyaQuick]

What kind of flies?

Large quanities of your regular harmless house or fruit flies always signals to me that I have a moisture problem in/around my coop - typically poop staying wet for a long time because there is a drainage issue or it's not getting burried properly due to the bedding being scraped away by the chickens under a roost, etc. If I see either of those type of flies in any kind of abundance around my chickens, I look for wet areas, scoop out any soggy stuff, and re-cover the areas with dry pine shavings or wood chips to mitigate the moisture. The flies usually leave pretty quickly.

Biting flies like horse and deer flies are another matter...I get those traveling through sometimes too because my neighbors have horses and cows. I never see them harassing my chickens though, just me lol.

No-see-ums ad other biting gnat things are a seasonal nuissance that have nothing to do with my coops, but again the drier I can keep everything in and around the chickens the less interested they are in going there. Keepnig nearby, open grassy areas mowed quite short is about the only thing I've noticed decreases those.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I currently have 32 chickens in my coop/run. I use drop boards, deep bedding in the coop, deep litter in the run and a disciplined approach to removal of droppings from under the roosts (daily preferred but removal does occasional stretch to 4-5 days). I change the coop bedding once per year and have not changed the run litter in the 4+ years I have kept chickens.

I have never had more than an occasional fly in either the run or coop.

If I allow droppings under the roosts to accumulate the few flies that I get will increase. They are attracted by chicken waste and the attendant increase in moisture and smell.

If one has "flies everywhere" it is because the run & coop is not kept clean. Change that and your flies will disappear.

2x. The best way to go