I thought DE helped with flies??

[SobbaChickens]

After doing research and reading so many posts on this site about DE I was under the impression it helped with fly control. I bought a bag last Friday and sprinkled some over the coop flooring, in the nesting boxes (although the chickens don't use them yet), I put some over the roosts and mixed a bit with the food. There has been no improvement

I know the directions on the bag say it is to help with crawling pests. So is the only reason people use it as fly control because the chickens can eat it and then it's in their poop? I'm bummed I wasted the money on it.

 

[silkiechicken]

I would venture to guess it would work to dry out poop (fly breeding ground) and dry out maggots (baby flies) so you won't see any changes for a week or however long the fly lifecycle is.

 

[aart]

After doing research and reading so many posts on this site about DE I was under the impression it helped with fly control. I bought a bag last Friday and sprinkled some over the coop flooring, in the nesting boxes (although the chickens don't use them yet), I put some over the roosts and mixed a bit with the food. There has been no improvement

I know the directions on the bag say it is to help with crawling pests. So is the only reason people use it as fly control because the chickens can eat it and then it's in their poop? I'm bummed I wasted the money on it.

It can help, in the ways described in the post above, but it's not a cure all and may take more than a week to have any effect.

Maybe describing your coop setup and bedding maintenance might help others help you find more solutions.

Good Luck!

 

[SobbaChickens]

It's a 6'x8' floor, has loose vinyl sheet on top of the plywood and a thick layer for pine shavings on top. I use the rake to mix the bedding around. There are no wet clumps that I've seen.

I added more DE yesterday and last night I went to lock the pop door and since it was so late I took the flash light with me. When I climbed in there were roaches on the floor so now I'm off to research that.

 

[Stetson]

The DE will definitely help with the roaches! But you have to give it some time. It dehydrates them if it gets on their carapace, but it can take awhile to kill. I had a bed bug problem a couple years ago, and DE'd my entire house. A couple weeks later I saw a sickly looking bedbug in my bathroom, apparently looking for water. I ended up having to get my house sprayed by professionals, but up until the bedbug in the bathroom, I hadn't actually seen one so I wasn't positive where the bites were coming from. The guy who came to spray my house said the bedbug in the bathroom during daylight hours meant that the DE was doing its job, though slowly. I don't know if you'd end up with roaches seeking moisture in your waterer as they started to desicate, either.

 

[Chickens R Us]

I read on another forum here that vanilla scented car deodorizers work for flies. I bought a 3 pkg. of the tree kind and hung them in my coop , seems to be working. I had a fly strip in there but that not only catches flies but also curious roosters. I thought I hung it out of reach, what a sticky mess poor thing.

 

[SobbaChickens]

We had a freak storm yesterday and I didn't get the coop windows covered so half the floor was soaking wet (including the freshly filled 3lb food container) :/ so now I'm doing a complete clean out, going to put caulking around the flooring, lay the vinyl back down and put down a new bag of pine shavings.

NEW QUESTION!!
I bought some Sevin Dust 5%. Can I use it AND the DE?

I've read about the car fresheners too and I think I might try some, they aren't that expensive so it's worth a shot. I watch an 8 yr old boy and he went near the coop the other day and came running back yelling "bees bees!". The amount of flies was so overwhelming that it sounds like you walked into a bee hive.

 

[centrarchid]

More likely than not your flies are not breeding where you see the adults. If like mine they are coming from somewhere else they can find bigger turds for larvae / maggots to grow up. Around here it involves horses and cattle. Your apparent bloom of flies following a rain makes the uneaten feed and feces a stronger attractant bringing in adult flies from a long ways off to feed.

 

[SobbaChickens]

More likely than not your flies are not breeding where you see the adults.  If like mine they are coming from somewhere else they can find bigger turds for larvae / maggots to grow up.  Around here it involves horses and cattle.  Your apparent bloom of flies following a rain makes the uneaten feed and feces a stronger attractant bringing in adult flies from a long ways off to feed.

Sorry for any confusion. The flies and rain have nothing to do with each other. The flies have been a severe issue for weeks, the crazy rain storm was yesterday. We're actually in a bit of a drought.

 

[centrarchid]

Sorry for any confusion. The flies and rain have nothing to do with each other. The flies have been a severe issue for weeks, the crazy rain storm was yesterday. We're actually in a bit of a drought.

Habitats of maggots and adults still likely applies.