Do Ducks Eat Flies

[Chicky_Baby]

Only a couple of weeks ago I naively asked if the flies from keeping chickens were that bad. Now I know. I have flies, lots of flies, big juicy nasty flies. The normal measures don't work because I live next door to a dairy farm so just keeping the hen house dry doesn't do it. My chickens, pigs and goats manure is attracting way more flies than grow in their own manure. It seems like every fly from my neighbors cattle are coming to my yard to visit. I have become fly central for the state of Virginia. Am I painting the picture well enough... I am getting desperate. This just started and it seems to be getting far worse. My first thought was guineas but due to issues with them refusing to stay in the yard I have decided against them. I know Indian Runner ducks would stay inside the electric fence but I don't know if they will eat flies. If they won't can someone PLEASE suggest an animal that can be confined in my yard that will eat the blasted things before I go nuts.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Do ducks eat flies?!

DO DUCKS EAT FLIES?!!

Okay, fly-eating is only "THE" Olympic sport for ducks. Second to fly eating is gold-fish eating (special events sport -- like a duck "carnival"). After that come slug eating (year-round sport).


Do ducks eat flies?

BTW,

 

[70%cocoa]

Ducks will eat flies for sure (as eloquently described i the previous post

). But they will also attract flies. You will not end up with an overall reduction in flies.

As for an animal that will reduce fly populations - dung beetles!! They bury/process the manure that attracts the flies and that provides a home for the maggots. See if you can find a supplier online. Ideally you'd convince your neighbour to stock dung beetles as well. There are lots of different species suited to different areas. A bit of internet research should reveal a fair bit of info.

 

[julie75]

Yes, Yes, Yes!! But like 70%cocoa said, they can also attract flies.

We have learned from experience that a good drainage systerms works wonders. Right now our fly population is not too bad, but I have 15 ducks running around training for the Olympics, lol. Here they have a tendency to be worse in the spring, especially around standing puddles of water.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Oh, yeah, well they can attract flies, too. Forgot to mention that. However, in my case, it's not the ducks that attract flies. The ducks are good, and spend most of their time on the lawn and in the woods. Those attracting flies are the chickens who have their pen (yes, they are free range, but they also have a pen) and their pen is scratched to the bare earth and loaded with manure that attracts flies.

In my case, we hang fly strips around the coop and watch the ducks in their fly-eating-Olympic competition.


My suggestion: if you have ducks and they are loose on the lawn like mine, simply hose it down -- the lawn! -- hose down the lawn. Then the manure enriches the lawn, but doesn't build up allowing flies to populate.

 

[azhenhouse]

We had this beautiful bumble bee buzzing around our duck yard. NOT NO MORE! I was in disbelief when our Peken duck chased it around, caught it, then ate it.

I know it was just a bee, but we don't have many around here anymore. Not like when I was a kid. Now all we have are yellow jackets, and I hate them. They are nasty once they decide to attack, as they don't stop. blah, blah, blah...Yes, ducks eat flies and other flying insects.

 

[DuckiesAndBees]

Quote:
You should just get some hives

! I saw my ducks eat a honeybee the other day, but I know there's about 50,000 more back there to do the pollinating!

 

[azhenhouse]

Quote:
You should just get some hives

! I saw my ducks eat a honeybee the other day, but I know there's about 50,000 more back there to do the pollinating!

Funny, I told my boys the other day that I wanted to raise honey bees, and they all freaked out. They have been stung so many times by yellow jackets that when they see anything that resembles them they panic. Even though I would love to have honey bees around I couldn't. My boys would never go outside again. Wimps! Love them though.

 

[DuckiesAndBees]

Funny, I told my boys the other day that I wanted to raise honey bees, and they all freaked out. They have been stung so many times by yellow jackets that when they see anything that resembles them they panic. Even though I would love to have honey bees around I couldn't. My boys would never go outside again. Wimps! Love them though.

You should take them to a fair or somewhere else where they have an observation hive. Honeybees are so neat it might just change their minds!

I have a little cousin why must not have ever been stung because she ran up to the boxes the other day shouting "I wanna see the bees!"​

 

[azhenhouse]

Quote:
You should take them to a fair or somewhere else where they have an observation hive. Honeybees are so neat it might just change their minds!

I have a little cousin why must not have ever been stung because she ran up to the boxes the other day shouting "I wanna see the bees!"

Girls are tougher.

When we go to our fair this summer I will have to see if they have an observation hive. It would be great to see if my boys would check it out and maybe consider having a hive in our yard. I take it you have a bee hive?

edited:

Of course you do. I just saw your user name, and your personality.