I am posting this in the predator/pest area- cause I thought the fly trap idea would be useful to some ppl with the summer coming on. Plus I couldn't think of anywhere that this topic would fit into better. I think I probably got the idea of of BYC last year.
I've used DE in the coop from the beginning, but still last summer we had a terrible fly problem around the coop and so I hung up a few empty jugs with fly bait/poison(Golden Malren). It worked really well. I don't usually use poisons or pesticides but there is a horse in a pasture right behind our yard and the flies around the chicken coop were becoming a real problem in the heat of the summer.
Well, over the winter I forgot all about the fly traps. Recently, my daughter and I noticed that one of the jugs was full of pine straw. A few days later I looked in and noticed that it looked like a bird was making a nest in there. Sure enough, now there are eggs.
Here are some pictures, just to share. Sorry I don't have a more expensive camera, but if you look real close you cans see the eggs way down in the bottom of the nest. Whenever I go in to clean or set out food/water the mommy bird flies out all crazy. I can't tell what kind of bird it is, I am thinking it is an ordinary house sparrow. We are wondering, is the old fly poison going to have any effect on the birds? Also, these chicks, when they venture out of the nest as fledglings are sure to run into a chicken nearby and be pecked to death. Should I try to move this jug to a place of(relatively)more safety? Or just leave it be?
I've used DE in the coop from the beginning, but still last summer we had a terrible fly problem around the coop and so I hung up a few empty jugs with fly bait/poison(Golden Malren). It worked really well. I don't usually use poisons or pesticides but there is a horse in a pasture right behind our yard and the flies around the chicken coop were becoming a real problem in the heat of the summer.
Well, over the winter I forgot all about the fly traps. Recently, my daughter and I noticed that one of the jugs was full of pine straw. A few days later I looked in and noticed that it looked like a bird was making a nest in there. Sure enough, now there are eggs.
Here are some pictures, just to share. Sorry I don't have a more expensive camera, but if you look real close you cans see the eggs way down in the bottom of the nest. Whenever I go in to clean or set out food/water the mommy bird flies out all crazy. I can't tell what kind of bird it is, I am thinking it is an ordinary house sparrow. We are wondering, is the old fly poison going to have any effect on the birds? Also, these chicks, when they venture out of the nest as fledglings are sure to run into a chicken nearby and be pecked to death. Should I try to move this jug to a place of(relatively)more safety? Or just leave it be?