by Donna McGlasson from Gardens & Chickens & Worms, Oh My!I had a neighbor come over and see vanilla tree car fresheners hanging in my coop. “I don’t think your car fresheners are really going to help with your chickens and it really doesn’t smell a lot in here anyway,” she said. Well, first of all I try really hard to keep my coop and run very clean and second, flies hate vanilla. Really? Yes, really. I don’t have a fly problem when I keep these vanilla car fresheners in my coop. I put out new ones about every six weeks or sooner if needed. They are really inexpensive and I usually pick them up at the dollar store.
I also use rosemary hanging in bunches in the run. I cut some up and throw it around the run as well. The girls eat some of it but that’s ok I have plenty. I renew the bunches once a week and in addition, I grow a variety of herbs around the perimeter of my run.
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| Vanilla & rosemary are powerful repellents for flies |
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| I have several hanging from the hardware cloth over the run |
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| I place a freshener about every four feet on the outside |
There are other repellents from herb world as well. Mint and basil help keep flies away, too. If you haven’t tried vanilla, it works! You can even put vanilla extract on a cloth or cotton balls with mint, basil or rosemary in a jar to repel flies. And you know it doesn’t hurt that they all smell good!
5 Comments
Your welcome!
Great idea!
Good idea. I’ll hang some in the garage because if I leave the door open a dozen or more flies congregate at the garage window when I close the door. Thanks
Thanks for the tip ! You must have some happy chickens !
Great article, Donna! Thank you so much for these timely tips. Much appreciated.