Fly Wars

©Voice, May 2007

It’s that time of year again. As you head out to the barn you can hear the buzzing. Tails are swishing, legs are starting to turn yellow with bot eggs, and horses are rolling – it’s time to once again wage the eternal war of which every horse owner is a battle worn veteran, the war on flies. As with any war, the key to winning the war on flies is combining a number of time-tested tactics. Below is a list of such tactics, use them to arm yourself and you increase your chances, and your horse’s chances, of enjoying the summer relatively fly free.

• Remove manure from stalls daily and from pastures twice a week.

• Cover your manure piles or compost with plastic.

• Do not spread fresh, uncomposted manure on horse pastures.

• Take out the trash.

• Use covered garbage cans.

• Scrub out your feeders to remove any feed residue.

• Clean your water buckets regularly and always provide fresh water.

• Cover your feed bins.

• Eliminate all standing water around your barn. Fill in puddles
and remove anything that collects rainwater.

• Remove uneaten hay from pastures and pick up all grass clippings.

• Install screens on all windows and doors.
• Put out fly tapes and traps.

• Use paint on fly repellants on barn exteriors.

• Braid chemically treated fly strips in manes and/or tails.

• Outfit your horses in fly masks.

• Apply insecticide and repellent frequently.

• Provide a shady shelter for pastured horses.

• Turn the flies into prey.
~ Spread non-stinging wasp eggs in your manure pile and when they
hatch the wasps will eat the fly larvae.
~ Build a bat house to attract the nocturnal fly eating predators.
~ Allow insect-eating barn swallows to nest in your barn.
~ Stock the farm pond with fish that feed on insect larvae.