Anything I can do to reduce flies in my own horse's stall?

[js]

[QUOTE=WhyMe;8109681]
…Good news is I talked with the staff person who manages the overhead fly misting system. He never comes into the barn unless to work on someting specific so has no idea what the flies are like…[/QUOTE]

How well does the fly spray system work with fans? Does the fan just blow the mist in the direction the fan blows? We have heavy duty fans in our stalls that really blow air (aka like a 747 jet engine); we were going to put a fly spray system in but then worried the fans would just blow all the mist out of the stalls. Even with fans on high the flies are still bad in our area.

[Dramapony_misty]

I’ve had pretty decent luck with BugPellent canisters. For your stall, one should do the trick. Just hang it way up overhead (so horsie doesn’t think it is a new play toy) and change out the contents every other month or so (or when you notice flies starting to come back).

http://bugpellent.com/

[WhyMe1]

I have often wondered why the fans don’t keep the fly spray system from working. It’s possible that since most of the stalls have small fans that aren’t jet engines, it doesn’t affect it as much. In my horse’s stall I think the mist is blown to the perimeter of the stall. The fan is in the corner and blows down into the center of the stall. After the misting cycle ends, I can still smell it in the air if I am standing in his stall. Then there are lots of misters that mist into the aisleways and the way the aisleway fans are situated, they don’t blow near the misters.

[Equibrit]

All you need is a high speed 20" inch fan mounted high, so that your horse can position himself so that it blows down and along his body. This prevents flies from landing on him and biting. That and night turn out is all you need, even in the muggy south, and I much prefer that to dousing my animals with chemicals on a consistent basis. Let’s face it - you are never going to rid the world of flies, but you can prevent them from biting your horses without exposing the horses to potential risk.

[WhyMe1]

Good to know you think the fan is adequate since a new 24" one is $500:) I tried the fans without closed housing and they died after one season. I actually had one from Tractor Supply start sparking!!

What I find is the fan blows on his body but not his legs. Or the strength of the air when it hits his legs isn’t strong enough to keep the flies off.

He cannot be on night turnout because the field he goes in, which is necessary for him because he needs to be out in a big space to run around and not in paddocks, is used for mares overnight. Plus the overnight horses go out at 4pm, which is the hottest, buggiest part of the day.

[lorilu]

There is a battery operated fly spray system. I have one in my horse’s stall. WOrks well. I got it at Seminole - http://www.country-vet.com/products.aspx?cat_id=8

[HorsesRMyTherapy]

I also use the Country Vet system, along with
Arbico fly predators,
Equispot,
Fly leggings for both horses (14/10 turnout) changed out daily,
Fly masks,
Sweet PDZ stall freshener,
CedarCide,
UltraShield fly spray,
Fanatical stall and paddock cleaning,
And still learning from COTH every day different protocols for keeping my steeds free from icky pests :yes:

[Julyartist]

I have zero flys in my barn. Pretty simple fix and not too expensive. I covered my outside openings with a soft flexible screen that came in a roll. I bought it to the correct opening size and cut the bottom to fit. One edge came with a sewn pocket so I bought a pvc pipe to fit the screen pocket I also bought a cheap plastic bracket to sit the pvc pipe on over the openings and cut those to opening size. I slipped the soft screen onto the pvc pole the put that onto the brackets over the opening. On the stall door I slit the screen up the middle. The horses never had a problem with the screen. I don’t know if this will work for you because I did this on all my barn openings even the big isle I just had to use more screens. If this doesn’t work for you because the rest of the barn isn’t covered I would say this is the other thing I do that really works. Get fan brackets to install above the stall 2 per side. Buy cheap box fans have them all point down into the stall. Flys can’t fly around in there with all these fans plus you and your horse would love it. FYI I use a lot of extension cords not sure if you can. I would also use barn spray if the flys still persist. A lot more challenging when you are at a shared barn. Hope this gives you some ideas

[Equibrit]

One of the best solutions to flies is barn swallows.

[Simkie]

Heads up that this is a 9 year old thread, and the OP hasn’t logged into the board in nearly three years

[skydy]

Cheap box fans are often a serious fire hazard in a barn. Be careful.