I am really struggling to keep the house fly population under control, there are just hundreds of the bl**dy things in the house. With a litter on the ground it's proving very problematical. I've got fly strips, which have caught loads, but there are an equal amount flying about. They are on the floors, ceilings, kitchen cupboards, work surfaces, and I'm tearing my hair out. Poo is picked up outside as soon as it is dropped and where the puppies are is regularly cleaned. Dog bowls are washed as soon as they are finished. I'm not sure what else to do. I do live in a rural environment surrounded by sheep and horses and the Aga in the kitchen probably doesn't help as it is constantly warm. Any suggestions?

Not as bad as you but we do have a lots & one dog loathes them so much he will leave a room if one buzzing around. Bought a large commercial Fly killer from Nisbets for the kitchen which has helped.

I have the same fly problem. Flypapers are helping but there are still swarms in each room. The last time it was as bad as this was about 6 years ago. I don't like to use fly sprays because of the dogs, but I can't bear flies.

Homemade fly traps with plastic bottles, all the rage on my gundog groups at the mo! I did it once, used raw liver for bait and it worked well :)

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/06/got-flies-heres-idea-for-diy-fly.html?m=1

The weird one was some pennies in a plastic ziploc type bag half full of water and attach at our head night to door frame or wall. It is supposed to upset their vision and off they go. I know odd but worth a try .

You must be going mad with the flies - I would!

In this weather, the house gets too hot unless the back door is kept open and all the windows too.

I keep them OUT with one of these at the back door Amazon uk - plastic flyscreen

You can buy a chain one, but not sure if it would be dangerous to small puppies or catch in inquisitive little teeth ;-)

I also have a net insect screen for one of our windows which seems to attract them :-)

I've just ordered a Red Top Fly Trap from Amazon, they are very popular with chicken keepers and are reputedly one of the best you can get.
I will warn you they also stink to high heaven, they're designed for outside, you hang them up in the garden and attract the flys away from the house, so they don't come in in the first place.
The flys end up in a plastic holder and drown in water, that's when it starts to stink when it fills up with dead flies, which makes it all the more attractive to more flies.
There are a few fakes on the go on Amazon, a real Red Top will cost around £9.00 for one, last for around 12 weeks.
We're not too bad this year for flies, I just can't stand them in the house, as soon as I hear one I have to splat it with my fly swat.

We're not having 'too' bad a year for flies - even tho' we're only a few miles away from you Pedlee :) A lot seems to depend on what crops are being grown nearby and the weather. We've had a lot of thunderbugs and some flies - but not too bad. The worst is the cluster flies that we get upstairs in the autumn/winter :(

What on earth are " thunderbugs " ?.
Sound quite exciting !.
It's Corn Lice that are a pest in my garden this year, annoying little buggers.

Just had a Google, Thunderbugs are Corn Lice !.

one dog loathes them so much he will leave a room if one buzzing around

LOL    And I thought this was just a Frankie thing - must be a Basset thing eh.   If we get one in the room he goes nuts.   I dread the thought of having to put him in a Boarding Kennel for this reason alone.   And probably never will.   I think this goes back to the time we had a noisy wasp in the office here when he was beside me, early days.   And of course, where he came from, living out during the daytime, may have had flies.   It sure had 'other things' going on.

All I can suggest is what we did in Canada - fly screens, especially across open doors (brothel curtains LOL).   But spraying, as you might do otherwise, you can't do around puppies.   Pray for a cold Winter so hit some of these bugs.

I second using the pennies in the bags of water, I thought it was a spoof when I was told about it but it really worked here and I am rural. Postman managed to hold out 2 days before asking what the bags of water hanging off the window catches were.

I'll report back, as I've just put the pennies in the bags of water and will see what happens...

Pennies in bags did not work for us at all....

When we have had a bad infestation of flies,  the only thing that worked was the vacuum cleaner used several times a day ! :)

> Pennies in bags did not work for us at all....

Not working here either. :(

We also seem to have a special variety of biting house flies which is more than annoying. I've got fly traps of various sorts around the garden which are collecting loads. Think I may just have to turn off the Aga and see if that helps (it's our only means of cooking atm so will have to get a Baby Belling or similar - anyone got any recommendations on that front).

>anyone got any recommendations on that front

Have you got a camping stove?

When having the kitchen done by OH (so took months rather than weeks)  we used a slow cooker and the camping stove :-)   also we have an electric toaster :-)

Other than that, as it's so hot,  salads ?  :-)

>We also seem to have a special variety of biting house flies which is more than annoying

Sounds like you have horseflies/stable flies/marsh flies coming in (also known as clegs, and 'deer flies' in America)   they have a vicious bite and this warm moist weather will really suit them, they normally prefer stables or marshes as  they like the moisture.

If you google horsefly traps, you'll get some idea of how to make one, they allwork in a similar way :-)

http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publichealth/insects/tabanid.html

LOL, just to make clear, in Canada I know horse flies to be different from deer flies.  Generally horse flies can be quite a bit bigger. And as you see in the link, have different wings and are said not to bite humans, most of them don't.  I know in all my time at horse barns I was never bitten but then most biting insects prefer anyone other than me.

A trick I've read of for deer flies is to attach a square, maybe two inches, of white fabric to the back of your hat.  It's said the buggers will target the white and not bite you.  I have never tried it but maybe placing a bit of white near the dog's bed would help?  Surely worth a try when it's so easily done. 

My bug dope really works, when I have it with me I am left completely alone.  Unfortunately it's my OH.  :)  They all, whatever the species, love him.

Here in the UK, Horseflies most definitely DO bite humans ;-)

Their bites are really nasty and can be painful for weeks!  I got bitten last year three times through my top - they'd bitten through the material and my skin!

You can identify your fly here http://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Horseflies_Clegs_and_Deerflies.htm

I've gone and ordered a halogen cooker which seems capable of doing most things. We've got electric kettles and toasters so once the Halogen has arrived the Aga is going off.

I think we've got several varieties of fly unfortunately.

Roll on Winter, that's all I can say. :)

> so once the Halogen has arrived the Aga is going off.

Most people I know who have an Aga have a 'summer' oven too :) One reason why we didn't bother getting an Aga :) :) :)

Out of choice I wouldn't have had an Aga, there are much better alternatives, and even some Aga's, that don't need to be on constantly. If I win the lottery I'll get something else, but for the time being it's here to stay (and is lovely in the cooler months). :)

Over this past weekend my kitchen has been plagued with big flies. Of course the windows have been open with fans blowing in front of them and although the door is open I have one of those net type covers with magnets that keep it closed. My bin is in a walk in larder and the flies are in there too. I actually wondered if anything had died in there. Have the sticky fly traps up but not doing much and will get one of those ultra violet gadgets that you see in shops. They are driving me mad, it must be a good year for them. There are horseflies outside and they definitely love me. I tried to swipe one off my leg and felt something pierce the skin. If you've got a good aim you could try one of the  'tennis bats' that frazzle flying insects but I don't have any idea how to stop them coming in. Are there any herbs that can be put on the windowsill that are a deterrent?

We have been fine here. A word of warning though as the last time we had a problem with flies was when we realised we had a mouse that had died under the kick board in our kitchen. We had swarms of them trying to naturally get rid of the body !

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Are there any herbs that can be put on the windowsill that are a deterrent?

I don't know about herbs but apparently garlands of hop flowers are supposed to keep flies at bay. I'm quite lucky as I get the odd fly in the kitchen but no invasions (touch wood)

Paint your kitchen walls blue... Flies do not like blue and will avoid it if they can. Strange but true.
We had a new conservatory with blue tinted glass and never have much of a fly problem, our neighbours had a new one with clear glass and were plagued with flies, they had the roof glass tinted blue...no more flies!!
The Victorians had blue kitchens....they knew !!!
Aileen

> The Victorians had blue kitchens....they knew !!!

Wow who'd have thought it!
i've just done a bit of Googling, look what came up -
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/58431398
Newspaper article from 1917

http://www.ehow.com/info_8354155_colors-repel-insects.html

> Paint your kitchen walls blue...

Funny, that's what my Mum said! :) The Aga is blue, but the walls are white. It needs redecorating, so maybe blue will be the new colour scheme...

We HAD this problem last year in the rabbit shed - now use this and NO flies at all - they hate it and disappeared in a couple of hours - fab stuff :)
http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acatalog/Prevent_Auto_Flying_Insect_Killer_Aerosol_243ml.html
It is dispensed by an auto spray on a timer (adjustable)

Its the ceiling you need to  paint blue, apparently flies feel unsafe in the open as they are then at risk of being eaten by something (birds etc..) so if they think the blue ceiling is the sky they avoid it.
It does seem to help.
Aileen

> We HAD this problem last year in the rabbit shed - now use this and NO flies at all - they hate it

Have heard of similar products - there is one called Konk.
I wouldn't be happy about using it in the kitchen though, which is where I get most flies when the back door is open (which is constantly in good weather). I may invest on one of these next year
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160808975178?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

We bought a chain screen last year, brilliant, we now only get them coming in the bathroom window, and any other windows, but they are not as bad as last year, so haven't put the plastic fly screen on the front door which we often have open to give more air circulation.

There were issues getting hold of konk so moved over to this :) Plant some chysanths in a window box might have the same effect? lol

As I feed mainly raw the blue bottles are horrendous, like a murder crime scene
but one squirt of Crommesol ADD in the vicinity and they all vamoose.

I have some made up in a hand spray and a pump dispenser for the garden, they seem to hate the smell.

> As I feed mainly raw the blue bottles are horrendous, like a murder crime scene

That may be why I've been getting them in, then. They seem to know when something's being defrosted, even in the fridge.

>As I feed mainly raw the blue bottles are horrendous, like a murder crime scene

I often wonder what they would think if the CSIs came and sprayed their luminol round my house. there is likely to be traces of blood almost everywhere. Especially in the garage where I dispose of the bodies :)

I went away for a couple of days last year and my son was left to feed the dogs. I returned to find the customary uncleaned kitchen left by teenage boys so I started to clean up. I moved the washing up bowl to find the sink crawling with maggots! turns out son had empties the blood that drains from the dog food into the sink and not washed it away, Cleaning them up nearly made me throw up!

I live on a farm and they are horrendous ATM. I 2nd the recommendation for the red top fly traps, they take several days to get going but they pick up hundreds of them, also attractive to bluebottles as well as houseflys.
Plus, I have just bought a electric fly swat from amazon (the executioner!) and it is amazing, just spent the entire evening in attack mode!

I've had the Red Top fly trap up in the garden for a week now and I can't believe the difference it's made, I have noticed only one fly in the house since it's been up.
The trap itself is hoachin' with dead flys, it also seems to be catching Clippies, which is fine by me.
I'll certainly be buying another next summer.

>I've just ordered a Red Top Fly Trap from Amazon, they are very popular with chicken keepers and are reputedly one of the best you can get.
>I will warn you they also stink to high heaven, they're designed for outside, you hang them up in the garden and attract the flys away from >the house, so they don't come in in the first place.

That has to be the understatement of the year :)  Unless you can place this device a long way from your house, then be warned. The smell is terrible - but, they do seem to work if you can put up with the stench and the wind does not change direction! :)