I’m on year five on improving our small little farmette thanks to my horse poorness. Last year I used fly predators and noticed almost no difference in the fly population so I’m looking for a different approach.
DE, ACV, feed through? Discuss!
after thirty plus years of trying to kill flies there is nothing that I have found that is magic killer
So we currently use:
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Overhead spray rig that has nozzles in every stall, all common areas then added nozzles to the exterior walls of the barns
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fly predators are added to the compost pile monthly
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being a small operation the paddocks And pastures are picked in a near religious fashion (we have two walk on volunteers who Love to do this as something that gets them outside away from people but near the horses they like to be with)
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All manure is bagged and deposed of off site, the stalls are cleaned every 12 hours if the horses are up otherwise when they are turned out (depending upon season at night in the summer and during the day in winter. fall and spring) ALL manure is bagged placed into roller carts which are water tight that the disposal company picks up twice a week
And we still have flies that at times seem to blacken the sky, so the horses during fly season have fly sheets and face masks
because
adults flies’ range 1-2 miles; some may travel as far as 20 miles which is beyond my area of control
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What is your manure management regimen?
Do you have nearby other farmettes within fly range of your place?
Is a fly misting system outside of your fly control budget?
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Quickstrike in the barn and big stinky bag fly traps help.
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We only have filth flies, not horse flies.
We use a feed-thru, March through October. This year, it’s SimpliFly, other years it’s Equit-Trol, depending upon price. They are basically the same product.
We have automatic fly spray dispensers in each stall. Originally had the Country Vet type, but now use the much less expensive ($6 each) Glade ones available at big box stores, recommended on CoTH.
We hang the Rescue Big Bag fly traps outside the barn, but close enough to attract flies from the barn. Don’t hang these in the barn so they don’t attract flies to the barn, also, they majorly stink but work great.
One of our horses, like his mother, attracts flies, the other doesn’t. Mr. Fly Magnet wears a mask with ears – if he could put it on himself, he would. Sometimes, fly leggings are necessary (but not usually). We sometimes fly spray him, and have just ordered (but not yet received) the Fly Bye spray mentioned on CoTH. He also gets a garlic supplement during fly season, which he loves. Can’t say that it helps, but it’s very inexpensive and he thinks it’s yummy.
We pick manure up constantly, the paddock is cleaned once or twice daily, and stalls are cleaned every time we notice the presence of manure (this can be several times daily, as horses have constant access to stalls to use them as run-in sheds). At times, we pick the pastures, too, and very occasionally drag with a harrow. All manure is composted. By the way, it’s important to pick up loose, wasted hay as well.
Empty manure wheelbarrows are kept under a tree with hanging fly tape, which catches lots of flies. We occasionally hang fly tape in the barn, out of reach of the horses.
We fill a watering can with Bti granules and water (an idea from CoTH), let it stand overnight, and water places that attract flies – favorite urinating spots, for instance, or favorite pooping areas. We also sprinkle this inside of the manure wheelbarrows, and anywhere else we think would be attractive to flies, include the composting manure piles (which are situated away from the barn).
In the past, upon the advice of an entomologist, we’ve sprayed the inside stall walls with a specialty insecticide meant for this purpose. Entomologist told us that flies rest on the walls, so that spraying those areas is a good way to control them.
In the past, for several years, we used fly predators (tried a few different companies products), but they have their disadvantages, and don’t work as well IME as the feed-thru fly control.
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Our manure pile is farm away from our barn, in a cool area. I sprinkle DE on it once every other week or so. Stalls are picked in the morning before work if the horses are in, then cleaned out every night. I pick manure directly around the barn and high traffic areas (hay hut) mud willing, I drag weekly because I can’t stand seeing poo piles in the fields.
I’ve been considering getting the glade plug ins for each stall, but to be honest, in the summer they’re out more than they’re in.
Fans blowing flies off the horses during the day, night turnout, and a very active colony of barn swallows.
The bird poo is not ideal, but, it can be hosed off when they have left. They do a great fly control job, and they are so chatty.
If you didn’t use anything the first 3 years, then it can easily take several years of some fly control to take hold. 1 year’s use of predators will start to make a dent, but it also depends on how bad things were to start, when you started using them, if you used enough (like did you also get some double shipments a couple times), and if you put them out often enough. 1 year isn’t long enough to say they don’t work
Are there any neighbors with livestock close, who aren’t using any sort of fly control?
Some are organophosphates, at least 1 isn’t, so while they’re still affecting the same end result of larva not maturing, they’re doing it in different ways, with potentially different environmental impacts.
I was really hoping you’d chime in, I always take away a lot from your responses.
I started using the fly predators in March and at double the suggested rate, on the recommendation of Spalding. I think it’s very much environmental. We moved a lot of dirt last year and I think that probably created the perfect breeding ground. My MIL has two horses at our house and does not take instruction well, so she likely killed a lot of the fly predators and it’s unlikely I can prevent her from doing so.
There is a cattle farm a few farms over, but it’s over a half a mile away. Otherwise we’re surrounding by hay and soy fields. We do have a pond and some wetland. Luckily we have a very health frog population. I’ve also employed four clearance ducklings to patrol that area this year. I’m thinkin about picking up some guineas, too.
We live on small acreage, so considering the circumstances, I’m leaning towards a feed through I just don’t know which one is less intrusive but most effective.
what does she do that would be killing them?
A feed through will still take some time to work, just as predators will. They all prevent larva from maturing, just via some different mechanisms. One is an insect growth regulator which prevents larva from maturing, and the other kind is a chitin synthesis inhibitor which prevents the formation of the exoskeleton which effectively causes the larva to die. Some use an organophosphate which is a subject of contention for some.
She will douse her stalls with vinegar and she uses her fly spray or pesticide of choice in her stalls and sprays the walls and sometimes sread Python dust in there… It’s gotten better, but I can’t trust her to actually do as I ask. It’s only her 2 horses and my gelding on the property, so what she does will greatly impact the success rate.
Do you favor one type of feed through over the other? I’m realistic that it will still take time, but I would like to start before fly season hits and settle on a system to continue with.
here fly season is a year round event, even in the middle of winter we can find flies hiding
I wish that were my case! We had a brutal winter that just seems to be lingering…
A mild winter is a blessing and a curse wrapped into one but one we wanted after the brutal winters we endured in the late 1970s in northern Kentucky
Predators wouldn’t go in there anyway, manure isn’t (usually) in there long enough for flies to lay eggs and predators to find them
personally I’d go with a non-organophosphate. Equitrol II, SimpliFly are 2 that have been around forever, and MultiFly is a new one from Formula7 so I don’t know anything about it
SimpliFly and Equitrol II are both Farnam products. They have the same active ingredient, diflubenzeron, which is an insect growth regulator. The feed ingredients listed are also the same. These links have available labels:
https://www.farnam.com/all-products/fly-insect-control/simplifly
https://www.farnam.com/all-products/fly-insect-control/equitrol-ii
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thanks, I don’t use any of them, that’s really strange to have 2 identical products with different names.
