Fly prevention ideas

[red]

It's fly season! We seem to really have gotten them bad already. Any one have some great tips on keeping the fly population under control?
I'm going to have hubby pick-up a bag so the cattle can rub on it & have insecticide on them. We've also used predator bugs that eat the fly eggs.
Does rabon work in the salt or mineral tubs? What about ear tags?
These things bite & we don't even have the horse flies yet. They'll carry me off this year.

Red

 

[Jill]

We use the fly control mineral, I haven't been impressed, they do seem really bad this year maybe just because it has been so wet here.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Red - The products with rabon in them will work to some extent, however there are some flys that have become imune to it. We use a mineral with altosid in it, usually ctc with afc (altosid fly control) . We also use the fly wipe ropes in gate ways coming to water , mineral etc. The horse flys have been here for at least 3 weeks, ouch! I have never tried the predator bugs but it is my understanding that if you use a treated mineral (rabon or altosid) it will also kill the predator bugs. Keep up the good fight!

 

[afhm]

I don't know about other brands, but the Bayer tags work real good.  WE put 2 in the cows and 1 in the calves.  Warning if you write on your herd ear tags, put the fly tag in the back side of that ear, because it will cause the ink to run on the herd tags.  I learned that the hard way, ruined a bunch of herd tags that now need replacing.  There is a Cylence pour on that work good too.  It also controls lice.

 

[knabe]

wasn't able to find anything about incompatibility of predators and rabon blocks.  i use all the above as i live in an ag rural area and a neighbor 3 down tried to sue the animal owners through homeowners association so we disbanded it (which i highly recommend if you can do it as they are mostly imposed by lending instutions as a means to do things like get cable in and outlaw antennas as kickbacks, no kidding).

i use the rabon block, predator flies, the bag at the entrance to barn where i feed.  they love to rub their face in it.  i have almost no flies.  relatively few flies animals.  one steer seems to attract them, so i spray just him.  the spray last about 3-5 days.  also use the yellow attractant bags that smell like rotten hamburger.  used the sticky rods, but swallow babies kept flying into them, so only use those around porch cause they don't smell.  seems like a lot.  i also collect manure and compost it and mob graze and irrigate after taking them off.

 

[DL]

Rabon is compatible with fly predators - don't know about the afc but Spalding Labs (fly predators) will tell you if you email them

I use the predators and have for year - have to be careful if you spray as you kill the little wasps
Bayer's Quick Bait - great stuff
Pours ons  cylence (pretty good) or elancos product elector (doesn't work great)
Don't use ear tags
Rabon tubs
also the stinky things and the sticky things

try to keep manure picked up - but spreader dead makes it difficult!
no flies to speak of until this miserably hot dry humid weather and then boom- but I think we are winning

 

[bluegrass]

I have heard billy goats run with the cows will help any one with personal experience on this method.

 

[DL]

I have heard billy goats run with the cows will help any one with personal experience on this method.

Personally I'd rather have a few flies than have to smell a Billy Goat every day! Billy goats are a little like swine - you touch 'em, you work on 'em, you smell bad, you shower, you scratch your head and just like scratch and sniff you smell like a billy goat again!

 

[red]

NO billygoats!

We got one of those cattle rubbers. The cows will really like that. I use a lot of fly spray on the calves & the predators. Just curious how everyone else handles them. We get them so bad w/ the egg farm & our own feedlot.

Red

 

[justintime]

When I got out of college, I was looking at various things I could do to make enough to stay on the farm full time. I came up with the idea of building a hog barn to supplement our cattle operation.After doing extensive research, including looking at barn plans and a location,  I told my dad about my idea one day and he was quiet for a few minutes and then said to me.... " have you considered picking bottles in the road ditches, for extra income? You would make about the same amount of money... and you would stink less when you came home"  I have often thought of that as I have driven past hog barns ,near here, that now sit empty and the owners are now long gone from the farms. I have been very fortunate in that I have never worked for anyone but myself, except when I was working cattle sales,etc. Not many people get to say that anymore.

 

[knabe]

justintime, and when those (Not many people get to say that anymore. ) are gone, property ownership will be completly outlawed.  half the world now lives in cities, and guess how they vote?  those with property, our days are numbered.

 

[genes]

Those bags that stink and trap the flies do work I think.  But here's a trick if you have a very fly heavy area.  The round trap part of those bags will fit into the round hole in a 5 gallon pail lid, so you can potentially catch a lot more flies than with a bag.  Yes gallons of flies is a disgusting thought, but better than them flying around.  I would be careful where you place it so you don't attract them soemwhere you don't want them.  Anyway, I saw the barn guy here do it, and his special trick for the stinky part was.....rumen contents.  Of course, it was just convenient that we happened to be emptying some rumens that day anyway for our efficiency project, and we also have the fistulated cows that we could open up and borrow a handful from at any time....... ;D  So i guess the average farmer might have to figure something else stinky out, but I'm sure you must all have something. 

 

[red]

these olied back rubbing bags seem to be helping a lot & also make the cows happy w/ their new back scratcher!
Of course a little cooler weather also helped. I'm just dreading the horse flies.

Red

 

[austin]

Bayer's Quick Bait - great stuff

Quoted for truth