Flies!!!!

Are the flies shiny green or do they have black and white stripes running the long way down their bodies?

My guineas don't seem to be that good at eating flies...when I'm in the guinea/chicken pen, I see flies flying around and haven't yet seen a guinea snap one up - same with the mosquitoes...or maybe this type of fly doesn't taste good?

I've read the muscovey ducks are effective at controlling fly populations...come to think of it, the when I visited the "duck pond" that's near some office buildings in our nearest sizable town, I didn't see any flies, mosquitoes or anything, not even any moths, butterflies, or dragonflies....

But I haven't given up on the guineas yet, maybe it's because they're confined, or maybe it's because I'm in the pen that they don't eat the bugs while I'm watching...

If you're going to get poultry, I would invest in either some guineas or muscovey ducks...they'll help control other insects as well - for instance, they can eat the queens and drones of ant colonies and termites...and help keep them from building new mounds or getting into your buildings or woodpile...also, as mentioned, there are species of wild birds that help - and keeping a bird feeder and maybe a bird bath will encourage the birds that eat both seeds and insects

Meanwhile, count your blessings, at least they're not those nasty black biting flies, or those awful yellow jackets!

My muscovy and her 10 ducklings don't seem to interested in the flies. I clean her pen almost daily and it's just swarming with flies.