Natural Fly Repellant

For some odd reason we have had an increase in the fly population here. Pretty sure it had to do with triple digit temperatures, then it cooled off quickly and now it is warm.

I have noticed the flies especially bad in the chicken coop both in the hen house and in the run even though I clean it daily. Using a synthetic fly spray is not an option around the chickens. After all, they will eat the flies that have been sprayed and I just don't think it is healthy for them. Besides, what they eat, I'm sure we end up eating a bit of it through the eggs they lay.

After doing some research on the good ol' Internet I ran across an article that suggested to use whole cloves to repel flies. Hmmm, whole cloves huh? Well, okay. I'll give it a try.

The article said to use a nylon stocking, put some whole cloves in it and hang it in the area you don't want flies. Problem! I don't have any nylons!! But I do have baggies.


I poured some cloves into a baggie. Left the top open and used a thumbtack to secure it to the opening of the hen house.

When I hung the baggie of cloves up, there were quite a few flies inside the hen house. So, I waited about an hour, went back out just to see if there was a difference and................there was!! There are no flies in the hen house. Not a one! None on the walls. None in the shavings. None on the ceiling!

There were still flies outside in the run area, but not a one inside.

And, now the hen house smells yummy! Ha Ha Reminds me of the holidays.

I had also read that chickens shouldn't eat a lot of flies due to the nastiness that flies carry and that the eggs can have salmonella in them caused from the hen eating too many nasty flies. Now I don't know how true that is.

Tip: Since the holidays are approaching. A lot of the grocery stores will offer cloves at buy one get one free.

If any of you try the clove trick, I would love to hear if it works for you.

Until next time............................