Fly Repllent - Pictures

[Eggs4Sale]

Chuckzoo, gorgeous chicken coop and run! Man, if my backyard looked that nice, I'd have people over more often!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Chuckzoo, I forgot to ask: How did it turn out?

SUNDANCE: I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Could you more elaborately explain the 2-liter bottle thing for dummies like me, please?

I have pigs and cows, and it's stinkin' hot here, so we have some serious flies going on. I might need a whole roll of shiny pennies, and I can't drink that much soda.

 

[chuckzoo]

Thanks eggsforsale! I appreciate the compliment.

So far it seems to be working! I have only seen 1 fly and he/she was on the ground. I think I will hang another one on the side of the coop - I hate flies!

I am being made fun of quite a lot I can tell you. When I came back from my exercise class last night my husband wanted to know it I had found so new fangled form of airconditioning for the chickens as my one bag was dripping slightly! He was most amused when I told him what it was!

If you consider the fact that fly's eyes are a compound structure with many faccets it is conceiveable that this may deter them.

Come on guys give it a try - best case - it works - worse case you provide some amusement for your friends and family!

I must mention that the bag I saw in the feed store was a shiny type, not the dull type of plastic.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I had noticed that about the feed store bag. I'm wondering what kind they used. It reminds me of the kind you bring a fish home from the store in. My feed store doesn't have any of this space-age technology. I'm going to try it and hopefully I'll be back on here tomorrow gushing with kudos!

If you can get rid of the heat AND the flies, I'll really be happy.

 

[BethESH]

I don't know if it'll work for outdoor flies, but last year I had an issue with fruit flies in the house. I noticed that at a local grocery store, they had a smallish plastic container in a corner of the produce area. It had clear plastic wrap over the top with some slashes in it. The plastic wrap was rubber-banded to the plastic container. In the container was a sweet-smelling liquid.

I came home, grabbed an old leftover plastic storage container (it used to be used for leftovers until I couldn't find the top...isn't that always the way???) I filled it about 2/3 full with water and about 1/2 cup of sugar. I put a double layer of plastic wrap over the top and rubber-banded it on. I took a steak knife and cut about four 1/2 inch gashes in the wrap.

The fruit flies LOVED the sugar water. They got in, but they didn't get out.

Perhaps a similar thing would work in the chicken arena? Dunno. Just a thought.

Oh, and by the way, the fruit fly corpses floating in the container are a bit yucky to look at, but that's how I knew it was working!

 

[chuckzoo]

Some of this weird looking things actually do work.

In science we refer to Ocum's Razor - simply put the simplest explanation is often the most valid.

Eggs4sale good call on the pet fish bag - I'm going to get one of them too, it will be bigger than the one I am using. I emptied my husbands set of screws out of it to use and he had to find something else to put them it.

Let us know how it works for you.

 

[mdbokc]

We and our neighbors use small Ziploc bags filled about 3/4 full. Hang a couple near the front door entryway and no competing with flies to race in when the door opens. The folklore here is to hang them 5-8 feet off the ground. I use a paperclip and hang them from nails at my roof structure.

Use one about every 10 feet down the middle of the chicken run, one in the coop and a couple outside.

 

[chuckzoo]

Thanks for the info - I'm going to hang one at my back door. The flies love to come in there to get out of the heat!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

BethESH, I've been having problems with fruit flies in my kitchen. Apparently, my grocer has not used your method. But it sounded so easy, I ran to the kitchen and got my sugar water set up already. It was hard for me to leave the kitchen, but I think I was looking a little manic.

It's funny: I hadn't started on my water-bag/penny deal because my son had just completed his Coin Collecting merit badge, and for it we had searched high and low for a 2009 penny, but none was to be found. So I knew all of our piles of pennies lacked the required shine. Well, at the used bookstore today, I was going to pay with exact change, and when I spread out my four pennies in my hand, lo and behold, three were sparkly 2009s! My kids were looking at me like I had lost my rocker because I was acting like I found the winning lottery ticket. Nobody joined in with my glee. I can't figure some people out.

Well, the only bags I have are zip-loc right now, so I guess I'll try them. But I'm going to have to wait till the sun is setting to put them up. I don't want to smell myself smelling like cooking bacon!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Okay, I've tried the penny bag thing, and it worked! I tested it in the worst fly area, which is by my dryer. A hen had been laying eggs on it, but when we had to work on the dryer, she took to sitting on the back top of the dryer and laying her eggs. By the time I figured it out, there were 4 broken eggs on the floor behind the dryer. Then the smell started. Then the flies came, and a month later they're still there. So I hung the water bad there. Next day, two flies instead of 50. 2 hours later, one fly. Today my 11-year-old son came in and said "That water thing isn't working. There's a whole swarm of flies out by the door." So I went and looked, 2 whole flies. I think it was him, personally. He's at THAT age.