Mine automatically started but the fly predators have been here for a week and still haven’t hatched…
1 Like
I’m looking to order again. Any luck with Spalding this year?
How did the other companies work out?
I used Arbico and liked them.
Fly Eliminators Biological Fly Control | Horses & Livestock
I stopped when the neighbors started raising cows - I was not going to pay for predators for their property, too.
Do any of these work on horse flies? Those BIG ones that attack the poor horses (and sometimes us)?
I’m going to give the ones from Arbico a whirl this year, despite my neighbors having a giant manure pile and the neighbor behind having about 10 cows. We really were annoyed with how many end up in the house.
I’m guessing it will not make an appreciable difference, because we’re about 3/4 mile from the creek, and several close-by properties have standing water. We shall see.
Question - is it a bad idea to also use the hanging fly traps? I don’t ever put those by the house or barn, but did hang them on the pasture fence by my compost pile and along the back fence by the cows.
Nope, not at all. The fly predators target only flies and don’t go far from where you put em.
Having a shit ton of sticky tape right around your manure pile might be kind of counter productive (not like anyone would really do that!) but most other fly control measures are sympatico with predators.
Fwiw, I found my predators MUCH more effective when I stopped fly spraying the horses in the stalls. They are sensitive to pyrethrin/permethrin, so keeping that out of the bedding & away from where you release is helpful.
Mosquito dunks in water areas and troughs help kill flies.
Yes on fly traps.
No on predatory flies like horse flies.
2 Likes
I was pleasantly surprised when I started using them. I live in a swampy area with countless agricultural activities around-- other horse farms, cows, commercial poultry operations, etc. Not to mention the county landfill is not that far away. Our flies were TERRIBLE. I thought no way fly predators could make a dent when the flies could just travel from elsewhere.
But surprisingly, they have helped a ton. I kick myself for not starting them sooner!
1 Like
Cows in the house? or flies?
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I actually had a cow in my house once (long story). She just would.not.leave.
I tried fly predators for two seasons when I had the horses at home. We did it in conjunction with our closest neighbor, with whom we shared a property line and who had alpacas. It didn’t seem to help either of us all that much, so we gave it up after the second year. There wasn’t anyone else close with livestock of any kind, so I was surprised that this experiment failed.
Rebecca
2 Likes
There is one cow that moos as fast as she can breathe. If there was such a thing as a frantic moo, this cow has it down pat. She might as well be in the house for all the racket she makes 
2 Likes
