Chicken bald back

[gavclojak]

Hi guys

i am having real trouble with flies at the moment, namley green bottles and i am terrified of flystrike although the visiting cube man from omlet said he had never seen it in chickens?? and my vet has not either...i am not convinced....i have two red top milk bottle type catchers in the run and they smell rank! my question is as i have a small garden, dioes the fly catchers actually attract flies from all around? if thats the case am i better off not having them?

dont understand why i have sooo many green bottles, they actaully sound like a swarm when i go into the run and am worried the neighbours may notice the increased fly populatin and complain?

Oh and i use floor sanitiser every other day and do the poo collect twice daily and clean the cube trays daily!!! HELP

[jackian]

I had a redtop a few weeks ago and also having a small garden I think they attracted more flies. Mine lasted a week before I could not look at it any longer.

I triple bagged mine and it went up the local tip.

I really have never seen as many flies as this year and think that I am getting less flies since it is a little cooler.So I would get rid .When my chickens are out FR after taking all food and water out I spray my WIR with Terminal fly spray which is suitable for use with poultry but not while they are in there of course.

[gavclojak]

Thanks for that, i thought i was imagining it but i took the traps down this morning and have been checking and i only have a few in the run. I really think they must have attracted flies from al around. Thanks again

[Lydia]

You're not supposed to put the fly traps actually in the chicken run but some distance from them (about 5m from memory) to draw the flys away. The Red Top Fly Traps contain an attractant so will attract flys so maybe that is why you were seeing an increase?

 

We site ours about a couple of metres away and change more regularly than it says depending on the weather (we were changing it almost weekly in the really hot spell).

 

As it's cooling down now you may be OK this year but next time try siting it a few metres from your run and it will help a bit. However, flys are a fact of life and it won't eradicate them all.

 

Flystrike is absolutelyl possible in chickens. We've had it when we were new at keeping hens and a bit naive nd it's horrible. However, as long as you keep an eye on your hens (especially if they're a bit under the weather) and ensure they have clean bottoms in warmer weather then you should be OK. You sound as though you are vigilant at cleaning already so all should be OK.

[gavclojak]

Thank you for your reply, the problem I have is I can't place it away from the run as then it will be too near our house and my neighbours:( I can honestly say I have had very few flies today and it may be because I have removed the traps. My hens are all ok but all tend to have messy bottoms, always have:( I have been keeping an eye on them but heard flystrike would only happen in a wound?

[Lydia]

Not true. Our hen was under the weather but had no wound. The flys simply homed in on her because of that, I think, and we weren't experienced enough to spot it in time. It's the same for lice or any parasite - they will prey on the sick ones.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't worry. We only introduced fly traps a couple of years ago and that was to stop the little so and sos coming in the house. We didn't use them for the first 5 or so years without problems (except the one mentioned above, but that was early on). Like I say you've got a good regime going so try not to worry.

[gavclojak]

Bless you, thanks so much x

[Millie-Annie]

I wouldn't use a Red Top unless I had a big garden. They smell like a dead horse. Mine are far enough away from the house, but when I go up to the girls I can smell them

[hopingforchickens]

I have a WIR in quite a small garden, like you I poo pick every day and use ground sanitiser regularly. I don't have any fly traps and dont find them a big problem, I do have 2 small jars with citronella oil in and small diluted in a bottle to spray everywhere. If it makes you feel any better friends of mine who don't have chickens have noticed an increase in flies this year.

[gavclojak]

Thank you, I have removed the said traps and have hardly seen any flies since....what does not help is behind my back fence is a communal compost heap from neighbouring flats...not nice...and very smelly....its the flystrike that scares me, I try to look at the girls bum's daily but would it be obvious? and also the little so and so's try to peck me when I pick them up but are happy to be stroked and hand fed.....is that weird?

[Indispensable Hobbes]

Put some citronella oil on some cotton wool and hang it in a pouch near the coop etc. Otherwise you can mix it with water and spray it on wood etc.

 

There's a thread here http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=89463

[jackian]

I have my citronella oil in a hanging basket hanging inside my WIR and it is sprinkled on a jay cloth...At least the WIR smells nice.

[gavclojak]

Thanks, must try ebay. I tried to get it in a garden centre and all they had was the oil you burn for patios. Thanks again x

[kittyl]

I lost a hen to flystrike last year, the fly must have got into the coop through the vent holes in the morning.

she'd had persistent worms that I was treating & she had a slightly mucky bum, but not the normal sort

of mucky stuff, (gross alert) it was the dark brown runny stuff. I've noticed that where there are little dollops

of this in the garden the greenbottle flies gather on it, they don't seem so interested in the normal poops.

I presumed it was having worms that made her have more of these brown poops, so made her succeptable to

the flystrike. Beaphar have brought out a spray on version of "Rearguard" that contains ivermectin & protects

against flystrike by preventing any flyeggs from hatching...but its for rabbits & guineapigs & Beaphar wont

commit themselves to whether its safe for birds. I've bought some anyway but I'm not sure about using it, I may

ask my vet.

[Millie-Annie]

Dont use it on your chickens

 

I sprayed Millie chicken because she had a mucky bum and it was hot. It made her lose co-ordination. She would go to peck at her food and miss, she tried to step over things and couldn't work out where to put her feet. It may have been coincidence, but I wouldn't risk it again.

[Lydia]

Most horsey type shops sell citronella spray - NAF do one. We've got one, which I use around the WIR and cube in the summer, but I'm not at all sure it does much good as a fly deterrent.

[kittyl]

Dont use it on your chickens

 

I sprayed Millie chicken because she had a mucky bum and it was hot. It made her lose co-ordination. She would go to peck at her food and miss, she tried to step over things and couldn't work out where to put her feet. It may have been coincidence, but I wouldn't risk it again.

Thanks for telling me that, I'll keep it for the guineapigs then.

There is a spray called f10 which will kill the maggots but its very expensive to keep on the shelf "just incase."

I've also read on another forum of someone who treated her badly infested hen with a spot on (directly on the area)

and some purple spray & it killed all the maggots and she recovered. So I wonder if a dose of frontline for cats

(which I use for lice ref my vet) or ivermectin would give a hen that's at risk some temporary protection from flystrike.

[Millie-Annie]

I would always check first, the chemicals are really powerful.

[daisyisarobot]

Yes, you need to pop it 15m away. Luckily we can stick it in a neighbouring field although it's not caught many flies yet...