Easy Chicken Fly Spray - Natural + Safe

[Chickenchick11]

With spring finally having officially arrived in my neck of the woods, I figured I'd share with you all my super easy fly spray recipe. It's natural and non-toxic, unlike the flysprays that can be bought at feed stores. I use this stuff to detour flies around my coop, and spray it on the butts of my hens who are prone to flystrike. (If you use it for birds who have poopy butts, you need to clean their butts before you spray it on.)

Easy Chicken-Safe Flyspray:
1/4 cup vinegar (I prefer to use apple cider vinegar, but have also used white vinegar and rice vinegar with the same result)
8-10 drops of tea tree essential oil
4-5 drops of lavender essential oil

Put all ingredients in a spray bottle, shake to mix them together, and voila, you're all done. This flyspray will last about 24 hours max, so it needs to be reapplied daily.

I've found that for keeping flies out of coops and for chickens who get the "runs" in the summer and make a poopy mess, using this fly spray and keeping their butts clean reduces the risk of flystrike.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[dawg53]

Another way to deter flies is to buy "vanilla" scented Christmas tree car air fresheners that hang on the rear view mirror in a car. I buy a pack of them and hang them around the coop and they work well.
Your mixture sounds like a good idea and a money saver.

 

[Chickenchick11]

Another way to deter flies is to buy "vanilla" scented Christmas tree car air fresheners that hang on the rear view mirror in a car. I buy a pack of them and hang them around the coop and they work well.
Your mixture sounds like a good idea and a money saver.

Ooooh I like that idea with the air fresheners! It sounds like an awesome longer lasting fly deterrent for the coop. On average, how long do you find the fly deterring aspects of the air freshners last?

 

[dawg53]

Ooooh I like that idea with the air fresheners! It sounds like an awesome longer lasting fly deterrent for the coop. On average, how long do you find the fly deterring aspects of the air freshners last?

When you cant smell them no more. The drawback is the weather, especially if it's windy. Then again, flies dont do well in the wind neither lol. I'm referring to the chickens pen. I've never put the air fresheners inside the coop. All the vents on my coops are screened and overlayed with hardware cloth. The entrance to the coop has screen strips draping down over the entrance to deter flies and mosquitos.

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[Chickenchick11]

When you cant smell them no more. The drawback is the weather, especially if it's windy. Then again, flies dont do well in the wind neither lol. I'm referring to the chickens pen. I've never put the air fresheners inside the coop. All the vents on my coops are screened and overlayed with hardware cloth. The entrance to the coop has screen strips draping down over the entrance to deter flies and mosquitos.View attachment 1396871 .

Ahhhh, that makes sense. I’ll have to pick up some vanilla air fresheners when I go to the store next time and try them out. My chicken coop is 90+ years old and made of chinked whole cedar logs, and sadly when they made it they didn’t consider adding vents, which has left me dealing with some nasty frostbite during the winter. That idea with the strips of screen material attached to the pop door is genius! I will definitely be looking at adding that to my coop in the future.