Flies, Flies, Annoying Flies!!!

[pookiegoldman]

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We do treat it with Lime. There's hardly any manure at any given time. I just don't get it.

 

[pookiegoldman]

What about Diatomaceous Earth? I've read that it does work. Does anyone have any experience with it or can verify?

 

[kla37]

I don't know if the DE works, since I have always used it, and it may have prevented the problem from starting in the first place. I sprinkle it with a screen top shaker all over the shavings inside the coop and gently mix it in once a week, and replace all the bedding inside the coop twice a month. (It's pretty small, only 4'X6') I do the same to the chicken run, which I use triple shredded mulch in, but I don't replace the mulch, I just mix it and turn it with a rake once a week. The run is roofed, so it stays pretty dry. Also, I take a bar of soap once in awhile and rub it all over on the underside of the roof (the ceiling) in the coop and the run, and it's suppose to prevent wasps from building nests there. Also use a lot of DE mixed up in the dust box the chickens dust bathe in, and I haven't noticed any parasites. I did all this b/c a friend of mine who has kept chickens for years does, and never has had a problem.

 

[DelhiRose]

We've had relatively good results with regular old Tat fly paper. We hang one strip out in the run, and replace it weekly.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Where are they coming from then?

We have 2500 hens in a small layer barn. The litter in the barn is kept dry and I've never had any problems inside the barn. We use fly tapes in the egg collection room to catch the few that decide to hang out in there. The only time we've had problems is when we get careless with manure outside. When we cleaned out the barn in July I hauled about 30 tons of manure to the far end of the property and stacked it to be spread this fall. Anywhere I spilled manure I cleaned it up and treated the area with hydrated lime. We had an area where I had pressure washed all of the equipment and there was several hundred gallons of manure slurry on the ground about 6" deep. I buried it all in grass clippings. We have something of a compost pile that collects a lot of manure, cracked eggs, dead rats, etc. I emptied a 50 lb bag of lime over it. After a few days you see where all kinds of larvae had crawled out of the pile and died. We had clouds of flies for about a week after clean out and then they were pretty much gone. We got a new flock of hens about a week after that and the fly population stayed down the rest of the summer, even though it was the wettest, most humid summer on record for our area.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

We have bantam chickens back there on the ground and they're doing a fair job of eating the maggots but not good enough.

We clean out the quail house every other day and pile the manure and we do treat it with Lime. There's hardly any manure at any given time. I just don't get it.

If there's enough to support maggots, I wouldn't call that "hardly any"

I'd just start putting down pine shavings and pelletized lime to keep things DRY.
Maggots need moisture to survive​

 

[pookiegoldman]

Quote:

We clean out the quail house every other day and pile the manure and we do treat it with Lime. There's hardly any manure at any given time. I just don't get it.

If there's enough to support maggots, I wouldn't call that "hardly any"

I'd just start putting down pine shavings and pelletized lime to keep things DRY.
Maggots need moisture to survive​

Every year over here, at the end of summer we're inindated with flies. This whole 7 mile Island is covered, even those who have NO outside pets. I think they're drawn in over here moreso because of the animals. It IS dry for the most part. One thing to realize is that my elevation here is exactly 1' above sea level. Drainage is totally totally different than anywhere else. When it rains, even just 1", it stays wet for days.

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

I got some of those trap -n-toss things from TSC. They work great.. Just gotta hang them in the area where the flies are... then start moving them away from the area after a few days. They will draw the flies to them.. them start moving them a little bit every few days// and BINGO pretty soon you have them way to the back of your property and the flies will go there.. worked for us.. love them..just donr over fill them so you spill it when your moving it cuz it stinks...

 

[Dora'smom]

This is our first year having a problem, and the hanging fly traps (the ones where you have to cut a hole in the top and pull the hard plastic up) have been amazing. They really draw the flies in, and once they're in, they have little hope of escaping. Next year I will stock up on more of those, early in the season, as they are a little difficult to find now.

 

[Whispering Winds]

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There is a spray bottle of the scent available for purchase to re-new the fragrance. I just saw it at an auto parts store this past week.

THAT is great. Will look. But I think its late enough in the season now where we might not have to deal with them much longer!! I know flies are important to the environment, the maggots and circle of life and all

but they are also the most annoying nasty critters on the face of the earth.