Fly Predators (Eliminators) and Chickens?

[itsazoo]

I have horses & goats and am contemplating getting the fly predators (ordered their free trial). My chicks will be here in 2 weeks and soon they'll be freely roaming all over the pasture & barn area soooo won't they eat the fly predator larvae?

I desperately want to control the flies, they drive my poor horse nuts (I have good manure managment- the pile is isn't close to the barn which is cleaned regularly) and I'm HOPING the 25 chickens I'm getting will help by eating some flies themselves, but I'm concerned that fly predators might just be an expensive chicken treat.

 

[azelgin]

I've been using fly predators for several years and have had good luck with them. Timing your release to get them on the job befroe the flys get out of control is critical. Once the fly population gets up in numbers, it take several weeks for the predators to get them under control. It is also going to depend on how many animals your neighbors have and what they do to control their fly problem. The preditors don't range very far.

I think the chickens have helped as much as the fly predators. Not that they eat so many fly maggots, but that they spread the manure around, so it dries and the flys don't have fresh manure to lay eggs in.
Between the predators and chickens, our fly problem is not bothersome.

 

[espressola]

I have been using Fly Predators from Arbico for over ten years with great results. Our horses are not close to the chicken area and I just saw two coyote pups playing in the pasture so I won't encourage the chickens to head over there anytime soon, LOL! We manage to get along pretty well by supervising the chickens when they are free ranging though, so the coyotes can stay... anyway, back on subject, the fly predators have helped greatly with the horse fly issue. Don't know yet if they would be interfered with by chickens but I think the fly predators are so small they won't be a yummy target for the chickens- I bought extra this year to sprinkle some around the chicken area too just in case... good luck with your situation- hope it helps!
Patty N. ;-)

 

[itsazoo]

I will be using the outbuilding closest to the barn (about 50 ft away) for my coop with the express purpose of encouraging the chickens to hang out in the barn (run in- occupied by 1 horse & 2 goats) and pasture area since that's where the highest population of bugs live. I hope to be able to put some fly predators in the stalls & down on the manure pile & I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the chickens don't eat em. I think it's probably worth a try, at least for this summer to see if it makes a difference.

 

[nmantime]

I have used fly predators for 3 years now and lov'em. I release mine when a certain number hatch in the bag as they recommend and then i empty them in a area i have chicken wired off to keep the girls away... they hatch and go do thier thing. don't need that big of a space and they hatch and find the fly maggots both in the run and in the coop. Coop is 8x10 and the run is 10x28. plus the girls free range. The predators work great and I put money aside each year to buy them. Just create a area near your girls and place the predators there under chicken wire or anything that works for you. Norm in N.CA

 

[farmgirlie1031]

Mine would have worked had the crop duster not made a mistake last year and dusted my entire back yard killing off all the bugs just a few days after I released them

I am thinking of ordering them again this year as there are so many flies around with all the hog barns. I ended up using the stinky traps last year. ICK!

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

What in the WORLD are fly predators and where can I get them? Okay yes I should google it, but I'd like to hear from you guys. Across the street from us is an auction yard and behind us are 4 horses owned by a city-guy who bought 10 acres to "farm" and doesn't know his hind end from a hole in the ground! Needless to say we have literally clouds of flies when the weather heats up. We put up those sticky fly trap things and they were full within a week- eww. We put out this stinky fly bait stuff that smells like death. Oh, and we have that fly spray stuff that smells kinda like pine. The combination seems to help indoors, but any more would help!

 

[azelgin]

Here is where I get mine:

http://www.spalding-labs.com/

 

[luvarabhorses]

we have the gnat, black fly, type here. looks like the preditators don't work for them. at least they land on those sticky strips.