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Discussion on Black fly problem
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 12:47 pm:
This year my horses are really being tormented by flies all over their face and eyes. I have used permetherin Spot-On, and spray plus Swat around their eyes. (I even gave up on the garlic that I have used for years because that didn't seem to help this year.) One horse has a fly mask because she is prone to eye infection. The only place they can escape the flies is in the barn. I am in NW TN and I think all the rain is the cause. Has anyone ever used the fly collars with any success? I even tried Avon Skin So Soft but the only difference was the horses smelled better than me! Is anyone else doing anything different that works? Any ideas/suggestions appreciated.
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 12:59 pm:
Ann, Is it too hot/humid there for them to wear fly sheets? I know it is too hot here in Tucson except in early spring.
I did have to buy the Farnam leg protectors for Sierra, and use Ultra Shield, Endure alternately.
She's in a boarding barn with small run, so I use a fan and a fly mister that works on batteries, but if yours are out in the pasture (lucky horses) it's really difficult. Good Luck
Shirl
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 1:26 pm:
How about fly masks for the other horses? And, before you put them on wipe fly spray on all the fleece. I tried the horse collars and didn't think they worked very well. They also make the deals that kind of look like a halter with little fly strips hanging down across the forhead. These worked pretty good for a while, but the horses were very good at taking them off and losing them, plus the fly protection doesn't seem to last very long.
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Member:
Cowgrl
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 2:05 pm:
You can now get the fly masks that cover the muzzles as well. I don't know if they have the full masks with ear protectors but that would be good if you can get them.
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 4:43 pm:
I do plan to get fly masks for the other three. Originally, I bought one for my mare to protect her eye and thought the fly repellent would work for the others. It is very hot/humid here but I would be hesitant about fly sheets because the horses love to play in the pond. I didn't think it would survive that. I hope when things dry up the flies won't be as bad. At least I am glad they do not have any bites or bumps on their body. The flies just seem to swarm their face. Maybe the fly mask is about all I can do. Thanks for the input.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 9:59 pm:
I don't know what the reason is around here as we've been in a DrOught for severl years, but it seems to me flies are earlier and worse than normal. I usually don't have to spray and put on masks until late July and I'm already using them. I'm noticing some very, very tiny little flies; millions of them it seems, that engulf every fresh manure pile. I clean stalls and pens unually twice a day in the hopes of preventing flies. But within minutes of a horse "pooping" the manure is covered in these little tiny flies. Do you guys have these? The house flies are getting bad, too, but the midges and biting flies haven't started yet. I HATE flies!! This is the first year I haven't used those little predetor wasps and I'm begining to think I should. I didn't get them because it's been so dry.
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Member:
Kari
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 24, 2004 - 10:31 pm:
Like Ann I also live in NW Tn. and we also have had an unusually cool and rainy spring and now summer. This may not be exactly on the topic of this post but I have observed that least affected and bothered by the flies are my three foals, all approx. three months old. Has anyone else observed this?
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 8:49 am:
I am in middle TN. It has done nothing but rain for the past month here except for brief periods of intense heat and humidity. I had a problem with flies on their face about a month ago, but right now the flies are not bad. I used the freedom spot-on and it seems to have worked for me so far. I have fly masks but my mares always get them off and I have to search the pasture for days to find them. I think fly season is spent fighting a losing battle.
S.T. Bruce: It seems to me that my mares attract more flies than my 2 yearlings. I have also observed my black mare attracts more flies than my red roan appy.
Colleen
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 10:31 am:
Sara, Yes, the same thing happens here with the manure piles being covered with the tiny, tiny buggers. It's very dry here also (Tucson) but it doesn't seem to matter. I also use barn spray and sometimes spray the entire barn floor, stall and run with it, which helps, if your horse isn't allergic to it.
Shirl
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 10:58 am:
Shirley-not only are you dry, you're really hot down there! I don't know how you folks in So. AZ cope! I die when it's over 85!
I use barn spray also, but only in the stalls when the horses are out as I have barn swallows in the main part of the barn and don't want to poison them. I don't know if these things are really flies or if they bite. I've tried putting fly poison right on the manure but it doesn't help. Once the manure is in the compost pile or covered with dirt, they all disappear. My concern is that they will all grow up to be big flies! And, where the heck to they come from so quick? On the manure is the only place I ever see them.
I used to hate the wind; now I hope for it because it blows away the flies.
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 11:00 am:
I also use the hanging fly strips in my barn every year-the ones that are about 8" long in the cardboard holder with the yellow insert. I buy them at the hardware store because I can't ever find them at the farm stores. They must do some good because my horses stand under them. This weekend my 3 geldings were standing in one stall under one of them and my mare was in another part of the barn standing under another one. The flies do not bother them in the barn but I do clean the stalls 2x a day. I think all the rain has washed the spot-on off but it says not to reapply for 2 weeks. I think Colleen is right...it is a losing battle.
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Member:
Terrilyn
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 11:09 am:
Same here in VA with those little gnatty looking things on the poop piles....swarms of them! I have started picking piles out of the pasture daily to see if that helps at all...My horses stay in their stalls with fans during the day (with piles picked several times a day when we are home) and are turned out at night...and it seems they prefer it this way. Even when I turn them out (early evenings after feeding) with fly spray, they will come running back to the gate within half an hour trying to get back in. Often I let them back in until dusk and the flies have "gone to bed." They do love their fans!
I did some reading online this week about composting and keeping the fly population under control. By changing a few of the things I do regarding the manure pile, I may be able to manage fly control even more, for example, by keeping the compost pile at the correct temps and by covering it with a tarp. Here's a link to this composting site...there's some really great info here. Hope it is as helpful to some of you as it was to me. https://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/horsecompost.htm
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 11:11 am:
It is a loosing battle! We are so diligent about keeping things clean, we pick up manure in all the turnouts and drag pastures,etc. plus clean the stalls and pens and still have flies. It doesn't help that people around us have cows, sheep, and horses, and no one even tries to keep things clean except the fellow across the street (who happens to be a farrier
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 6:48 pm:
Just a note to echo something Colleen said in her post:
For many years, I have noticed that deer flies and black flies seem to bother dark-haired people and dark-haired or dark-maned horses more than they do light-haired people or horses. They even seem to hover and land on black riding helmets rather than the white ones. I have always believed that the flies go to where they feel more heat . . . and since dark things absorb more heat, . . . well, it's just a thought.
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 7:19 pm:
That's exactly the concept behind the HorsePal horsefly/deerfly trap: it's a large black ball that sways in the breeze to attract them. I have two of them now and believe they work; we have much less of a problem.
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Friday, Jun 25, 2004 - 8:19 pm:
Neat, Wendy.
I guess it pays to be observant. Someone who observed the same phenomena that some of us horse folks have noticed, is reaping the benefits of his/her observations and inventiveness.
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 26, 2004 - 6:04 pm:
Isn't that often the case? Actually, I talked briefly to the man who invented HorsePal, trying to get a volume discount, and he indicated that he isn't rich yet! (ergo no discount!)
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 26, 2004 - 10:45 pm:
Wendy, does the HorsePal only work on Horse and deer flies?
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New Member:
Casmead
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 27, 2004 - 12:25 pm:
Where can I find or order HorsePal. A search of the internet yields nothing.
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Member:
Dyduroc
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 27, 2004 - 6:41 pm:
Don't know if this has any bearing on the subject of flies, but there are LOTS of free range hens and roosters at the barn where I keep my horse and we haven't had a huge problem with black flies this year, despite the rain and cool temps. The minute we leave the barn area, we're engulfed by flies (a month ago it was the black flies; now it's the deer and horse flies).
Does anyone else have chickens or Guinea hens at their barns?
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 27, 2004 - 8:57 pm:
Actually, I know a lot of people that have chickens or geese around their barn. I knew they helped with bugs by spreading manure around, but I connected that with parasites not flies for some reason. Guess they would help with flies. Unfortunatly, we can't have free roaming chickens around here due to dogs, cyotes, bobcats, and raccoons.
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 11, 2004 - 10:20 pm:
Hi Sara: I was on vacation hence this belated response. HorsePal only works on flies that are attracted to dark moving objects, and not to odors. It appears that only horseflies, greenheads, and that type species are attracted to HorsePal. That is what the inventor of HorsePal told me.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2004 - 10:30 pm:
Thanks,Wendy. Guess they won't do me any good. Flies are so annoying now that I've been keeping everyone in the barn until evening. Luckily the barn is pretty much fly free, except for the open center part, and even there they aren't too bad. But, the flies hover right outside the doors-just mobs of them! Yech!! I'm glad I don't live in Australia; my husband says the flies are really bad there and that most of them bite.
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Member:
Lampert
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Posted on Sunday, Aug 15, 2004 - 7:21 pm:
Hello To ALL fellow fly haters. I swear they
are the devil's army. I happen to have a horse
who is not only allergic to flies, but most
fly sprays also. I fight the war with a fly
sheet (doesn't matter how hot..he has to wear it}
and fly spray on his neck and chest. Can't put
any on his face or he hives up immediately. His
legs take the most abuse. I am now putting the
clear SWAT cream on them and lightly spraying
with fly spray. Since he is a stall baby, I have
ordered the new fly leg wraps, with high hopes.
The barn where he is stalled does not have any
fly controls in place and they also have cattle
around for the ropers to practice on.
Just wondering if anyone else happens to have
one of our wonderful four legged creatures who
is also allergic to flies and most of the fly
sprays. If so, what if any solutions have you
found?
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Monday, Aug 16, 2004 - 12:09 am:
Joanne, Have you tried any of the 'natural' fly sprays? Absorbine Supershield Green is one, and also Flicks All Natural HOrse Concentrate by Animal Legend. I have also made my own by using 1 Cup of Vinegar, 1 Cup of Water and 1 Cup of Avon's Skin so Soft, then add one T. of lavendar or Eucalyptis oil (sp) That combination seems to work well, especially if they can't get out much and roll around in the dirt. I know how frustrating it can be. Good luck, Shirl
PS. Have you tried fans in the stall? Helps a lot, as flies hate wind.
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Member:
Lampert
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Posted on Monday, Aug 16, 2004 - 11:13 am:
Hi Shirl,
Thanks for the information. Yes, I have and still do use Absorbine Supershield
Green. Haven't tried the Flicks All Natural
yet. I have heard of using fans, but not an
option at my barn. However I do use them at
the shows and it does seem to help. He loves
them and just stand in front of it.
Thanks....Joanne}
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