Got a fly problem around your coop and run? Here’s a solution you’re going to have to try to believe. It’s inexpensive and effective: vanilla scented automotive air fresheners. You heard it right: vanilla Christmas trees.
I do not claim to know WHY they repel flies, but I can attest that they do. Deploy an army of them liberally around your coop and run where they will remain relatively dry for maximum efficiency and economy. I use 9 of them at a time.
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Air-Fresheners-in-Little-deuce-run.jpg)
Personally, I don’t just want the flies to relocate (eg: migrate up to my house or garage), I want them GONE, so I use two Trap & Toss® fly disposable traps, one near each coop. I buy the traps at Tractor Supply for about five bucks each. Be forewarned: these traps contain the fetid stench of a thousand garbage cans containing raw meat, locked in an air-tight garage during a month-long heatwave. You really don’t want to spill this putresence (or stand near it, for that matter). Somehow the flies prefer to the smell of death to vanilla. Go figure.
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Trap-26-Toss-Cropped.jpg)
Here’s my most recent testimonial to the effectiveness of these little yellow trees. After having given my chickens an entire watermelon, cut into pieces, I left the rinds scattered about the yard overnight. Tactical error to be sure. By morning, flies had descended upon my backyard with a fury. I rolled out the Vanilla Scented Tree Army and by that afternoon, the flies were gone. True story. Try it yourself and let me know how it works for you!
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Vanilla-Air-Freshener-in-run-2.jpg)
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/CF-pic-1.jpg)
Kathy Shea Mormino
Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick®, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens. …Read on
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Got a fly problem around your coop and run? Here’s a solution you’re going to have to try to believe. It’s inexpensive and effective: vanilla scented automotive air fresheners. You heard it right: vanilla Christmas trees.
I do not claim to know WHY they repel flies, but I can attest that they do. Deploy an army of them liberally around your coop and run where they will remain relatively dry for maximum efficiency and economy. I use 9 of them at a time.
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Air-Fresheners-in-Little-deuce-run.jpg)
Personally, I don’t just want the flies to relocate (eg: migrate up to my house or garage), I want them GONE, so I use two Trap & Toss® fly disposable traps, one near each coop. I buy the traps at Tractor Supply for about five bucks each. Be forewarned: these traps contain the fetid stench of a thousand garbage cans containing raw meat, locked in an air-tight garage during a month-long heatwave. You really don’t want to spill this putresence (or stand near it, for that matter). Somehow the flies prefer to the smell of death to vanilla. Go figure.
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Trap-26-Toss-Cropped.jpg)
Here’s my most recent testimonial to the effectiveness of these little yellow trees. After having given my chickens an entire watermelon, cut into pieces, I left the rinds scattered about the yard overnight. Tactical error to be sure. By morning, flies had descended upon my backyard with a fury. I rolled out the Vanilla Scented Tree Army and by that afternoon, the flies were gone. True story. Try it yourself and let me know how it works for you!
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-18-11-Vanilla-Air-Freshener-in-run-2.jpg)
![](https://the-chicken-chick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/CF-pic-1.jpg)
Thank you for this inexpensive and easy, yet non-harming way to rid flies! We tried it, not expecting great things…but, IT WORKS! We deployed a few (2 in the chicken coop and 2 in the duck coop) and the flies disappeared immediately. We change them out about every 2-3 weeks and have seen a dramatic reduction in the pesky fly population. Also, the coops smell great!!