heaps of flies, is it the Lucerne?

[Bellevue]

We use to get straw but had some trouble a few weeks back and had to get lucerne instead. The ducks like is as it seems softer and they scuff it around in their house and make little nests. For this reason we kept buying it. But now we have little flies that seem to be breeding in it. The flies are in the duck house on it, around the duck food in the veggie garden (where the old beading goes) and anywhere there is poop. We did not have them before but the weather is warmer now as we are in Australia. We have hung up some enviro and pet safe fly traps but I cannot see this being the answer. We will go back to straw/hay and see if this helps. BUT has anyone else had trouble with lucerne?

 

[Trefoil]

er..what is lucerne?

 

[Bellevue]

Okay, I just looked it up to get a good definition as this is mine... It is just a type of hay, a bit more like grass. You can feed it to cattle, horses etc. Maybe it is only grown in Australia... gee I didn't think of that. Anyway, you buy bails of it just like straw hay. It is softer and greener.

Lucerne Hay.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Lucerne (also known as alfalfa) is grown throughout Australia, for use as a green fodder crop for pasture or for conservation as hay, silage or as a dried ground product... etc

YOUTUBE footage.

Maybe someone in Oz might know the answer to my question.

 

[toadbriar]

oh it's alfalfa! Don't use hay for bedding in the future, it's going to get moldy because it's got nutrients whereas straw and shavings don't.

When we get flies it's stable flies in the damp straw (I use deep litter bedding and put fresh dry bedding over stuff that composts) - anyway stable flies like damp poopy stuff. Sprinkle lots of diatomaceous earth in the bedding, it'll kill the flies and be safe for your birds. I'd sprinkle it liberally around and then put fresh dry bedding on top. It can be an irritant to inhale just cos it's powdered fossils but it's inert and cuts up bugs and dries them out.

Stable flies are bitey little jerks.

 

[zooweemama]

We used hay for a while and switched to wood pellets (usually used in horse stalls. a special kind of bedding pellet) I use diatomaceous earth and the pellets and we have a whole lot LESS flies now than we did with the darn hay. Plus the flies would bury in it and lay eggs and they just can't quite do this with the new bedding. Sorry about the fly issue- I hate flies!

 

[Bellevue]

Thank you... to both of you. This is a great help. Now, I just have to figure out where to get the diatomaceous earth. Flower nursery or produce store. We live in the Mountains so the our produce stores aren't great. One up the mountain one down the mountain (the mountain range is huge).

 

[toadbriar]

I get ours from the feed store. Where do you get your feed and bedding etc? They ought to have it there, call and see before all that vertical travel

 

[Bellevue]

Thanks again. We have just ordered it, from the internet, to be delivered... with a hefty delivery cost. Both of our produce stores have none. No surprise as they are hopeless and cannot even get in the duck food we want or vitamins. We have to go off the Mountains down to the Nepean river to just get duck food and other stuff. Anyone want to set up a decent produce store in the Blue Mountains?

 

[Amiga]

I have a similar problem here finding simple things like diatomaceous earth and coarse vermiculite, Veterycin, many of the goodies that BYC DF people find helpful. I order large quantities and keep them in metal bins.

I also, for long term fly issues, subscribe to a fly predator delivery service. That seems to have helped. This is the first year doing it. The predators arrive about a month before fly season. I'll keep the forum posted on how it goes next year.

This morning it was about 15F at my house. The weather service declares that it is 27F. I guess I live in a cold microclimate.

Reckon I will remember to drain the hoses for the rest of the cold season, regardless of the forecast. sigh.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a similar problem here finding simple things like diatomaceous earth and coarse vermiculite, Veterycin, many of the goodies that BYC DF people find helpful. I order large quantities and keep them in metal bins.

I also, for long term fly issues, subscribe to a fly predator delivery service. That seems to have helped. This is the first year doing it. The predators arrive about a month before fly season. I'll keep the forum posted on how it goes next year.

This morning it was about 15F at my house. The weather service declares that it is 27F. I guess I live in a cold microclimate.

Reckon I will remember to drain the hoses for the rest of the cold season, regardless of the forecast. sigh.

It's a bummer when we forget to isn't it.

It's snowing here.