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.

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. 

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!