When dry, spray with Vetericyn - again, you should have some in your first aid kit.

They'll grow back and the area needs to be as clear as possible to prevent a re-infestation. If feathers are in the way and may keep the area moist, cut them off.

When you've got as many as you can see, clean the area with a saline solution and then dry with a warm hairdryer.

Using the tweezers, remove as many maggots as you can see.

Have a good pair of tweezers to hand in your poultry first aid kit.

Submerge her up to the top of the vent - or beyond, if the wound is larger.

Run a warm bath in a bowl large enough to fit the chicken.

Immediately you see any sign of maggots or eggs (which are tiny, so far harder to spot), take action.

Inspect your chickens' vents regularly, especially in the summer.

Links in this section are ' affiliate links', which means that if you click and buy something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Which is why, even though it doesn't bite, the common fly is no good either for you or for your flock. The diseases it spreads has been proven to range from dysentry and cholera in humans to Newcastle disease, E.coli and salmonella in chickens ( 2, 3, 4 ). While it's there laying its eggs, pathogens (diseased matter) from the original source - let's say your fly had been on some dog poop - will be regurgitated or excreted from the fly onto your food. Horse flies and deer flies do, but not house flies.Ī house fly transmits disease in a different way. Do house flies bite?Ĭontrary to what you'll see on some websites, house flies do not bite. So a fly which has been on animal poop a few minutes ago will have no problem about depositing bacteria and laying its eggs on your unrefrigerated food. They're particularly fond of decaying matter, so they'll use garbage, manure, compost, and any kind of animal waste. So the fly will lay on any surface which is damp to the touch. In order for the eggs to hatch, they must remain warm and moist. There are four stages in a fly's life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult ( 2 ). One fly can very quickly become an infestation. Which is why they need to be stopped quickly. And the eggs hatch within between just eight and twelve hours. So, potentially almost a thousand eggs from just one fly.

The average house fly ( musca domestica) can live for up to 28 days - not long, you might think.Įxcept that during that time, they reproduce by laying at least five or six batches of eggs, each containing between 75 and 150 eggs ( 1 ). Understanding the complex biology of the host-parasite relationship.How long do flies live, where do they come from and how do they reproduce? Manipulating the insect to reduce the population of the species Improved management of affected animals to minimise mortality, pain and suffering, and improve recovery times.īreeding sheep that are less susceptible to fly strike through better use of breeding values and building more comprehensive genetic resource databasesĬlimate change modelling to predict the likely impact of breech and body strike in the futureĮnhancing predictive capacity through automated fly monitoring and region-based predictions of flystrikeīuilding integrated pest management systems to enhance the efficacy of individual control strategies.Įxpert panel and strategic review teams to define research areas that need to be completed Improved identification of affected animals to improve treatment time This work includes:Ĭhemical management to enhance the awareness and availability of chemical resistance tests for fliesĪ fly-free farming industry campaign to achieve widespread adoption of current and future technological interventions The review demonstrates that significant investment has been made in understanding the sheep genetic factors associated with flystrike, but that further work is needed to apply this information to industry.

Human fly strike