FLIES!!!

[wingnut]

I think the only part of horse ownership I don't like is the flies that come with warm weather.

I started my herd on Simplifly a few weeks ago but later than I should have. I also keep the manure picked up/cleaned up was much as possible, 2x a day usually. I need to buy some more fly spray. I've tried several brands but I think ENDURE works the best from what I've experienced.

What things do you do that you've found works well for your horses?

 

[lucky seven]

We make sure that they have a shady shelter, we also clean manure several times a day. I clean up plops as soon as I see them, inside and out. The manure pile is several acres away from the horses. Tall grass is cut short around buildilngs and water is changed twice daily so that it doesn't get stagnet. We have cows next door in the summer that draw more flies so we spray and hang fly strips high up in the shelters. Never get ahead, always more bugs!

 

[txminipinto]

In years past, I've used an automated fly spray system. Unfortunately we have an open barn (good for our hot summers) but we always have a STRONG breeze and this year its just plain windy. The system only effectively worked at night when the winds would die down. This year I've kept it simple. I've hung the fly tape HIGH up from the ceiling and used the fly bags on both ends of the barn. This seems to be working the best for us as our fly population seems to be down this year.

 

[Loess Hills]

Flies bug me, too! We have tried a number of things over the years from planting garlic around the dry lots (the garlic still comes up, but it didn't work on repelling flies!), to fly masks, a little vinegar in the water (didn't work) to fly predators (didn't work), to spraying the horses down each day, etc. Yes, we clean dry lots & stalls every day, manure is removed from premises to a compost 1/2 mile away.

 

What we have found that works the best is the automated fly spray in the barns. The Country Vet dispenser is available at almost any farm store. We've got four placed at different locations in the barn, and it really does control flies, mosquitos, and best of all......no spiders in the barn. Have to replace the cannisters about once a month, but worth the price.

 

[Magic]

Fly predators. The first year we were here I was astounded (and appalled) at how many flies were on the horses. There are cows in the area, in fact a dairy farm just a mile or less away, and the flies seemed to relish expanding to us too. Our old place had horses around too but I'd never seen so many flies. We use traps for adult flies that come in, but the fly predators keep the population from multiplying. You can't use premise spray along with predators since the spray would kill the predators as well, which is fine for me because I don't like spraying the barn. Spraying the horses is fine though.

 

[Becky]

What works best on flies around wounds? I have these two tornado victims here and their wounds are healing well, but the biggest problem I'm dealing with is flies in and around the wounds.

 

[Eagle]

Becky "swat" cream works great on injuries for keeping the flies off.

 

[txminipinto]

Opps. Almost forgot, we're also using Apple Cider Vinegar in the feed as well. It really seems to be helping keep the flies off the horses.

 

[Eagle]

Carin, you feed apple cider vinegar to the horses? Do they like it? Does it work like feeding garlic? Sorry no more questions

 

[Zipper]

I am interested in knowing about the apple cider vinegar also.

 

[txminipinto]

Yes, I just top dress it on their feed. They seem to like it and no one has turned their nose up to it yet. I've noticed very few flies on the horses. I use a smartpak supplement cup to measure it so I'm not sure exactly how much I'm feeding.

 

[Sandy B]

I am on my third year of using Spalding Fly Predators. Each successive year I see less flies, even though our horse population has increased. I also use fly traps and bags to capture adult flies. We clean twice a day as well. I love War Paint, especially for pasture horses and bellies or around wounds. It looks like a deodorant stick and lasts up to two weeks. It really does. At first you do not notice it working, but as it dries it does. You stripe their body, legs and belly with it. All show horses (minis included) wear Kensington Protective sheets and fly masks. It keeps them from getting sunburned/bleached and acts as a shade. If it is real hot, I hose them down with the protective sheet on. It also keeps their coats oiled and shiny.

 

[Tammy Breckenridge]

Call me crazy but my best fly preventors are my ducks! I bought 10 runner ducklings early this year and they stay in the barn unless they are in their wading pool and they eat flies like crazy!

 

[Charlotte]

I think the only part of horse ownership I don't like is the flies that come with warm weather.
I started my herd on Simplifly a few weeks ago but later than I should have. I also keep the manure picked up/cleaned up was much as possible, 2x a day usually. I need to buy some more fly spray. I've tried several brands but I think ENDURE works the best from what I've experienced.

What things do you do that you've found works well for your horses?

I think we've tried just about everything out there including all of the home remedies. Cows across the road.

Spent a fortune on fly predators for 3 years. Didn't help a bit. I really hate to use pesticides, but that was what it came down to for us. SO, we keep the place clean, Pyranah 55 gallon automatic fly spray system in the barn and then battery operated misters in the run in sheds. I figure the pesticide is less dangerous than the diseases the flys and mosquitos carry. I don't set the barn sprayer to run when new born babies are in the breeding section....only when they are turned out.

Did I say I HATE FLIES!?!?!?

Charlotte

p.s. If I have to spray the horses I use Zonkit.

 

[3bays]

I read somewhere that flies are attracted to the urea in the urine, so when I clean my stalls everyday I try to let the mats air out to completely dry. Before I turn back the bedding, I use a little PDZ. I also pick poop several times a day. Paddocks and fields are picked weekly and dumped far away fromt he barn. I sweep up spills, rake up old hay and scrub feed tubs and water buckets daily. Outside the barn we keep weeds cut back and mats swept clean. We use Fly Predators and I have a fly mister in the barn. I have a floor fan that keeps the air moving. As far as the horses, I feed SmartBug Off, they wear fly sheets with a neck cover, and fly masks and I spray them once in the morning and once in the evening. Alot of effort, but you rarely see a fly in my barn.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

We used Fly Predators for many years when I was a kid and got to the point where there wasn't a fly in sight for five or six years with two big horses. I've noticed the last few summers they're starting to come back so we're going to order some more and meanwhile I'm experimenting with "green" fly sprays to try and keep the midges off in the evenings. The only things we've had work in the past were always the citronella sprays! Mom would spray the outside of her big horse with apple cider vinegar but he and I both hated it so much it wasn't worth it. Never tried feeding it internally.

Leia

 

[Sandy B]

Call me crazy but my best fly preventors are my ducks! I bought 10 runner ducklings early this year and they stay in the barn unless they are in their wading pool and they eat flies like crazy!

So funny that you say this. We have chickens and just recently got two baby ducks. The chickens do a good job of getting any slow flies or bugs and do a great job in the compost pile, but these baby ducks (who are still under heat lamps)when we take them out to play on the lawn in the warm sunshine for a bit, they go after anything that move. The bit and ate two bees right in front of us. I cant wait to be bale to turn them out.

I think that with the predators, you have to make sure you are getting enough. I know people who do not order the suggested amount for the number of animals and then if you have neighboring animals you need to get even more. I tried fly masks on our brood mares, but they tear them off each other. So they get to stand head to tail swatting each other or get War Paint if too bad.

 

[Shawn-Hester Ranch Appys]

I have a friend here in Central California who I know very well. She runs a podiatric center and patented plastic horse shoes that help for lameness issues. She is always having customers in and out of her place. She also has seminars at her ranch. She has a dozen warmbloods and alot of manure. THERE ISNT one FLY on the WHOLE entire PROPERTY!!! I KNOW its hard to believe but I didnt till I was at her barn. She feeds a supplement called "Bug Off Garlic" you mix a scoop of the supplement that is in the bucket with a daily ration of grain and it repels flies and many other pest. This is what I have seen be the most effective. The bucket also isn't very expensive at all.

I have used fly predators and they don't do what the "Bug Off Garlic" does.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We've used the fly predators and they do help control flies to a degree, but then I haven't seen anything that's 100%.

Bug Off Garlic, I know garlic is suppose to work, may check that out.

Becky, Swat is great around wounds, but we also buy human, Deep Woods OFF and spray that on a baby wipe and wipe it around the wound. Works great on faces too. I've found it works better than any of the horse fly sprays and we've tried a bunch of those.

 

[Thinking small]

Call me crazy but my best fly preventors are my ducks! I bought 10 runner ducklings early this year and they stay in the barn unless they are in their wading pool and they eat flies like crazy!

We've done similar, i have 4 muscovy ducklings growing like weeds that will soon be free ranging, I also clean the main field *everyday* which helps reduce them. Our cold snap probably just killed them all off though we're only 9 right