UPDATE: Post 9: Mosquito Dunks & flies...help me remember

[Limitless]

Bumping this thread up now that spring is here. I decided to give this mosquito dunk/bit/bti method for fly control a bit more effort this year. I’ve used them for years now for mosquito control, and so does the county I live in. Very effective for mosquito use for sure. I’m kind of at a loss about what else to do for fly control, other than getting a dumpster, which is kind of pricey and not one I’m enthusiastic about. My predators will arrive next month, my manure pile was just removed (but the guy did a shitty job, no pun intended) and one of my horses seems to be having a diarrhea issue on Solitude, which I started March 1. So I started spraying the area today, and I think if we get rain this week, I’ll spread some bits around/on the pile to get rained on.

Who else will be trying this again this year, and when are you starting?

[Jarpur]

We’ll be doing this again, too. Already started with a feed-thru, and only seeing a few flies. But ought to get in gear, and begin with the bTi spray.

[lenapesadie]

I’m going to try the mosquito dunk tea this year. I haven’t moved horses in yet, but I’m thinking that the drifts of rotting leaves, pine straw, dirt and god knows what else that are piled up in places in the wood lines are where flies are breeding currently.

Any idea if fly predators would be helpful in the same spots?

[Simkie]

@lenapesadie

Any idea if fly predators would be helpful in the same spots?

Probably! Worth a try!

[seabreeze]

I will definitely spray my manure cart and other areas that are known breeding grounds.

However, in my barn, this year I’m getting a fly spray system. My horse developed some symptoms of headshakers last year and was extremely sensitive to flies around her face. I want to put her on nighttime turnout, but I’ll need a “kills-‘em-dead” solution for the barn for when she’s inside. I showed my plumber the diagrams for the Pyrhana system and he’s building one for me (cost savings).

So that was the long answer…lol.

[Weezer]

A friend of mine recently recommended a disposable fly trap called “flies be gone”. Apparently you have to hang the bag but she says it smells terrible so best to hang it a bit away from the barn. She said it works wonderfully. If you get it out right away, you can kill the females before too many eggs are laid