Need to get rid of FLYS!!! they are constantly on the chickens and ducks food. Any ideas?

[BarbaKay]

You have to get rid of the source or whatever is attracting the flies. Flies like dead meat on which to lay their eggs, which hatch as maggots.

 

[BarbaKay]

You have to get rid of the source or whatever is attracting the flies. Flies like dead meat on which to lay their eggs, which hatch as maggots.

Make sure to add FOOD GRADE Diotomaceous Earth to EVERYTHING chicken! They love it, it kills exoskeletal insects as well as keeps parasites out of and off of your chickies! It's the miracle ingredient and is very affordable!

 

[boyd2011]

Build a "poop trap"! Here is how: Take a two liter bottle, using old gloves or plastic bag, put in a few pieces of chicken poop (really if you cover the bottom it works better) then add some dishwashing liquid, finally add enough water to 1/2 to 2/3 fill the bottle. Then tie a cord around the top and hang it near by - but not in the pen. Then files fly in, get the soap on their wings and don't fly out. In a few days the trap will be full. Put the top that you saved back on the bottle. Throw it away and make a new one! It works great.

Baited with a peice of scrap meat from last night's dinner instead of poop and you will have a yellow jacket/hornet trap, if they ever become a problem.

Hope this helps.

 

[pickledchicken]

 

[fettslady]

This is probably a stupid question - but how much DE are y'all talking when you say "I sprinkle/use it everywhere" - Is it a dusting or a full on layer, etc? Newbie here - go easy on me!

 

[pickledchicken]

This is probably a stupid question - but how much DE are y'all talking when you say "I sprinkle/use it everywhere" - Is it a dusting or a full on layer, etc? Newbie here - go easy on me!

I'm no DE pro but have found the best results with controlling fly's by actually dusting it and getting plenty in the air. I shut the chickens out of the coop close the windows and get the DE in the air while the fly's are flying around. When I return later I can really tell a difference. A plastic soft drink bottle with 3 small holes drilled in the top seems to work very well for dusting.

 

[wherry]

FYI - Tractor supply carries StarBar products.

 

[moonlitechick]

Get rid of the MATS!!! If the mats have maggots under them then they are holding moisture under them. Eliminate the mats and eliminate the breeding area of the flies. I used fly traps and the sticky fly strips. Worked well. Raise your feed up off the ground somehow and fix it where the chickens can not dig out the feed. I use a automatic dog feeder with the flap door taken off. I also have a small board across the bottom of the feeder so they can not dig out the feed. My feeder is sitting on a 4 inch block so it is not directly on the gorund and the chickens can not dig out the feed of my feeder so it does not draw moisture and the are not as attracted to the dry food area. I live in Missouri and we have had the heat wave also. I also keep my water away from the feed which helps the feed to not draw moisture. Not sure what you are using for bedding in the coop but pine shavings seem to keep it dryer also. I used to use straw and it held moisture which attracted the flies also.

 

[Cluckington]

Feed the maggots to the chickies!

 

[Chycoll]

Maggots only eat dead tissue, so they are no threat to your chickens if they are alive and healthy. We actually use medical grade maggots to clean chronic human wounds because they eat dead tissue, and spare normal tissue.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...wounds-after-other-methods-fail-in-study.html

or read this below from US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health


Maggot debridement therapy in chronic wound care.

Chan DC, Fong DH, Leung JY, Patil NG, Leung GK.
Source

Centre for Education and Training, Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
Abstract

OBJECTIVE:​

To review the current evidence on the mechanism of actions and clinical applications of maggot debridement therapy.

DATA SOURCES:​

Literature search of PubMed and Medline was performed up to January 2007.

STUDY SELECTION:​

Original and major review articles related to maggot debridement therapy were reviewed. Key words used in the literature search were 'maggot debridement therapy', 'wound healing', and 'chronic wound management'.

DATA EXTRACTION:​

All relevant English and Chinese articles.

DATA SYNTHESIS:​

The mechanism of such maggot therapy was shown to be due to the debridement, disinfection, and wound healing enhancement actions of maggot excretions/secretions. The efficacy of maggot debridement therapy in chronic wound management has been demonstrated in chronic venous ulcers, pressure ulcers, and diabetic ulcers. There is also a new delivery system for the excretions/secretions, which has been shown to be as effective as using live maggots.

CONCLUSIONS:​

Maggot debridement therapy has been shown to be a safe and effective means of chronic wound management. However, there are a number of limitations when considering its local applicability. Future development of the delivery system may help to overcome some of these limitations and improve its acceptability.