I have not purchased my first chicken yet, but I have tried to read anything and everything about them over the last couple of weeks. According to articles in Mother Earth News, chickens are supposed to eat bugs, including flies. So if you have a fly problem with chickens, what would it be without them? Or is MEN posters just leading me down a path? Although not a main reason for me wanting to get a flock of chickens, pest control is one of the advantages that I am looking at.
Here's a receipe my neighbor gave me this summer and it worked great for all types of insects.
Cut a quarter size hole near the top of a 2 liter bottle. Fill with 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, 3 cups water and add a banana peel. Tie up and let the flies feast!
i saw something the other day about how you can order parasitic wasps that kill flys. they dont sting humans either. i think i am going to research further into it!
Next spring, before the flies start in earnest, consider using these in your coop:
Either hang them where birds can't get them or enclose them in a 'cage' of some kind. They last 3 months each and contain dichlorovos. They really work.
Plus, they're effective against poultry lice, fleas on barn cats, ticks....just a good dinvestment around livestock. Can be used in homes, restaurants, barns. Avoid in bedrooms of children or near food or drinking water.
Sold by most hardware stores, ag supply houses, co-ops, feed stores and tack shops.