Flies, they're driving me nuts.

[Dunkopf]

Fly ideas anyone. I know I need a shower but they're everywhere. We have goats this year and they are terrible. The poop is scooped and the soiled straw and hay is gone. They go after the grain that the goats dump out and the milk that misses the bucket on occasion. Washing the milk stand every time is not really an option because the floor is dirt.

Any effective methods. Using DE in their food too.

 

[mljohnson05]

is your coop and run all dirt, or do you have something else laid down?

With all dirt, the floor stays wet a lot longer and the flies like moisture, so it is a great breeding ground....Pine shavings can help reduce this too, but straw or hay, is bad...flies can find lots of wet spots in it.

Vapona, Black Flag and Home Hardware make a waxy strip in a plastic frame called a no-pest strip. Hang in coop (not over food/water) and flies will be minimal...

here is a link to a product i have seen used, with success : http://stopflies.com/products-page/fly-traps/solar-fly-trap/Solar%20Fly%20Trap

Also vanilla scented deodorizer or the vanilla car scent hangers have been shown to help a lot too....

Best Wishes,
Laura

 

[cameron]

Diluted pine sol

 

[RoeDylanda]

We got goats this spring and have the same issue. I looked everywhere for old-fashioned flypaper strips and finally found them at the hardware store. They work great! 2--5 flies buzzing around the 8x12 shed instead of 300. It's hung right in the center of the shed and changed every week or less. Good luck!

 

[easttxchick]

Have you tried the baggies with water hanging around? They work somewhat.
Sprinkling some Stal-Dry in the dirt may help some as well.
Good luck-they are surely a nuisance!

 

[NGT ANGL]

I am not sure what to do about the flies but I'll take your flies if you take my mosquitoes......the wretched things are horrible this year.....

 

[Dunkopf]

Thanks for the input. Tonight we have about 5000 flies on the front of the house wanting to come inside. I'm going to try fly strips and those nasty bags that trap the flies. We had some of those one year with our horses and they really smell bad after a couple weeks and 10,000 flies or so. It's been pretty wet for July and the flies have just gone crazy. We even have a dozen chickens in the same area as the goats and they don't even put a dent in the flies.

 

[redhen]

You need ducks. I used to see my ducks chasing the flies all over my yard. This year i have no ducks and the flies are bad.

 

[Dunkopf]

We tried ducks and they are so incredibly cute. They are so messy though. I would sure have some if we had a real pond though.

 

[Oldfort_mailman]

I tried the d earth(i would rather you beat me with a lead pipe than make me try to spell it) on their feed but not sure about whether it really even slowed down the flies. We sprinkled some on the ground in our coops yesterday, though, and today it was like fly ghost town. I have put seven dust in there before and still had more flies than this. I cant promise you it will deworm or prevent eggs in poop if fed to your animals but i guarantee it will kill the flies that land on it if you can sprinkle it around.