getting ahead of FLIES

[GinaNew York]

now that warm weather is in the future here in the northeast in CT, I'm wondering what everyone is doing to control/prevent flies - does anyone use the nematodes that are used in horse barns in the coop? We're using the deep litter method, so poisons to kill flies, would destroy the good organisms that would kill them if we used them.

How do you all deal with flies?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

No pest strips, and fly jars when necessary, and keeping the manure cleaned up. My birds routinely work the piles as well.

 

[GinaNew York]

do you use the deep litter method?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

do you use the deep litter method?

We do in our goat area during winter, but chicken areas are cleaned as needed. The goat area gets cleaned out once a year. Most year flies aren't bad her. I have lots of birds hunting them.

 

[Folly's place]

I like the little predatory wasps from Spaldings, and then the birds love flies and their larva! I use bagged shavings as bedding too.
Mary

 

[GinaNew York]

being our first spring and summer with the chickens in the coop, I'm panicking and want to be prepared -

 

[Gray Farms]

My Muscovys insure there are little to no flies around my place. Or grasshoppers either, can't remember the last time I saw a grasshopper here.

 

[cavemanrich]

I use these, and the flies are kept under control.

 

[Stephine]

Yuck, thise fly traps stink to high heaven - I can not stand to have them anywhere I can smell them.
We have never had many flies at all. I have deep litter in the run and use coop clean in the coop. The key, I think is making sure there are no droppings exposed sitting on top of litter (which they really don’t easily with the chickens churning everything up). If you have poop boards clean them every morning as soon as you let the chickens out. I do that and pick up any fresh poops that missed the board overnight and we never have any flies. Now yellow jackets are a problem, because they go for the feed...

 

[cavemanrich]

There is solution for those as well.

Just different attractant then flies.

BTW to avoid being exposed to the fly trap odors, place far away from where you are usually at. Flies will seek out the traps at the far end of your property and get caught there. As long as you capture them it means there are less around to bother you .
I place multiple traps into separate locations. I catch a large number of flies. Seems I clean out the neighborhood,,