I never had much issue at my old house but the new place has bugs galore. I tried to keep onto of things last year with traps and fly strips but seemed to always have tons! What do you guys use/recommend?
I moved my chickens to the far backyard due to flies in the summer. I would recommend those wasp parasites. The fly strips and stinky baits help,but the wasps really do a number on the flies.
I have been using fly predators. We have horses and goats too, and they work really well, especially against those biting black flies that get your bare arms/legs. You cannot put them where the chickens could eat the predators.
I've been using these with great success for the last three years: Just be careful where you put them. They smell like urine.
I use the plastic container fly traps that I buy at Tractor Supply. I DO NOT use the liquid that comes with them. Do not open the liquid packet and just throw it away. I usually catch some fish and put the head and the guts in the traps and fill them with water. I have five of them spread out along the perimeter of my property and they work well. They work similar to the one shown in the above post. You do need to fill them back with water as it evaporates. What are fly predators?. Fly traps will not work with horse and deer flies.
For my rabbit area I hang an x-mas tree shaped car air freshener in Vanilla Only. I hang them about every 4 feet or so. Then I run my 5 chickens under the rabbits also. Very few flies. If I get flies in the coop, I just put one tree in there. Seems like I need to change them out every 3-4 weeks. Of course this does not work on a large scale, but does wonders on a smaller level. I have 9 hanging rabbit cages with very very few flies. I love it.
