# summer fly control at your place



## chuckdee (Mar 16, 2012)

kait18 said:


> what do you guys use at your barn to rid your horses of the flies??
> 
> i use pyranha fly spray on each horse, plus fly masks, muck out fields and run in shed.
> 
> what else is out there to lower the fly count before the season really picks up?? is there something i can throw on the manure pile, or something i can put in there feed that is effective(have not had alot of success with these products, keep the grass high vs low, etc etc. i need a new system to help keep the flies away as it seems there is already alot more flies out then there were all of last year..


Home Depot sells a fly trap that works well.


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## BigGirlsRideWarmbloods (Mar 28, 2010)

Fly Predators: https://www.spalding-labs.com/

Absolutly 100% swear by them! Earlier this spring my my mare and newborn foal at the time we COVERED in flies and despite dressing them up in fly blankets and masks (BTW a 1500 lbs horse in a white fly blanket, with neck and a fly mask ... looks like a Klan member. Just saying). Fly spray helped but only for a few hours and as I work durring the day I don't have time to drive home to respray everyone after lunch.

I bought a pack of Fly predators and put them on my manure pile, in my chicken coop and in the damp corner of their turn out and a couple weeks later they're all gone!

I absolutly swear by them!





kait18 said:


> what do you guys use at your barn to rid your horses of the flies??
> 
> i use pyranha fly spray on each horse, plus fly masks, muck out fields and run in shed.
> 
> what else is out there to lower the fly count before the season really picks up?? is there something i can throw on the manure pile, or something i can put in there feed that is effective(have not had alot of success with these products, keep the grass high vs low, etc etc. i need a new system to help keep the flies away as it seems there is already alot more flies out then there were all of last year..


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks i will try those !! my babies are already suffering with all the **** flies


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

PBI Gordon or Chemtech 10% Permethrin.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

The problem is the different flies require different control. The worst of them, the nasty biting horse and deer flies for example, are the hardest to impact. Most of the comercial traps, etc address the common/house type only. 
We use traps for the nuisance flies (am looking into building a trap for the big biting buggars) masks and spray (not having much luck this year finding a very effective one for the nasties) along with good housekeeping on the property as far as manure etc.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

California banned all the good stuff years ago. I add skin so soft with my fly spray to help it stay on longer. I have tried the vinegar , in feed, in water, on the horse.. did not help. i have added from health food stores, cintronella and eucalyptus. I am gonna try to add it with the sss and fly spray this time.
Fly maks and sheets only work , if the horse keeps them on ! and thier neighbor does not help to try to remove them.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks guys we are having the biting critters and the house flies... they are mainly attacking the private areas and the eyes and other then a mask is the only solution i find somewhat working... the manure pile is at far end of 7 acres being composited but the effects are starting to hinder me wanting to be outside and being attacked along with my horses... its awful 

themacpack- what type of thing are you building to get the biting critters??


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

I have used fly predators and they greatly reduced the fly population but I still felt I had too many. This year I an using mineral blocks with Raybon and have less flies than I did with predators.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

I believe its called a Manitoba trap.......will look for sure when I get home.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

will start googling that


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

My last barn used predators and we had almost no flies in the barn. When I did see the occasional one it would surprise me.


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## Back2Horseback (Mar 21, 2012)

I asked my trainer/BO how it was that they literally have NO FLIES, LIKE NOT ONE! She said that basically they use meticulous housekeeping...not one poop shall go un-scooped!

Ha! And upon reflection, it does work! Their barn/stables/surrounding areas are SUPER CLEAN, they do all the stalls and runs twice a day, & also in between if they see a "pile"in one... use fly predators on the manuer pile, not so there are no critters to aid in the breakdown, but to keep then minimal and put them in the outer parts, where the errant flies would be, not the inner, where they need the flies to eat up and break down the poop. It really works! 

Plus, when you walk around her property, you NEVER SEE a poop pile! If someone poos while walking around (usually the horses, but you never know-haha!) It gets shoveled up asap. She says it was a pain in the butt at first, being so "anal retentive" (pardon the pun!) about cleaning, but it has very obviously paid off! Just an idea!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

This needs to be a multi pronged attack. First level and most important must be Manure control, it needs to be spread out and dried. Picking it up and throwing it in a pile doesnt do any good you are just creating a large breeding area instead of lots of little ones. A chain drag harrow works well , drag the field every couple days. What works even better is chickens, feed your horses a textured feed or add a small handful of whole barely grain to the feed. The grain passes through and the chickens come running as soon as the poo hits the ground. Scatter it every where to get the seeds.
Second line is spalding lab fly predators. Swear by them they are well worth the money. They work even better if you can get your neighbors using them.
Third, fly traps,,, but the right kind of fly traps, those scented add water lure type traps do just that LURE flys. Yeh they get full of flys and you think they arer working but they dont. They are drawing in flys from other areas, and the flys they are drawing in are not the ankle biting ones we have problems with , you need these traps, Starbar Bite Free Stable Fly Trap - Horse.com they work great hammer a stake in the ground and put them about 2 foot off the groud in an open sunny area near the barn, I have a line of three or four. The catch the biting flys and some of the deer flys as well, be advised you may catch a bird so dont freek out just unstick it and let it go.


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## mikes (Apr 30, 2012)

I was just reading on another forum that someone use Mosquito Halt and she said it worked great. Don't know where to get it yet though. I agree you need to now what kind of fly you have before you get something to get rid of it. I like fly predators too.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks guys the pile gets turned and spread once a week and the chickens do enjoy it but that alone isn't helping. i started the fly predators near the main pile before spreading and then after the turn add more and am using 3 different types of fly traps... have caught a few birds so far but they tend to end up being cat food after i release them 

hopefully by the end of this month i will see a huge change.. there have been less flies since my original post but stil more then i want lol

keep the tips coming if anyone has more to offer


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## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

themacpack said:


> The problem is the different flies require different control. The worst of them, the nasty biting horse and deer flies for example, are the hardest to impact. Most of the comercial traps, etc address the common/house type only.
> We use traps for the nuisance flies (am looking into building a trap for the big biting buggars) masks and spray (not having much luck this year finding a very effective one for the nasties) along with good housekeeping on the property as far as manure etc.


if you find something that works for the biting flies...please let me know..I hate those things!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

scroll up to my post on the biting fly trap


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## Back2Horseback (Mar 21, 2012)

Thanks, Joe! That reminded me when you said "spreading it out and letting it dry", that is just WHAT my BO does...Now that I read your post, I assume as a main part of her fly control! I apologize that I forgot that part...she has the manure initially go into a pile, then every few days, a big tractor thing spreads it out along the 1/4 mile track that runs above and around the arenas! That is what makes up the nice, soft base for footing on the track, People walk their horses on the track to warm up or cool them out (and the views are beautiful from there!)...I always wondered what that track was made of exactly...and now I realize! It works... ; 0)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mikes (Apr 30, 2012)

Glad to hear that what you are using is working for flies. I found out some information on the mosquito Halt. That is some potent stuff in it including Deet. Thanks for sharing.


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## TrojanCowgirl (Jun 1, 2012)

Fly Spray, Bags of water with pennies in the bottom, garlic added to daily feed ration and of course, fly masks!


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## mlkuhn12 (Jan 7, 2012)

TrojanCowgirl said:


> Fly Spray, Bags of water with pennies in the bottom, garlic added to daily feed ration and of course, fly masks!


Does the bag of water with pennies really work? I've been debating trying that. Where do you hang it?


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## TrojanCowgirl (Jun 1, 2012)

mlkuhn12 said:


> Does the bag of water with pennies really work? I've been debating trying that. Where do you hang it?


I wouldn't say that it's the primary reason why flies stay away, but I've always had it and never had a sever fly problem. Definitely wouldn't want to go without it being that it's extremely cheap and who knows?


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

bug bags that you get at mills fleet farm, fly spray, bug zappers(2 -3 at a time on at night) fly masks when they are bad..


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

We use Flybayte and the like. We sprinkle it on our isle way a couple days a week. When flies got REALLY bad, we did a little fly holocaust sprinkleing twice a day for a week. After that we only have to do it once or twice a week and there are hardly any flies at all. We also sweep isle ways twice daily and so the sprinkles will accumulate at each end so I'm sure that helps too. 

I have dogs who lay all over the isleway and eat grasshoppers in the isle way and they're fine. No one has gotten sick.

The fly predators are pretty spendy and the company website says you won't experience a significant difference until next year because they eat only the fly eggs. /


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## mikes (Apr 30, 2012)

Some really cool ideas on how to keep the flies away. On another forum some one mentioned the penny thing. Glad to see it works for someone. Very good fly predator reviews.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

I've used feed through fly control. It works. It doesn't get all of them, but as for normal flies, I did see a big difference. Keeping clean is really important, my paddock/shed gets cleaned twice a day. 
We're having a mosquito problem paired with a highly allergic horse (hundreds of hairless spots on chest, neck, girth area and face, who bites herself bloody wherever she can reach. The only spray who works longer than a couple of hours is Mosquito Halt. I spray in the evening when its starting to get dark and they're good until next day about mid afternoon. 
Horseflies are less of a problem (no breeding grounds, I.e. woods here. There are two B52-type horseflies coming about lunch time, but they just circle the horses and fly off, rather frustrated


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## mikes (Apr 30, 2012)

My friends that two horses put the masks on them. As I feed them I feel so sorry for them because flies are all around them. They need to look into fly control seriously, but how do you tell someone that without being to forward???


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## saddletramp (Oct 6, 2012)

mikes said:


> My friends that two horses put the masks on them. As I feed them I feel so sorry for them because flies are all around them. They need to look into fly control seriously, but how do you tell someone that without being to forward???


All you have to say is.... Man! Why don't you do something about controlling these flies? This is ridiculous! Don't you give a flying fart?

Then offer some suggestions on how to handle the fly problem. You'll either be a hero or a shmuck for saying something, but, you'll have said your piece.
You'll also feel ok about doing what's right.
Take the lead and don't worry about hard feelings, they'll soon be forgotten, unless they let you ride for free, then mind your own business.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Last Spring I built a Manitoba fly trap. They can be purchased for about $200 and last a few years. Mine cost maybe a hundred and it's built out of plywood and metal screening and a beach ball. Ugly but it trapped a lot of horse flies. This is a large trap standing close to 6' tall with a base of about 5'x5', triangular in shape. Horse flies circle the swinging black painted beach ball which hangs down the middle then fly upward where the screen allows plenty of light. As they continue their way upward they wind up in a gallon bottle up top with a mesh cone which prevents them coming back down. Most didn't make it to the bottle as sparrows were swooping in there and feasting on the flies as they were feeding their young. Stable flies, the biters, unfortunately can come from thousands of miles distant, flying as high as five miles and riding the prevailings. This is why they are so difficult to control. The best method during the day is to allow the horse to enter a dark barn, shelter with canvas tarps, old carpeting covering the openings and windows. The darker the better. It's best if the ones covering the doorways touch the ground and then some to reduce little streams of light coming in. Neither flies nor mosquitoes like the dark and will stay out.


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## flyinghighleo (Oct 16, 2012)

Many of my friends use pennies in a ziplock baggie with a small amount of water.. flies dont like the smell of it .. hope that helps


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