Flies everywhere its like a horror movie!

[amummyinwaiting]

Hi,
We have had our chickens for 3 months so although we are quite new to them his isn the first hot period we've had with them. But yesterday I went to let them out of their litle run so that they could free range and their must have been about 50 flies inside the runner.
I pannicked and cleaned out the run and used the hoe to scrape the dirt floor to get rid of any poo but today there seem to be even more flies.
Also the chickens arent eating much which I think is because of the heat but I do not want to leave scraps out for the incase the flies lay eggs all over them and the chickens eat them and get ill....but I dont really want to just feed them pellets.
SO my questions are
1)Is their any reason/anything I can do to stop all the flies?
2)Will they make them poorly?
3)Is it normal?
4)Is his why they have gone off their food or is it the heat?

My husband says that on his day off (tommorow) he will try to dig the(rock hard) soil of their run and turn the soil over because he hinks that their is the ingrained smell of chicken poo on the soil but will this be any use.
I expected flies but not this many and wondered if anyone could help.

When my Mum had chickens there were loads of flies, especially in the heat but it sounds like you're doing all the right things by turning the soil and not leaving scraps out.

I doubt the little hens would eat anything that makes them sick, and yes they do eat less in the heat (our always did anyway)!

Cintronella, water it down a bit and spray it everywhere, works for us.

thanks chilli- I'm going to get husband to turn soil this afternoon-I read on another forum that they (Flies not chickens) hate cloves so I'm boiling some up now to use.
Dita-Thank you going to get some today-is it the citronella oil?

Sounds like you are doing all the right things but I'd suggest the following too:
Keep pelletts in pellett holder. Then, twice a day, feed them other things perhaps grain/maize in the morning and veggies/pasta /scraps in the afternoon. Put these in a disposable tray or a bowl to keep them portable. Only give them a certain amount and leave it with them for 10 minutes and then take away anything they've left. They'll like the routine and you'll get a feel for how many scraps they should have.

Btw, if he's having trouble digging, raking is easier.

What hens have you got? I've got a battery rescue and two silkies and three araucana chicks that one oof the silkies hatched from ebay hatching eggs.

yes, just the oil you get from anywhere, watered down and I have it in a spray bottle, also use it to make al the chooks smell the same if we introduce any new ones.
Araucana chicks must be gorgeous, I would also second raking.

Hello Honeywitch:Mine are three ex batteries Henrietta, Erica and Norma I didnt know about ebay hatching eggs!Of the three Erica is quite broody but dont think the other two would take to having chicks anywhere near them!
Thank you everyone for your help, I guess its still a learning curve for us with them. I rake them out twice a day but they just keep pooing!

thay are proper poo machines aren't they, I must admit I don't tend to rake mine over very jkuch, prob once a fortnight, they have woodchipo down and every couple of months I chick another bail of woodchip down with some garden lime.

The poo's that are like wet concrete I can cope with.....its the brown (or worse tar ones)that make me want to gag!
I read on another site that cloves keep them away so yesterday I boiled some up and squirted it all over in there coop and also put a little bit in their drinking water (and got carried away and misted them with it...I think they quite liked it!)
And have noticed a definate improvement- but think was also to do with putting lots of fresh straw in too so fingers crossed am getting back on top of it, and will be trying the citronella this weekend.
Thanks Everyone!