Quick note about an amazing thing!
You ever see one of these?
Not a trick question. Ya, they’re vanilla air fresheners, likely seen in a NYC cab. I read on this blog article that these would help keep flies away. In addition to her other suggestions, I gave this one a whirl.
Now let me set this one up. My coop, and area, is in the shade of some pretty large trees, but there are areas of sunlight. Immediately behind my property, and the coop, is marsh, real, nasty, smelly conservatory marshland. It’s hot, it’s humid. My compost bin is just outside the run fencing too.
It is the Taj Mahal for flies and heat loving insects.
Guess what? I have not seen a fly in ANY area of my chickens, inside or outside the coop, in weeks. There are bugs for sure, at night it can get antsy, but flies? None. None when I open the compost bin to add poo, none around their poo outdoors, none around the fruit they savage when I let them have it, none. Now I’d make a case for it being a combo, but outside my coop I have done NOTHING but hang these unsightly yellow trees.
I love it when seemingly inane things turn out to be cool 🙂
You’re ahead of the curve now, Curt, but you need to implement a multi-pronged strategy for battling those annoyances or they can get out of hand even with the vanilla air fresheners. This is the route you want to head in at this point. (trust me, I’m a lawyer. 😉 )
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/06/15-tips-to-reduce-flies-around-chicken.html
Cheers!
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
BTW: Check your inbox and spam folders for an email from me a few days ago. It’s time sensitive!
I’m totally with you. I got herbs, and just about every carnivorous plant you can imagine growing now!
How do you like the Spruce the Coop Herbal Fusion?
Stuff is fantastic. Honest to goodness there is very little bad smell anywhere down there. I’ve just finished canning No Fly Spray and Coop freshner from a great book I read. Trying that out now too.
Curt, you should look into getting some guinea hens too, strictly for pest control. They’ll eat every last insect in sight.
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Researched them quite a bit. Wicked loud, and need to be free range for the most part. Not sure that’d go over well with the neighbors.
Hi Curt. I believe from a comment you made earlier that you have read my book Fresh Eggs Daily:Raising Happy Healthy Chickens Naturally (St. Lynns Press, 2013) and I’m thrilled that you’re going the natural route with herbs and all. My signature coop cleaner and refresh sprays are the best aren’t they? I even use them in the house!
Lisa
Fresh Eggs Daily