We are suffering, as others have reported, from millions of flies this summer.
We have had two 'Red Top' fly catchers but they fill up in a week and at £6 ish a go are expensive.
Blue Peter style, I have cut the top off a two litre pop bottle (actually it was cider ) and by turning the funnel upside down and shoving it into the main body of the bottle and stapling it in place, have made the same shape as the red top. Using cat food as bait I have caught one fly, whereas the red top looks like a horror movie as usual.
The question is what should I put in there to get them interested. I think the leaflet that came with the red top said the bait was 'protein' but of what origin I don't know.
Any ideas? Jam and water, sugar water, chicken poop (we have plenty of that) wait for the cat food to go rancid.....?
Chicken poo could work, I have just let my hens out on my garden (grass) so their could eat some grass & I have a million flys all on the little chicken poos on the grass. Picked it up & all on the bag is flys.
Yuck! Our flies at the moment seemed to have quietened down. I had a red top but it was too much for me to stand .After 3 days there were so many I thought it must be attracting more than we would have had normally .I wrapped it in 3 black sacks and took it to our local dump. Now I am sure it should have gone in with the gardening but I sneaked it in the household because in the gardening |I would have had to have taken it out of the sack Your question about bait , if the chicken poo on my patio was anything to go by that must be the answer I reckon . I got paranoid this year about flies and red mite and must poop scoop about 10 times a day .
Jackiex
4 lovely girls~~ Clover, the oldie and top chick Bonnie second in command .new girls Bluebell and Blossom. 2 lovely new girls 19-01-2015~~ Chelsea and Ruby. Eva , Florry , Poppy ,Annie and Rosie R.I.P The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” - unknown
Have you put extra water in? I did and it is still collecting them, although the sight of it makes me feel Skeksis did suggest covering it with material which seems a brilliant idea, must do it, tonight when they have quietened down
I was looking at some home-made Red Top style fly traps on t'net, and one of the suggestions for the bait was some chicken (raw) covered in water. Bet it would smell lovely after a week in the sun.
Bev x Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria. RIP dear little Ladies - Lottie, Cottie, Elsie, Dottie, Hilda and Margie. You may have gone, but are never ever forgotten.
We have the old fashioned fly papers, one in the kitchen and one in the wash house. Also, OH has made fly screens for the windows which we open. Six/seven dogs next door, owner doesn't regularly poo pick, so fly screens a must, you get the picture.
At the back door we have one of the recently advertised magnetic curtains. We still get flies in, three at around tea time tonight, and our fly swatters are kept handy.
We have bullocks in the farmer's field at the bottom of our garden, these attract more flies than the sheep and horses.
We even wondered if flies were coming down the chimney - we have birds nesting there in the spring/summer, so I have lit a few grates full of rubbish to warm their rear ends.
We have just bought a fly killer off of e-bay,the type you find in shops.This really does a good job, and is in part of the coop where the chickens do not go at night so doe's not disturb them.
Well for the first time I've bought a red top fly trap today - put it up at lunchtime today - I'm quite interested to see how much it's gonna stink after reading the posts on here!
One good thing about the coming cooler weather - at least the flies disappear.
Julie
“cockerels may crow but it's the hen that lays the egg."
) and by turning the funnel upside down and shoving it into the main body of the bottle and stapling it in place, have made the same shape as the red top. Using cat food as bait I have caught one fly, whereas the red top looks like a horror movie as usual.
Skeksis did suggest covering it with material which seems a brilliant idea, must do it, tonight when they have quietened down 
