Help! I have a plague of houseflies.

[sunsaver]

My house is covered in houseflies. It's getting worse every day. I keep my coop clean, can find no dead animals or rotten meat or garbage anywhere on my property. This is definitely a fringe event. Very bizarre. Every time i open the door, about a dozen coming zooming in. Is there a natural repellent i can spray around the door and inside to help stop them. I'm shooting them down with a spray bottle of soapy water, but i'm losing the greater war outside.

 

[freemotion]

Are they mostly on the sunny side of the house in the morning? Are they all black and a bit larger than the average house fly? They are probably cluster flies. They are not attracted to dirty stuff, they are "clean" flies, but emerge in the spring and like the warmth of the south side of the house, so they tend to get in. Vacuum them up if you can. Get the hens over to that side of the house if you can safely do so, so they can clean them up. Or get a few guineas!

 

[Wannabefree]

Dynamite sends a shock wave through the air surrounding the blast and should easily kill them or knock them unconscious I hates flies!!!

 

[freemotion]

Will dynamite take care of guineas, too?

 

[Marianne]

I get the same thing here at certain times of the year, too. You might try some homemade flystrips or traps made with something like milk cartons, rotting fruit, etc.

Here's what a quick google search came up with:
potted basil plant by doorway
Hang a pine bough in the kitchen: flies dislike pine oil.
Whole or ground cloves in a small muslin teabag make a good fly-repelling hanging sachet.

Easy flystrips would be just 'painting' honey on some yellow posterboard strips.

There are several traps that are easy to make. Just punch holes at the top of a milk jug, pop bottle or something similar. Put something that's kind of 'whiffy' in it, like rotting fruit, a bit of fresh meat, etc. Put the lid back on and hope for the best.

Whatever I tried spraying around the door trim years ago didn't work, I can't even remember now what it was.

 

[Wannabefree]

Will dynamite take care of guineas, too?

Of course! How do you think I figured it out it'd work for flies too

 

[Wifezilla]

I know this sounds weird, but those vanilla scented tree shaped car air fresheners will repel flies. Some people on byc use them in their chicken coops. I use them in the quail pen and also hang one by the back door.

 

[k0xxx]

Get you one of the electric fly swatters from Harbor Freight. It won't help much with the population, but there is something sadistically satisfying when they go ZAP!!!

 

[big brown horse]

That happened to me in my last house. It was built in 1920 in downtown ratty Houston. I had the house fumigated for rodents etc when I purchased it (everyone had to do that in that area of H town) and about a week or so later, a narsty cluster of biggy flys emerged. Turns out a fly (or two) laid eggs into the dead rodents up in the attic. I'm still barfing about that. GROSS!!!

Nope, I don't miss TX one bit!!

 

[baymule]

That happened to me in my last house. It was built in 1920 in downtown ratty Houston. I had the house fumigated for rodents etc when I purchased it (everyone had to do that in that area of H town) and about a week or so later, a narsty cluster of biggy flys emerged. Turns out a fly (or two) laid eggs into the dead rodents up in the attic. I'm still barfing about that. GROSS!!!

Nope, I don't miss TX one bit!!

BBH, you are so hard on Texas!

Fill an unused ziplock baggie with water and hang it by the door. Dunno why, but it scares the flies away. See 'em on the doorways to some of the backwater eating emporiums around here.