Freshly cleaned coop - this does not makes sense to me....

[Rockergirl]

I just cleaned the coop and the covered run yesterday and put fresh thick layer of hemp bedding down (in both the coop and the attached covered run. I walked out this morning and the place is COVERED with flies. Including the coop (their bedroom/nesting area) which I've never seen a fly in (I clean poop daily). I don't understand. When I say covered, I mean I personally walk through a sea of flies when I walk inside, actually, it even starts on the outside....hundreds of them. I'm perplexed....there was dirty old bedding that had been there for 6-8 months and it was just a normal amount of flies, nothing crazy at all. I put fresh bedding and it's a sea of them...

What worries me - I just put my 5 week old chicks out there (separated from the big girls) - and there are is covered too....I'm so worried these flies will hurt them somehow, disease, etc?

I do have fly traps out there - the hanging kind with the stinky liquid in it. But - why would I have a sea of flies after freshly cleaning the area.....? What do I do? What about the baby chicks?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I'd get those baby chicks out of there, and possibly the adults too. With that many flies, you could get flystrike in your birds, which isn't a pleasant experience.

How close is your compost near your coop? Does the run smell at all and is clean? Do you know of any animal dying nearby? Do you have any water places that could be backing up? Is your septic nearby and is any of it or it's water exposed/leaking (look for gray water seeping out of the ground).

I'd add more fly traps if possible. Perhaps go in with one of those electric fly swatters and swing it around on (careful of the birds if they start fluttering), killing as many as possible.

 

[Debbie292d]

I just cleaned the coop and the covered run yesterday and put fresh thick layer of hemp bedding down (in both the coop and the attached covered run. I walked out this morning and the place is COVERED with flies. Including the coop (their bedroom/nesting area) which I've never seen a fly in (I clean poop daily). I don't understand. When I say covered, I mean I personally walk through a sea of flies when I walk inside, actually, it even starts on the outside....hundreds of them. I'm perplexed....there was dirty old bedding that had been there for 6-8 months and it was just a normal amount of flies, nothing crazy at all. I put fresh bedding and it's a sea of them...

What worries me - I just put my 5 week old chicks out there (separated from the big girls) - and there are is covered too....I'm so worried these flies will hurt them somehow, disease, etc?

I do have fly traps out there - the hanging kind with the stinky liquid in it. But - why would I have a sea of flies after freshly cleaning the area.....? What do I do? What about the baby chick

Here's what we do. First, we use horse bedding pellets on the floor as that cuts down on any wet poop. It dries it out. I put DE along the perches and rails and in nest boxes and floor.
We used to use a dozen different fly products, but the flies from the horse farm come here, and it's horrific here too. Several years ago I asked my sister, who raises turkeys commercially what they use. PT Alpine. Hands down will do the trick. I spray a "dot" on either side of the window where they seem to congregate. I shut the door and come back in a half hour or so and there's not a fly around. It works for a month. It is pricey, but we bought our can 5 years ago and still have half a can. The dead flies are safe for chickens.

 

[Sammster]

Might it be possible, at least until you can figure out the reason for the flies, and get them under control, to employ a medium-flow fan or two, to keep the flies at bay?

 

[Rockergirl]

I'd get those baby chicks out of there, and possibly the adults too. With that many flies, you could get flystrike in your birds, which isn't a pleasant experience.

How close is your compost near your coop? Does the run smell at all and is clean? Do you know of any animal dying nearby? Do you have any water places that could be backing up? Is your septic nearby and is any of it or it's water exposed/leaking (look for gray water seeping out of the ground).

I'd add more fly traps if possible. Perhaps go in with one of those electric fly swatters and swing it around on (careful of the birds if they start fluttering), killing as many as possible.

We do have our compost really close to there and the big girls got to it and dug all in it yesterday...I wonder if that is what brought them over....the run does not smell at all, neither does the coop....I'm going to the store now to see what I can buy....I also just covered up the compost with a bunch of pine shavings, which probably wasn't a good idea but I was desperate, just in case, I thought maybe that would help

 

[Rockergirl]

Might it be possible, at least until you can figure out the reason for the flies, and get them under control, to employ a medium-flow fan or two, to keep the flies at bay?

We do have a fan in there, it's up top but flows down, somewhat.....I'll look at moving it some

 

[Rockergirl]

Here's what we do. First, we use horse bedding pellets on the floor as that cuts down on any wet poop. It dries it out. I put DE along the perches and rails and in nest boxes and floor.
We used to use a dozen different fly products, but the flies from the horse farm come here, and it's horrific here too. Several years ago I asked my sister, who raises turkeys commercially what they use. PT Alpine. Hands down will do the trick. I spray a "dot" on either side of the window where they seem to congregate. I shut the door and come back in a half hour or so and there's not a fly around. It works for a month. It is pricey, but we bought our can 5 years ago and still have half a can. The dead flies are safe for chickens.

I'm going to check out the PT Alpine. I do have DE but wasn't sure if that was safe around the 5 week old babies?

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm going to check out the PT Alpine. I do have DE but wasn't sure if that was safe around the 5 week old babies?

Yes, just sprinkle it, not dust it around. We've used it in the coop and brooder, and all the cages brought back and forth to poultry swaps.

I'm very anal about germs and bugs so use those pellets and DE even in the cages and brooder and bring hand sanitizer to make everyone use before they touch any chick.

 

[Sally PB]

I spray a "dot" on either side of the window where they seem to congregate. I shut the door and come back in a half hour or so and there's not a fly around. It works for a month. It is pricey, but we bought our can 5 years ago and still have half a can. The dead flies are safe for chickens.

Just to clarify... you spray on the inside of the coop?

I have seen some flies, not a lot, but too many for my liking. I bought some of the PT Alpine. I had to order it, as I couldn't find it anywhere for sale near me.

I have thought about spraying a "dot" on the ceiling of the coop, where the chickens can't reach. If I do that, would I just close up the coop access (pop and human door)? Having all the ventilation openings open is alright, I assume?

 

[Debbie292d]

Just to clarify... you spray on the inside of the coop?

I have seen some flies, not a lot, but too many for my liking. I bought some of the PT Alpine. I had to order it, as I couldn't find it anywhere for sale near me.

I have thought about spraying a "dot" on the ceiling of the coop, where the chickens can't reach. If I do that, would I just close up the coop access (pop and human door)? Having all the ventilation openings open is alright, I assume?

Yes, in the coop where the flies are. Sure, you can have ventilation or not; it's not like it's getting airborne. It's stuck where you put the dot. The ceiling is a great idea too.