but where does this invasion of flies come from in this hamlet?

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“It’s unbearable, we were invaded by flies all summer,” laments Beatrice Mauceri78 years old. With her husband, she has lived for 17 years on hamlet of Boulayeon the heights ofAutheuil-Authouilletnear Gaillon (Eure).

As soon as it gets hot, the couple is forced to hunker down in their house and cannot enjoy their garden.

“We close all the doors and they still manage to get in. When we eat, we must do it at full speed. This puts us under incredible stress. We can’t take it anymore,” explains the retiree.

Up to 400 flies during the day

If the presence of flies on your property is not abnormal – “we are in the countryside” – it is the quantity that poses a problem. “The other day, my grandson counted, he killed more than 400 during the day,” continues the woman who lives surrounded by fly swatters and sticky strips.

“And in my garden, I installed fly traps to attract them away from the house. But suddenly it smells bad and we can no longer enjoy the outdoors”

A point of view confirmed by Marie-Noëlle Chevalier, her neighbor and regional advisor. “We suffer from bad odors as much as flies.”

For Béatrice Mauceri, like the other inhabitants of the hamlet, this revived bad memories of the summer of 2018 during which the entire hamlet of La Boulaye found itself infested by these insects. At the time, the neighboring henhouse managed by the Liot company was the cause of these nuisances. A clear culprit for the reappearance of flies this summer, which occurred at the end of July: “It can only come from them,” believes the local resident. She points out the “questionable practices” of the operation and says she has seen chicken droppings evacuated “on trucks without a tarpaulin” on several occasions.

Pointed out, the henhouse defends itself

A few days after our visit to their neighbor, Berno Pierpaologeneral director of the Liot companyet Christophe Ribotresponsible for breeding, showed us around the site which can accommodate up to 290,000 laying hens. “We are not the cause of the proliferation of flies in the neighborhood,” assures Berno Pierpaolo from the outset.

The presence of flies on the site was residual, inside the buildings in a much lower proportion than that observed at Béatrice Mauceri, and absent outside. “We check the traps present outside every three weeks. It is rare to have more than ten in the buckets,” explains Christophe Ribot. “We can find them inside the henhouse because the flies seek warmth, but in no case can we speak of proliferation or invasion,” he continues.

Berno Pierpaolo, annoyed by his neighbors’ accusations, adds:

“It’s a bit easy to systematically point the finger at us when there is a fly problem.”

And to recall that, since 2018, breeding has been brought up to standard: “The Eurovo group took over this site which was in disrepair and we invested 8 million euros to completely restructure it. » Of this sum, 800,000 euros were spent on installing a droppings drying and evacuation system.

“The droppings are dried then evacuated by conveyor belt to another warehouse which is itself emptied regularly. They do not exceed 25% humidity. They are then sold to specialized companies with certification for all types of agriculture, particularly organic.

Before specifying: “We do not sell these droppings directly to farmers who spread them nearby”.

“Our breeding, which is categorized as Code 2 FR (eggs raised on the ground), is regularly monitored by the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of People and the Departmental Directorate for Territories and the Sea. We have nothing to hide,” concludes the general director. by Liot.

State services rule out responsibility for the henhouse

Since the 2018 incident, the hamlet of La Boulaye and the livestock of the Liot company have been subject to very special surveillance by state services and in particular by the Andelys sub-prefecture. . “This henhouse is actually checked by our services on numerous occasions and is subject to specific monitoring,” confirms Nicolas Lebas, sub-prefect.

“Our services were able to objectively and certainly rule out that the flies did not come from the henhouse. The operator has actually carried out significant work to bring it up to standard since 2018.”

For the State representative, local residents point the finger at the henhouse because of “subjective presumptions linked to a painful history”.

Unsanitary housing nearby?

This new invasion, according to public authorities, could have several sources at its origin but not from the Liot company. First, it was noted that the flies returned following spreading in a field near homes. The farmer operating this field would have delayed turning his field over during a period of high heat favoring the appearance of larvae. “Spreading, however, remains an authorized practice,” tempers the sub-prefect.

Furthermore, another house located near Béatrice Mauceri’s property poses a problem. “This house is classified as unsanitary and yet occupied,” indicates Nicolas Lebas.

“The owners of this house, who are the former managers of the henhouse, refuse to do the necessary work in terms of sanitation,” adds the sub-prefect who specifies that he has referred the matter to the housing department of the Seine-Eure Agglomeration.

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