6 Best Fly Control Techniques For Small Scale Poultry That Old Farmers Swear By
Learn 6 time-tested fly control methods for small poultry, from manure management to natural predators—all techniques that veteran farmers swear by.
One minute your coop is quiet, and the next it’s buzzing with a cloud of flies that seems to appear overnight. This isn’t just an annoyance; it’s a direct threat to the health and comfort of your flock. A heavy fly load stresses birds, spreads disease, and can quickly turn your backyard haven into a foul-smelling problem zone.
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Understanding the Fly Life Cycle in Your Coop
You can’t win a fight if you don’t know your enemy. Flies thrive on three things: moisture, warmth, and organic matter, all of which are abundant in a chicken coop. The typical housefly can go from egg to adult in as little as seven to ten days in ideal conditions.
A single female fly lays hundreds of eggs directly in moist manure, spilled feed, or damp bedding. These hatch into larvae (maggots) that feed voraciously before pupating. It’s at the larval and pupal stages—hidden within the manure and bedding—where the real problem builds, completely out of sight.
This is why simply swatting adult flies is a losing battle. For every fly you see, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of eggs, larvae, and pupae waiting to emerge. Effective fly control must break this cycle by targeting flies at every stage, not just the adults buzzing around your head.
Deep Litter Method: Proactive Manure Management
The most effective fly control starts from the ground up, literally. The deep litter method is a system of coop bedding management that turns your chickens’ waste into a valuable, compost-like material while simultaneously creating an environment hostile to fly breeding. Instead of constantly cleaning out manure, you continuously add fresh, dry carbon material like pine shavings or chopped straw on top of the old.
This process works by balancing the nitrogen-rich manure with carbon-rich bedding. Your chickens help by scratching and turning the material, aerating it and incorporating their droppings. Over time, a population of beneficial microbes develops in the lower layers, breaking down the waste, controlling pathogens, and generating a small amount of heat that helps keep the bedding dry.
A properly managed deep litter bed is surprisingly dry and odor-free on the surface, which is exactly what flies hate. The key is management. If the litter gets too wet or compacted, it becomes a perfect fly nursery instead of a deterrent. This method requires a good roof, proper ventilation, and a commitment to adding fresh bedding whenever moisture or odor starts to build.
RESCUE! Big Bag Fly Trap: A Powerful Lure
Sometimes you need overwhelming force, and that’s where a disposable fly trap like the RESCUE! Big Bag comes in. These traps use a potent, non-toxic bait that dissolves in water, creating an aroma that is irresistible to flies but repulsive to humans. Flies enter the bag through a one-way funnel top and cannot escape.
The strategic placement of these traps is crucial for success. Never hang a big bag trap inside or right next to your coop. Its job is to lure flies away from your flock. Place it 20-30 feet away and downwind from the coop, intercepting flies before they ever reach your chickens.
While incredibly effective at reducing adult fly populations, these traps are a reactive tool, not a preventative one. They deal with the flies that are already there. The tradeoff is the aesthetics and the smell; a full bag is a gruesome sight and smells terrible, so place it where it won’t offend you or your neighbors. It’s a powerful weapon, but it’s just one part of a larger strategy.
Arbico Organics Fly Predators for Coop Health
Fighting nature with nature is one of the smartest long-term strategies. Fly predators are tiny, gnat-sized parasitic wasps that are the natural enemy of the common housefly. They don’t bite or sting humans or animals; their sole purpose is to hunt for and destroy fly pupae.
The female fly predator seeks out a fly pupa in manure or bedding, lays her eggs inside it, and kills the developing fly in the process. Instead of a new fly emerging, more fly predators hatch, continuing the cycle. This is a brilliant way to stop an infestation before it ever takes flight.
This method requires foresight. Fly predators must be released before the fly population gets out of control, as they only target the pupal stage and have no effect on adult flies. Most suppliers recommend a monthly shipment throughout the fly season. The key is consistency—sprinkle a new batch around the edges of your coop and run every few weeks to maintain a healthy predator population that can keep up with the flies.
Using Fresh Mint and Basil as Natural Repellents
Herbs can play a supporting role in your fly control plan. Strong-smelling plants like mint, basil, lavender, and lemongrass are known to have fly-repelling properties. While they won’t solve a serious infestation on their own, they can help make your coop a less attractive place for flies to visit.
The easiest way to incorporate them is by planting them in pots or garden beds around the perimeter of the coop and run. The scent released by the plants can act as a natural barrier. You can also hang bunches of fresh-cut herbs inside the coop, particularly near nesting boxes or roosts, refreshing them every few days as the scent fades.
It’s important to have realistic expectations for herbal repellents. Think of them as a gentle deterrent, not a powerful insecticide. Herbs are a great complementary tactic, adding another layer of defense to your primary control methods like manure management and trapping. They contribute to a healthier, more pleasant coop environment for both you and your birds.
Proper Coop Ventilation and Screening Techniques
Flies love stagnant, humid air. A dark, damp, and stuffy coop is an open invitation for them to move in and start a family. Good ventilation is one of the most overlooked yet critical components of fly control.
Proper airflow accomplishes two things: it removes moisture and it dissipates odors. Ammonia fumes from droppings are a major fly attractant, and moisture is essential for their eggs to hatch. Vents placed high up on the coop walls, near the roofline, allow warm, moist air to escape, while lower vents can draw in fresh, dry air. The key is to create cross-ventilation without creating a draft directly on your roosting birds.
For an immediate physical barrier, consider screening in windows, vents, and even the entire run if it’s feasible. Use standard window screening or, for more durability, hardware cloth with a fine mesh. This physically blocks adult flies from ever entering the coop. While it can be an upfront investment in time and materials, screening provides a permanent, chemical-free solution that also keeps out other pests and predators.
Using ClariFly Larvicide in Your Chicken Feed
For those facing persistent, heavy fly pressure, a feed-through larvicide like ClariFly can be a game-changer. This is not an insecticide in the traditional sense; it’s an insect growth regulator (IGR). The active ingredient is consumed by the chickens and passes through their digestive system into the manure, where it has no effect on the birds themselves.
When flies lay eggs in the treated manure, the larvicide prevents the maggots from developing into pupae. It interrupts the fly life cycle at its most vulnerable stage, right in the breeding ground. This method is highly effective at controlling flies that breed specifically in your chickens’ droppings.
There are important considerations here. This is a chemical intervention, and while approved for poultry, some flock owners prefer to avoid any feed additives. It also only works on the manure produced by the chickens eating the feed; it will have no effect on flies breeding in spilled feed, compost piles, or your neighbor’s dog run. For it to be effective, your entire flock must consume the treated feed consistently throughout the fly season.
Creating Your Integrated Pest Management Plan
There is no single magic bullet for fly control. The most successful and resilient strategies rely on Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which means layering several different techniques to attack the problem from all sides. Relying on just one method, whether it’s a trap or a feed additive, leaves you vulnerable.
A smart IPM plan for a small-scale coop might look like this:
- Foundation: Start with excellent manure management using the deep litter method to make the coop fundamentally inhospitable to flies.
- Prevention: Ensure the coop has fantastic ventilation and screen off major entry points.
- Biological Control: Release fly predators early in the season and continue with monthly applications to suppress the breeding cycle.
- Interception: Place a powerful lure trap like the RESCUE! Big Bag away from the coop to catch any adults that still find their way to your property.
This layered approach means each technique covers the weaknesses of the others. The deep litter reduces the breeding ground, the predators kill the pupae that manage to develop, the ventilation removes attractants, and the trap cleans up the stragglers. This creates a robust system that is far more effective and sustainable than simply reacting to a problem once it’s out of hand.
Ultimately, managing flies is about managing your coop’s ecosystem. By focusing on proactive measures like moisture control and manure management, you create an environment where flies simply can’t gain a foothold. The best tool is a thoughtful plan that makes your coop a healthy home for chickens, not a breeding ground for pests.
