Fly season is on us, and the swishing of horses' tails trying to fight off these pests can be heard everywhere. Here are some tips that may help you control flies this season:
1. Practice good sanitation! Good sanitation around your barn is the single most effective method of fly control. In order to reduce fly breeding location, you need to remove wet bedding and manure from stalls and areas where horses often stand often – normally at least once a week, but during peak fly season, it should be removed at least once every 2-3 days. This material should be land applied within a few days or composted. Composting areas should be covered and well drained. Remove water bucket that are not in use. This will keep the water (especially water that has become dirty!) from becoming a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes. Don’t just pile up the manure “out back” – compost it. Keeping the manure dry can help prevent flies laying eggs since they prefer to lay eggs in moist manure. Composting the manure raises the temperature high enough so that any eggs laid in the manure are destroyed.
2. Provide deep shade or a barn for horse to go into during the day. Flies generally do not like dark places, especially pesky blood sucking horse flies.
3. Use fly masks for horses. These meshed masks, which prevent the flies’ access to the eyes and face, are placed on the face of the horse. These work particularly well if the horse is sensitive to flies around the eyes or they won't tolerate sprays or wipes on their face. However, these masks do have a disadvantage in that they can be pulled off by snagging on brush, fence, or by the horse scratching its face.
4. Use methods of mechanical control! Water traps (Terminator, Trap-N-Toss, etc) or sticky ribbons help reduce the need for pesticides. These should be hung in throughout the barn at about one per every 1,000 square feet of area that flies may breed. For increased success, hang the traps where they can be easily inspected and maintained but out of the way of traffic flow throughout the barn. Water traps and ribbons will probably need to be cleaned and recharged or replaced about once every two weeks. The traps and ribbons can be very effective in controlling flies if they are put in place early and maintained correctly,
Build a tabanid(horse fly trap). These traps are placed in the field about 15 to 20 feet from the wood line. As horses enter the dark shade of the woods, horse flies, deer flies, and black flies leave the horse and rest outside the tree line and move back to the horse once they leave the woods. The tabanid trap attracts the flies as they leave the horse and are trapped inside where they die. A Canopy Trap For Horse Fly Control can be found at http://alamance.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/1/TABANID_Trap.pdf
5. Pesticide Use: Scatter baits containing methomyl (Apache or Blue Malrin) are very effective. The bait can be sprinkled in areas throughout the barn where flies tend to gather but where humans and animals won't be at risk for exposure to the bait. Avoid sprinkling the bait under the horse's feed trough or hayrack. It's not likely that the horse would eat enough of the bait to become sick, but it's better to be safe than sorry. The bait also works well when sprinkled over wet zones in the horse's stall after these areas have been cleaned and covered with fresh bedding. Pyrethrum is commonly used in fogging systems. Since it is non-residual, continuous misting or fogging periodically may be needed during the peak fly season.
There are some "feed through" type products (insect growth regulators or IGR’s) also available. These IGR’s prevent the fly larvae from hatching in the fecal patties. These products do not keep flies off of horses. They simply help reduce the overall fly population. If using this type of product, it is necessary to use fly repellants on the horse and for these IGR’s to be most effective should be fed continuously and to all horses in the barn. Adult flies will continue to be a nuisance for several weeks after treatment has begun. Fortunately, this type of treatment has little or no effect on beneficial insects that might feed on flies in the barn. In addition, if there are other horses on neighboring farms, they too should be on the product for best results since flies have a 5 mile flying radius.
Use of fly repellants. There are numerous fly repellants on the market. They include sprays, wipe ons, pesticide impregnated bonnets, etc. Each application method comes with several different types of pesticides. Some products work better than others and some cost more than others. Which one works the best? Horse owners must try different ones until they find the one or combination that works for them. It is advisable however, to look at the label to see the active ingredient and alternate pesticide types from year to year to prevent fly resistance.
If you use a premise spray to spray the walls of stalls, isle way, etc. Be sure to use a product that is labeled as a premise spray around livestock or livestock facilities.
6. Biological control: Release parasitic wasp. Parasitic wasps are effective in reducing the need for pesticides when used along with good sanitation practices.
Parasitic wasp feed on fly larvae which helps reduce the overall fly population. These wasps do not sting people or horses. They can be ordered and received in the mail to be released every 2-3 weeks during the fly season. In fact, pesticides should not be used, or must be minimized in areas where parasitic wasps have been released. Female wasps deposit eggs in fly pupae and when the wasp eggs hatch, the larvae consume the fly pupae from the inside out. Therefore a new wasp will emerge in about 14 days instead of a new fly. As in feed through larvacides, parasitic wasps work best if neighboring farms are using them also.
7. Last but probably one of the most important things for parasite control: Drag pastures to scatter and break up manure piles. Scattering the manure helps them to dry out which makes them undesirable for fly larvae hatch. Does dragging pastures also scatter internal parasite larvae? Yes, however, breaking up the manure patties also makes a less favorable environment for parasite larvae hatch also, especially if done in hot/dry weather. In addition, most horses are on a regular parasite control program which helps keep down the parasite load both on the pasture and in the horse.
Here are some links that may provide additional information:
INSECT CONTROL FOR LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY
- NC Ag Chemical Manual - http://ipm.ncsu.edu/agchem/5-toc.pdf
HORSE FLIES AND DEER FLIES
Fly Problems Around Poultry, Livestock and Horse Farms
INSECTS FOUND IN FORAGE AND PASTURE
I wonder about the effectiveness of fly light traps in the stables?
ReplyDeleteFlies are one of the most common pests that carries out some bacteria from one place to another. It's really a bad thing to have especially if it will step into our food.
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Its an nice effective tips..
ReplyDeletefly control in poultry farms