I haven't had any bedding in for almost 2 week's now, just tossing in dry dirt I had collected in sand bags because it got wet during the rain but it's fully dry now. I've put out sticky fly traps as well as bags that catch a lot. Most of them I'm seeing hanging around outside and not as much in the coop but if we get another crazy rain, I don't want them to set up shop in there. I graded the yard so it can't drain towards the coop and added a dirt mound around it and that's corrected the water issues. Now there's just swarms of lingering flies, yesterday there seemed to be less but then today they were back in full force again and it's been a week since the last rain. Idk where they came from but I've been cleaning up anything that would attract them and trying to prevent them from staying and laying maggots. The entire city is sold out of everything fly related, can't even find a fly swatter in any stores so it's not just me with an abundance, I'm trying to stay ahead of potential problems. The permethrin I ordered says it's for ticks, fleas, mites, flies, and mosquitoes. Flies are my only problem at the moment. I'm still looking for something to sprinkle in the coop and dirt in the run that's not outrageously expensive to prevent mites, Will the permethrin not be enough for that in the mean time? So far with nightly checks I haven't seen any mites, been extra vigilant since squirrels keep getting into the run stealing feed and who knows what they're bringing with them, I think there's only 1 left since we've been dispatching them and filling in holes, only 1 hole is being dug out now and before at least 10 we're being dug out daily and I also don't see them running around anymore so hopefully that's resolved shortly.
My husband bought 2 bottles that are premixed, the Sawyer brand for camping so I was going to use that first and then rinse the bottle and refill with the one I ordered but it won't hold a gallon so ill have to tweak the measurements. I'm just not sure how much to spray, a light mist on all surfaces, walls, roosts or enough that it looks damp? Still don't know if them eating a bug would be a problem?
I've already noticed a big drop in the number of flies today, I was particularly thrilled to see the mosquitoes drop within 30-60 seconds of coming in contact with it.
