Where do the flies come from?

[Star Creek Dexters]

Our flies were horrible this year. I haven't done this, but a friend did and said it worked wonders. Take a empty milk carton, put a small piece of meat in it, stick a piece of PVC pipe in about 2 inches past the top of the milk container and hang it somewhere in the barn area, or where the cows are. The flies fly in the pvc to get to the meat, lay their eggs and then cannot get out. For what ever reason, they will not fly up the PVC pipe. They just die. I saw my friend's jug and it was literally FULL of flies. Gross. But effective!

[cddexter]

In NZ you used to be able to get a plastic gizmo that taped onto the top of a 10 gal pail, and the flies would go down a tube, lay eggs, not be able to get out, and eventually drown--a piece of rotten meat floating in water about half way up worked. I thought it such a good idea I brought a bunch back with me last trip.

I found the downside is the fly eggs hatch. A lot of those trapped flies are not originals, they are offspring, and they end up eating the carcasses of the dead flies as well as the rotten meat, and reproduce faster than you can say chondro. It actually turned into a fly factory.

AND THE SMELL............just don't get downwind! After the cows knocked one over, and I figured out why there were sooooo many flies in there, I stopped using them. ;D c.

[allmuxedup]

Sept 1, 2010 21:19:42 GMT -5 Star Creek Dexters said:

Take a empty milk carton, put a small piece of meat in it, stick a piece of PVC pipe in about 2 inches past the top of the milk container and hang it somewhere in the barn area, or where the cows are. The flies fly in the pvc to get to the meat, lay their eggs and then cannot get out. For what ever reason, they will not fly up the PVC pipe. They just die. I saw my friend's jug and it was literally FULL of flies. Gross. But effective!

I make these on Our Farm. But, I use the liquid bait. Flies go up. They can follow the smell into the trap, but they can't follow the smell of fresh air out of the trap. They go to the top of the trap & try to get out, but they can't.... it's sealed. They die.
The bait attracts them, but doesn't feed them. The bodies fall into the water & maggots drown if they hatch.
I also like the buckets that have holes in the bottom for the maggots to fall out of, for the chickens to eat. That works well & feeds the chickens!