Official BYC Poll: How Do You Keep Flies Out Of Your Coop?

[3KillerBs]

No flies in the coop, but quite a few in the run when its muddy. I put down hay and grass cuttings and occasionally rake it out.

Just a note, from a composting perspective, hay is and grass cuttings are "green", high nitrogen, just like the manure. You might get better results from a compost "brown" -- a high-carbon material.

Chickens don't eat many, they get a tail occasionally but they're a little too fast.

Oh really, mine grab the lizards all the time. Poor things.

I keep warning the various little lizards to stay out of the chicken pen. I hope they listen.

 

[618025]

We have a mobile coop and fencing system that we move either daily, every two days, or every 4 days depending on season and weather. That's mainly how we avoid flies in the coop. To help the other animals, we use traps and the fly eating wasps.

 

[AntiqueB]

Which wasps? Where do you get them?

 

[old biddy]

Good ventilation with deep liter method and never had a fly issue.

Same here. I've always used the deep litter method and I have never had a fly issue. I dont keep any food or water in the coop.

 

[Folly's place]

Spalding has the tiny wasps available for managing stable flies, and they do work well.
Mary

 

[Ascholten]

So, you let wasps loose at your place. Do the make nests around? how vicious are they around people. I have some smaller breed of wasps that love to hang around in my dogwood trees, and they generally don't seem too aggressive, but then there are the sob's that make the paper nests.

Aaron

 

[Vacman]

I've never had an issue with flies in the coop and I use the deep litter method. Haven't cleaned out the coop since last fall. I only use straw in the coop. My coop is always dry (See my avatar).

Added this noon: I paid closer attention this morning when I went out to the coop. There were a lot of flies in the orchard, but none under the hoop or in the coop. Not sure why. I don't do anything out of the ordinary. My hoop & coop are in a three-year old orchard surrounded by an electrified net fence.

 

[Folly's place]

Look up on the Spalding website; these are very tiny parasitic wasps that kill fly larvae, nothing to do with mammals or birds at all!
Mary

 

[Chuckie chicken]

As far as flies go, so far so good.

In early spring I was a little concerned because they were all over the outside of the coop and run, but I think, only to catch the warmth from the sun.

I use deep litter in the coop and clean the poop boards daily. The pop door is always open, so there is hardly ever poop on the floor. So far it is clean, dry, and odour free in there.

The run is covered, so it stays dry, and is also scooped daily. The chickens are in there for a couple of hours in the morning, then in and out at will until dusk, so after cleaning in the morning it stays pretty good for the rest of the day.

I throw a bag of fresh grass clippings in every week after taking the previous weeks worth out to the compost pile, which helps absorb any poops I might miss. I rake the clippings into a pile every morning, and the girls spread it all over the run by the next day. Because it stays dry, it breaks down quickly from the scratching it becomes quite a bit finer and mixes well with anything moist and helps dry it out. Whenever I'm in there, most of the girls have to come and see what's going on, so one of them is usually throwing the clippings around by the time I finish cleaning them up.

I didn't plan anything this way, so far it's all luck.

 

[adrikeen]

The best! (kept away from coop) (ok...disposal can be a bit nauseating but hey!)