Managing bugs in the coop with DE

[DehliaBlu]

Lately I have had a problem with small flies on my pullets. They seem annoyed and I have dusted them with DE and put some on the dirt/wood shavings floor so they can dust themselves with it. It seems to help but I wonder: How can I prevent these insects from bothering my girls?

 

[Chicken Woman]

Im not sure DE will help with flies ? I know it helps with insects that get in the birds feathers like mites ,ticks and fleas.

I bought a fly thing at the feed store. It is a plastic bag thing that you add water to the attractant in the bag and then hang it from a tree nearby. I also hang fly stirps in the coop.

 

[damselfish]

That's interesting, are they regular fly-type flies (if you know what I mean), or some other kind of flying bug?

I think some on here use Sevin? for bugs but that is pretty strong stuff and I have not had occasion to use it yet.

 

[cgmccary]

I first try to DO NO HARM. Neither Sevin nor DE are of any use against flies. Sevin dust is very toxic & lethal to honeybees & and lot of other beneficial insects. I only have used Sevin once against Northern Fowl mite (yes, I got it down to skin level where the feather meets the skin), and it wasn't very effective because the mites (at least the ones I dealt with) have evolved resistance to it. My County Extension officer had noticed the same thing around here.

DE is mostly hype and may be more harmful than helpful.

For the past 3 years, I have used biocontrols and other non-toxic methods of controlling flies.

What I have found to help for fly control is a gnat-size size wasp that parasitizes on fly larvae in combination with a fly eating (microscopic) nematode (I have read that Churchill Downs use the same combination at their horse stalls). I also use a solar fly trap & hang sticky fly strips (just outside the run-- my chickens would destroy the s. trap in the run).

http://www.biconet.com/flies/nematodes.html

http://www.biconet.com/flies/FC3.html

http://www.biconet.com/flies/SolarFlytrap.html