How do you keep flies from being so plentiful????

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Even though I shovel out the rabbit barn every-other-day and empty the plastic pens under the rabbit cages that are hung three tall, we're still having troubles with flies this year. We haven't completed the final one third of the outside wall so they can just fly in whenever they want to.

We have several of those sticky fly strips hanging from the cages and ceiling and hundreds of lies get stuck on them (these are the old kind with no chemicals, just a sticky strip)

But it seems the more flies get stuck to the strip, the more come to the rabbit barn!

Now there seems to be an abundance of them around the chicken enclosure too.

What's the best way to deal with this. I try to keep it as clean as possible.

It has been rainy this week and that seems to have made it worse but it is sunshiny today and they're still out in full force.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), May 23, 2001

Answers

DE on the manure pile will keep them from laying eggs there,, or will kill hte eggs on it already.

-- stan (sopal999@yahoo.com), May 23, 2001.

Maybe parasitic wasps would help you. Don't know much about them, as my fly problem here in Maine is fairly easy to control. But I have relatives in N.C. who swear by the wasps!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), May 23, 2001.

One method I have used is what is called "Fly-in-saucer". It's a plastic lid that fits on a quart jar. I think it comes with some bait but after you get some dead flies in the jar more will come. You can also use any smelly stuff. (Rotten tomatoes) Put the stuff in and fill the jar half way with water. Flies go in - don't come out. The first time I used it the jar filled up pretty fast. I had maggots in the jar and didn't know how to get rid of them. Put them in a tub and poured gas on them. BIG MISTAKE! It killed them but too much fire. I found that if I replace the "fly-in-saucer" with a soild lid, set it in the sun, everything in the jar will die. Save some of the dead flys - add water - your in business again.

Look in Wally-world in the pest area they may have something like "fly-in-saucer". I have seen them in gallon size but I like the quart size. The will last for years.

Hope this helps.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), May 24, 2001.


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