Flies in tack room

[StormyDay]

I’ve got a fly problem and I don’t know where they are coming from or why they are here.
There are probably close to a thousand flies in my tack room and I have NO idea why. There’s no food in here. The only food is a treat jar which is sealed (and they don’t even seem to care about it). There’s nothing dead (I stripped the whole room, cleaned everything, and put it all back in). No wet towels, no dirty saddle pads.
There’s actually minimal flies in my barn. They are all in my freaking tack room.

Unfortunately my tack room doesn’t have a door and can’t have one built. I currently have fly sticky paper up (they fill up in about a day) and a fly trap. I tried dumping basically a whole bottle of citronella essential oil and that did nothing. I tried pine sol and fabuloso; nothing. Help! I don’t understand!

[K_2]

I have an automated air dispenser in my feed room. It sprays a metered amount of fly spray every 15 minutes, and really does keep the fly population in check.

[SoCoPony]

My human used Red Wine Vinegar in a spray bottle.
The entire barn smells like an Italian Bakery, which I don’t mind and it lasted a day or two.
The vinegar has melted the straw in the spray bottle so it was one use and done.
I know they sprayed the stalls walls and doorways of the barn.

Or you could put it out in a bowl with plastic wrap and punch holes in it. The flies get trapped and drowned in it as they go after the smell of the vinegar. I am sure you could youtube search for this method.

Follow up with new automated air dispensers and hanging fly strips.

Just my thoughts and as always I am just a horse of course.

[clanter]

hang a vinyl strip door, they are often used in refrigerated areas to hold the cold air in but allow easy access for equipment, fairly inexpensive item

[erinmeri]

When I had a similar problem decades ago in an old apartment (that had doors), it turned out it was a dead rat in the wall…

[trubandloki]

I had the same thought as @erinmeri, could there be something dead in a wall or under the floor or…

[StormyDay]

@clanter

hang a vinyl strip door, they are often used in refrigerated areas to hold the cold air in but allow easy access for equipment, fairly inexpensive item

Unfortunately I have a horse who would rip every one of those down in a day. So I can’t do this or a screen.

[StormyDay]

@trubandloki

I had the same thought as @erinmeri, could there be something dead in a wall or under the floor or…

Ugh, gross. There’s no way I’d ever find it. The whole room is tongue and groove, nailed in.

[erinmeri]

@StormyDay

Ugh, gross. There’s no way I’d ever find it. The whole room is tongue and groove, nailed in.

The good news is that if that is the cause, the flies eventually did go away once the thing was desiccated. (Landlord didn’t want to rip out the walls either). I can’t recall how we verified that was the issue, but I know we did.

[sascha]

@StormyDay

Unfortunately I have a horse who would rip every one of those down in a day. So I can’t do this or a screen.

Your horses have access to your tack room? I think this was suggested as an alternative to a door (which you said you can’t do) between your tack room and your barn. But that probably doesn’t matter, it’s likely something dead in a wall or under the floor like others have said and it will eventually desiccate and your fly problem will be over.

[StormyDay]

@sascha

@StormyDay

Unfortunately I have a horse who would rip every one of those down in a day. So I can’t do this or a screen.

Your horses have access to your tack room? I think this was suggested as an alternative to a door (which you said you can’t do) between your tack room and your barn. But that probably doesn’t matter, it’s likely something dead in a wall or under the floor like others have said and it will eventually desiccate and your fly problem will be over.

Kind of. I have a 17.2h baby who can reach around from the run in area and will steal things/break things/ tear things down.
Last weekend he had an emergency vet visit because he ate 42 granola bars WRAPPER and all. He opened a gate, broke into the tack room, stole the box, and then ate them all.

[sascha]

@StormyDay

he ate 42 granola bars WRAPPER and all

OMG, Forty two granola bars!

I hope I’m laughing with you and he’s ok and didn’t suffer any major ill effects!

[StormyDay]

@sascha

@StormyDay

he ate 42 granola bars WRAPPER and all

OMG, Forty two granola bars!

I hope I’m laughing with you and he’s ok and didn’t suffer any major ill effects!

Well it happened Friday and he seems to be okay. I’m saying his show name will now have the number 42 in it, purely because of this incident.

[jvanrens]

Maybe you can find a way to request the number 42 be permanently assigned to you as your show number? LOL

[Haven_tJumpedInALongTime]

Do you use something like this?

Amazon.com: Country Vet Automatic Metered Dispenser 321131CVA : Pet Supplies

[K_2]

Yes. Our particular model is

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/doktor-doom-indoor-fully-programmable-csa-aerosol-dispenser-for-170-gram-cans-1591043p.1591043.html

[DoubleDown]

Try hanging your traps away from the tack room. By design, they’re meant to attract flies/wasps in order to kill them.

[pony_baloney]

My late cousin’s house had hundreds of flies in it when it was vacant. There was a dead mouse in the wall, like others have posted. I noticed the smell, but in a barn you probably wouldn’t notice it. It was like that scene in The Amityville Horror. You may be able to lure them out with light. If you keep the lights off in the tackroom they may fly out into a brighter area.

[Leather]

Fun fact - the automatic fly spray canisters are the same size as Glade and other air freshener spray cans so you can save money buying the non-horse version! I got mine off Amazon (link below), I’ve heard of others finding great deals at dollar stores.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AFZAVAI

One thing to note is that the fly spray canisters often have permethrin in them, which is VERY toxic to cats. So if you have a sprayer in a small area where barn cats like to congregate try to find one without permethrin.