Product Review: Red Top Fly Traps

Chicken Flies!

This month has been horrendous for flies around our chickens. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I scrub clean and generally disinfect, whatever I do they are there. They aren’t in the hen-house thankfully just in the hen run especially on the hens droppings.

I hate killing anything without good reason, yes even flies. However something had to be done. My closest neighbour mentioned she was having a few fly issues. Whether attracted from my hen run or  from the rubbish that hadn’t been collected for weeks due to industrial action locally I don’t know. Whatever the cause I had to do something and quickly as it was not pleasant to be in the hen run any more.

Following a bit of research on fly control I decided to buy some Redtop fly traps.

The few reviews I’d read were positive. The package stated it was “the ultimate fly trap, catches up to 20,000 flies and is ideal for poultry farms” although we weren’t a farm this was music to my ears.

So following the instructions the trap was hung down the garden by the hen run.  Then all I had to do was wait and cross my fingers. It takes a few days for the bait to become activated but when it did ………..WOW!

Amazing results within a few hours.  Every time I checked the trap it had trapped more flies in it.  Now for the size of the pen and the number of flies we have it will take more than 1 trap to get rid of our problem . However now I know how effective the traps are I have put up a further 3 around the run and we’re watching this space. So far fantastic!

Positive aspects of the Redtop fly catcher -

I would highly recommend this product for anyone with animals. It’s simple to use, easy to set up, the bait lasts for up to 12 weeks apparently and when the bag is full it can be emptied into a compost bin as it is non toxic and biodegradable.

Less positive aspects of the Redtop fly catcher -

The only down side I could find is it has a pungent smell and the more dead flies it traps it seems the more it smells. This is not the product to use if you’re squeamish. Watching hundreds and thousands of flies struggling for their life can be a bit gruesome. However what is the alternative if you let them live and breed?

Conclusion

To say I was impressed is an understatment. It took a couple of days for the additive to become active but when it did our bag was 1/3 within days. This is not for the squemish as they are not pleasant to look at with all theose dead and dying flies but they are effective.

To find out more about these traps, click here RedTop Fly Catcher.