Fly predators/war on flies

[Mukluk]

Well I have seen a few flies already and immediately put out two fly traps which have caught a few. The flies aren’t really noticeable…yet. I would like to try the fly predators this year. We have 2 horses. We have neighbors with horses but unfortunately they aren’t very good neighbors-I’m doubtful they would be willing to cooperate and purchase fly predators (but I may try to ask them anyway).

Does anyone have a preferred source for the fly predators? I’d like to get them set up on auto ship so we can do the monthly scatter without having to “think” about it.

I have never found any fly spray that really does anything. It’s generally too hot for fly sheets in summer.

Any other ideas on fighting flies are very welcome.

[apprider]

I’ve used both Spaulding and Arbico in the past, and had a very bad experience with Arbico and them overcharging me and taking a lot of effort to get it straightened out. Never had a problem with Spaulding. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of you having warm enough weather to see flies

[Mukluk]

Well I’m in CA- home of the drought. Believe me, at this point I’d prefer to have snow on the ground than flies!!!

[chicamux]

Yes, do fly predators for sure. They have been very helpful at my farmette, in spite of the herd of cattle across the street and the neighbors herd of minis.

Have run-in shelters or barns with all doors/windows covered with shade tarps, 80-90% light blocking. Flies are daylight creatures and they do not not like DARK interiors. I have been using shade tarps for years and they really work. Your horses will figure out that inside the dark barn/shed there are no (or few) flies. Put their hay inside, obviously. At night they go out. My horses are free to come and go at will and make good use of the barn. The tarps let the air move in and out of the barn freely.

Flies are NOT nocturnal. At night flies will land on a surface and sit there until the sun comes up. If you spray the flat barn walls, exterior/interior, with insecticide it will kill a lot of flies because this is where they tend to hang out at night. Fly predators are spread in your manure areas, usually at your manure pile, and will be unaffected by your insecticide spraying of barn walls.

Definitely Spalding Labs. Do call and order, I have gotten better deals and help dealing with a “person” versus on-line ordering.

[Sing_Mia_Song]

Our farm is between two dairies and we have staged a multi-strike war on flies for years. The absolute best measure is picking up poop at least twice a day in both the stalls and the paddocks. But of course that’s not enough. We also have the shade cloths, use a feed-through IGR starting in March, use the predators (from Spaulding–get double what they say you should need), place stinky fly traps far from the barn, and, perhaps most satisfying, put up fly paper on the end of the barn where the flies like to rest in the heat of the day. There’s nothing more gratifying than stapling up flypaper and hearing the buzz as the little bastards get stuck. i’m not usually a sadist, but when it comes to flies… But if you have a lot of birds, pick an area where they don’t roost or land, because they too will get stuck, and it’s not a pretty sight.

I skipped the fly predators last year because I wasn’t sure they were working. Big mistake.

[tpup]

Use Spaulding and have been VERY happy with them. We go double dose all the time. Worth it for the extra cost.

[Mukluk]

[QUOTE=chicamux;8021350]

Have run-in shelters or barns with all doors/windows covered with shade tarps, 80-90% light blocking. The tarps let the air move in and out of the barn freely.[/QUOTE]

Where do you purchase shade tarps is it preferable to get a particular color of tarp (thinking of trying to increase the light blocking? Can anyone provide a link? The stall fronts have dutch doors so that would be really easy to cover. There really isn’t a wall on the back part of the stalls- The opening is about 8.5 ft wide 9 ft tall so I’m not sure how I could do that. Unless I put up some pipe corral panels across part of the opening to leave a smaller opening- shade cloth could be used to cover the pipe corral part and from the ceiling to top of pipe corral panel. Maybe I could use “strips” of shade cloth to cover where the horses come in and go out. Any ideas on how I can cover the back part with shade cloth would be much appreciated.

Also thanks everyone for all the great advice. We only have 2 horses. Would the amount for 1-5 horses would work OK? Thanks thanks thanks!!!

[keatssu]

Spalding has been great - we’ve used them for years. They will help you come up with a plan - for instance, if you have neighbors unwilling to use the fly predators, hanging traps along the property line can help keep their flies from making your problem worse. I actually bought enough predators to scatter in my neighbor’s pasture. Flies can be horrible around here, so to me it was worth a little extra money.

[chicamux]

I have gotten tarps from more than one place. I learned that it pays to buy better shade (mesh) tarps as the cheaper ones just do not last. The PVC or vinyl coated mesh is sturdier. Get tarps that have have web reinforced hems.

http://www.tarpsplus.com/vinyl-coated-mesh-tarps.html

I originally bought ready made tarps (made over-seas) and they were too large. I cut a foot off the tarps which just made them unravel. And the cheap construction caused them to come apart at the grommets over time. Tarps Plus make their good vinyl coated tarps to order, here in the USA. Have them made to specific sizes and I suggest doing grommets on three sides, skip the grommets on the bottom edge as you don’t need those.

To decide on size you need to go to your barn and measure the openings you need to cover. I installed small screw eyes along the bottom edge of the roof rafters to hang the smaller shade tarps that covered the 4’ wide stall doors that were in the outer walls. The tarps need to be 6’-8’ wide to insure good light blockage and need to be about 18" off the ground. I also have shade tarps over larger run-in doors. The first ones hung too low. I learned that using two narrow tarps over the big opening, with a two foot over lap (in the center of the 12’ wide doorway) worked much better than a single tarp. The split in the center was easy for the horses to use, easier than them learning to go in and out at the sides. My guys eventually learned to just lower their heads and lift the mesh tarp to go under it. But the center opening worked well. I could tie it open a bit to get them used to going in/out then eventually they figured it all out.

LOVE the shade tarps because my horses are so much happier to hang inside and avoid the flies. Add some cedar shavings to the run-in and you will have almost no flies inside.

[Mukluk]

Thanks for the tarp info. I measured the big opening at the back of the stalls and it is about 8.5 wide and 9 ft high. I don’t think I want to put up any sort of fence or wall as the two horses often hang out in one stall and given that they do that, I think the wide exit is safer. I think it would work to get two tarps for each stall and have an overlapping center. One of the problems out here is wind so I will probably need to do something to minimize blowing. I could weight the tarps to reduce blowing- not sure what the best strategy would be but I have time to think about it.

[Mukluk]

Also is it better to get black tarps to maximize the “dark” factor?

[Bluey]

We have used predators for years and can tell a very definite improvement to some years practically no flies.

Friends around here have problems, their horses really have at times bloody legs from flies, the door jambs to their houses black with them.

When they come here, they can’t believe that we don’t have hardly a fly to be seen.

When it rains and flies are biting horses, we fly spray them, but more really for the mosquitos than the flies.

The difference with or without predators is great for us, may not be where you are, but why not try it and see what you think?

[Plumcreek]

I am posting a link for recycled mesh swimming pool covers that are green, very strong, and have a nylon tape grid every 2’ that you can trim to for size. Warehoused in Denver and Chicago, and seems they will ship free (?). This is a legit Denver Company where I have purchased recycled stuff.

http://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/store/products/inventory-used-swimming-pool-covers/

[Blume_Farm]

Interesting comments here. I will be the voice of dissent. I tried fly predators for years with no improvement. I did it along with my neighbors and none of us saw a benefit. And we are all pretty meticulous horse owners.

I find more flies in the shade of the barn than I do outside so not sure how shade clothes could help. The worst flies I have ever had is when I need to bed with straw for foaling. When I would go to pick out the stall they would swarm out.

What I have found that helps are fans. I have fans on at all times in my run-in and that almost eliminates the flies. I do hang fly bags outside the run-in which catches a good amount of flies too. I really love these, but they are expensive and don’t last too long, but boy do they kill flies:

https://www.horseloverz.com/product/pestcontrol/217790-starbarquickstrikeflyabatementstrip.html?sku=5-150562&gdftrk=gdfV27555_a_7c1161_a_7c2883_a_7c5_d_150562&ev_pid=5-150562&gclid=CjwKEAiAmaanBRCIt4364e2d6yUSJAA9VXTUkJK1cEFUFN-r8XEyMHPpHpKtSou9XpD7-mfcseFTRxoCAy_w_wcB

Since installing fans I have the flies under control in the run-in. My biggest problem are the HUGE deer and horse flies that come out at the end of summer. I call them the B-52 Bombers. They sit right on the rump of the horses where they can’t get them. They don’t go into the run-in proper due to the fans but when the horses go out to graze there is no reprieve. They even bite through fly sheets.

[trubandloki]

Love Spalding Fly Predators. Spalding has great customer service too. I highly recommend them.

If you are worried about the flies from your neighbors simply buy the amount of predators that is appropriate for their number or horses plus yours.

[Mukluk]

Well we just had a little snow so maybe that will kill of whatever flies we had… I hope… But like Ahhhhnald. They will be Baaaaaaack.

[Plumcreek]

I have settled on a feed through, which takes care of flies from manure in corrals and pasture, plus spray system to kill flies that come into the barn.

[Mukluk]

Oh goody!!! We are going to get more snow!!! I hope that will delay fly season for a bit longer.

[chicamux]

Flies of all types will go into shade once it gets really HOT. Deer flies will be out in the sun on chillier days then will go into the shadier wooded areas once the temps go up. But shade and truly dark are different. Flies do not fly about in really dark areas.

So to get shade tarps to really help they must be rated high for light blocking. The darkest ones will work the best. To prevent them from flying around in wind you need to have some screw eyes on the sides of the doorways, not just at the door top. I use really small (low cost) screw eyes and then use small stainless steel chain links to attach the tarps to the screw eyes.