Got house flies in your poultry barn? Are you searching for control options?

Poultry barns provide an ideal environment for house fly populations to thrive if sufficient control methods are not in place. Controlling house fly populations is important for maintaining a healthy barn environment. Without control methods, large fly populations can:

• damage equipment and increase biosecurity risk
• decrease poultry production
• affect relationships with neighbours

Flies can also be carriers of food-borne diseases, carrying bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli from one location to another.

Controlling flies involves the combined use of different methods:

• barn management
• biological control
• mechanical control
• chemical control

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ (OMAFRA) book, “House Fly Control in Poultry Barns,” describes integrated pest management practices and provides information on different control methods for effective house fly control. The book is a great resource that can help you tailor fly control strategies to match your unique farming situation.

Visit ontario.ca/cca2 to download a PDF version of the book. You can also order free copies from ServiceOntario at ontario.ca/publications or 1-800-668-9938.

Visit ontario.ca/livestock for links to poultry resources, such as nutrient management and biosecurity information, and ontario.ca/cbly for information about poultry housing. Contact the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca for more information on pest management, normal farm practices and poultry farming.

Example of biological fly control.  The left picture shows a parasitic wasp laying eggs inside a fly pupa. The right picture is an example of sticky card used for weekly monitoring of fly populations.