Fly Control Management Guide
  

Why Fight Flies?

Fly control keeps your horse comfortable. But that’s not the only reason to minimize flies. Flies and other biting insects pose a major health risk to your horse and you. Flies carry a number of dangerous diseases that become more of a problem as fly populations increase. Flies live, feed and breed in filth, where germs, bacteria and communicable diseases thrive. Good hygiene is critical to keeping flies and other filthy problems under control.

Start With A Strategy

Start your fly control program early to keep fly populations down all season. It’s easier and more economical to prevent a heavy fly build-up than to fight it. Effective fly control means eliminating flies on all fronts, at all stages in the fly life cycle. Eliminating immature flies reduces the number of biting, breeding adult flies you have to deal with. No single fly product will solve your fly control problem. You need an overall plan to get rid of flies where they live, feed and breed. For maximum effectiveness, attack flies on all fronts: on your horse, in the barn and around outdoor areas.

On Your Horse

Your ultimate goal is to keep flies off your horse. On-horse products include fly sprays, topicals, lotions, roll-ons, ointments and fly masks.

Spray it on
All fly sprays are not created equal. Some contain multiple active ingredients for quick knockdown and repellency plus residual control that lasts for days. Others offer more than just fly control, such as coat conditioning or sweat-resistance. Concentrates can be very economical. Natural fly sprays are a good alternative to conventional fly sprays as they often contain natural or organic ingredients. Read the label to find the one that works best for your needs.

Protect sensitive areas
Fly masks are a very effective way to keep flies off your horse’s face and eyes. They shield face wounds and eye infections from disease-carrying insects to support healing. Fly masks with ears protect your horse’s ears from flies, mosquitoes and gnats. Apply a fly repellent ointment, lotion or roll-on around wounds and sores to help prevent fly-transmitted infections.

Pastured horses
Pastured horses need longer-lasting fly protection when you don’t spray them every day. Use a fly spray or a topical with residual control to keep them comfortable for days.

Protect against ticks
Ticks are notorious for transmitting Lyme disease and other illnesses. Horses ridden through wooded areas or turned out to pasture are exposed to these nasty bloodsuckers. Read the label to make sure the fly spray or topical product you use protects your horse against ticks.

Indoor & Outdoor Areas

Proper fly control in the barn eliminates immature and adult flies. Because flies breed in manure and other moist, decaying organic matter, keep your barn as clean as possible. Products to use to control flies in the barn include feed-thru fly control products, premise sprays and sticky traps.

Feed-thru fly control
Feed-thru fly control is a highly effective method of managing flies. Feed-thrus work by controlling flies in and around the barn as they stop flies from maturing into biting, breeding adults. They are highly successful when used in conjunction with conventional methods of fly control such as premise sprays and sticky tapes.

Eliminate fly breeding in outdoor areas by keeping areas clean and free of manure and other trash. Products for outdoor fly control include feed-thru fly control products, scatter baits and insecticide-free bag and jug traps.

Indoor fly traps or tapes
Use odor-free sticky traps to catch flies in your barn. Avoid using attractant traps inside since they draw more flies to the area.

Fly behavior
At night, flies congregate away from wind and draft, so be sure to treat areas like rafters and ceilings. When temperatures exceed 80°F, flies feed on the floor. Put traps on the ground and treat floors with insecticides in warm weather. Keep your barn clean and dry. Remove wet bedding promptly and replace with clean, dry bedding. Clean/disinfect stall walls. Wash all stall-cleaning equipment (muck tubs, wheelbarrows, shovels). Scrub water buckets and feed tubs; clean sweaty tack; wash horse boots and blankets regularly, clean up hoof trimmings after shoeing. Keep feeds covered. Don’t let spilled feed accumulate on the floor.

Premise control
Use attractant traps on the perimeter of your property to draw flies away from the barn, patio, kennel or house. Sprinkle fly bait in areas of heavy fly populations, away from children, livestock and pets. Use premise sprays to kill and repel flying insects in animal quarters.

Fly Control Management Tips

Keep it clean

• Dispose of all fly breeding material including manure and used bedding
• If waste disposal isn’t possible, treat manure with an effective larvicide
• Keep paddocks and corrals clean and dry
• Scrub water buckets and troughs weekly
• Remove standing water which may serve as a mosquito breeding ground

Read the label

• Read all labels before use and heed warnings
• Mix concentrates with the exact amount of water recommended
• Apply according to label directions
• Do not mix different fly repellents together