Plagued with flies - help!

My hens are free to roam the garden in the afternoons, and as a result, the garden is full of flies.  As soon as they have a poo, the flies swarm on to it and even when I pick it up or cover it with Biodri they just wait on the bushes until the next poo comes along. 

It's getting very bad and I am at a loss as to how to deter the flies as far as possible.  I don't have a problem in the run as I have fly papers hanging up, lavender and mint etc planted around the run.  The problem is confined to the garden. 

Any suggestions as to how to put them off would be much appreciated.  I have heard about fly catchers that are basically rotting meat, but don't fancy those at all, as I think they would encourage even more flies!

Thanks

I have heard the Red Top catchers are good. You could try planting or putting branches of elder around. I have not tried it myself but believe it is supposed to work

I used to be plagued with flies - and spent £££££s on the red top fly catchers, mint, lavender etc  ........... unfortunately there are far more flies than I had £££££s.

I learned about fermenting the hen's feed and since doing it (for around 8 months now) I have no flies whatsoever in the coop or runs.     The hens actually get all the available nutrition from their feed so nothing that comes out the rear end is of interest to flies.

A couple of months ago I got another 8 POL hens and for the first 36 hours the flies were back with a vengeance, but as soon as the fermented feed went through their system - the flies looked elsewhere for their feed.

I use LAB to ferment my feed,  but all you really have to do is soak your feed in water for around 4 days, stirring a couple of times a day, and it will ferment itself.   

I did a post about fermenting feed which goes into more detail.     I am away now for a week - but if you would like to know more just pm me.

Mine would be very fat if they did!  Fussy things, don't eat slugs and snails either!

I used to be plagued with flies - and spent £££££s on the red top fly catchers, mint, lavender etc  ........... unfortunately there are far more flies than I had £££££s.

I learned about fermenting the hen's feed and since doing it (for around 8 months now) I have no flies whatsoever in the coop or runs.     The hens actually get all the available nutrition from their feed so nothing that comes out the rear end is of interest to flies.

A couple of months ago I got another 8 POL hens and for the first 36 hours the flies were back with a vengeance, but as soon as the fermented feed went through their system - the flies looked elsewhere for their feed.

I use LAB to ferment my feed,  but all you really have to do is soak your feed in water for around 4 days, stirring a couple of times a day, and it will ferment itself.   

I did a post about fermenting feed which goes into more detail.     I am away now for a week - but if you would like to know more just pm me.

Really interested as have same problem as Ghost61.  Will PM you.