Cattle Flies

I try to identify what flies are on my cows. It is not easy. This might be useful to those who share my curiosity.

Face flies - Musca autumnalis


Stable Fly - Stomoxys calcitrans


Horn Fly - Haematobis irritans.


Housefly - Musca domestica.

I can deal with those flies but there's nothing that will keep the horseflies off for more than a day!

TCRanch said:

I can deal with those flies but there's nothing that will keep the horseflies off for more than a day!

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I have not found anything that controls horseflies. I have heard there are traps.

Thanks, This is helpful.

Bright Raven said:

TCRanch said:

I can deal with those flies but there's nothing that will keep the horseflies off for more than a day!

Click to expand...

I have not found anything that controls horseflies. I have heard there are traps.

Click to expand...

I actually keep a fly swatter in my Polaris and will randomly smack 'em as I walk through the herd. If I'm bored I'll entertain myself by seeing how many I can catch: scoop my hand down their back, catch the horsefly & smash the ugly sucker.

I sprayed my herd with Fly Ban yesterday and a couple horseflies took a direct hit but even 7.4% Permethrin and 7.4% Piperonyl Butoxide is a temporary fix.

TCRanch said:

Bright Raven said:

TCRanch said:

I can deal with those flies but there's nothing that will keep the horseflies off for more than a day!

Click to expand...

I have not found anything that controls horseflies. I have heard there are traps.

Click to expand...

I actually keep a fly swatter in my Polaris and will randomly smack 'em as I walk through the herd. If I'm bored I'll entertain myself by seeing how many I can catch: scoop my hand down their back, catch the horsefly & smash the ugly sucker.

I sprayed my herd with Fly Ban yesterday and a couple horseflies took a direct hit but even 7.4% Permethrin and 7.4% Piperonyl Butoxide is a temporary fix.

Click to expand...

This is what we did as very young kids. But even now it is entertaining. Scoop a horsefly off the back of a horse or cow. Be careful not to harm it. Then find EXACTLY the right length and weight of grass straw. Shove it into the abdomen of the horsefly ( don't push it into the throax). Then let go. The weight of the straw will cause the horsefly to go almost straight up. If you have young eyes, you can watch for several seconds as your engineered aircraft disappears into heaven.

:banana:

Now that's funny!

That is very strange and slightly creepy, but I don't feel sorry for the little nasties.

I think it's funny that your horses and cattle will learn quickly to hold still and let you smack the horseflies that land on them. I've smacked a cow in the ribs hard enough to make her grunt, but she still looked thankful when the dang thing dropped off so I could squish it under my boot.

Little Cow said:

That is very strange and slightly creepy, but I don't feel sorry for the little nasties.

I think it's funny that your horses and cattle will learn quickly to hold still and let you smack the horseflies that land on them. I've smacked a cow in the ribs hard enough to make her grunt, but she still looked thankful when the dang thing dropped off so I could squish it under my boot.

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I grew up in contact with horses and cows. One of my first memories is being kicked by one of our new born colts. Maybe it was a philly. We had several different teams of draft horses during my childhood and a few mules. I never got interested in horses but I sure enjoyed them growing up. My older brother - one year my senior and the eldest of five siblings - and I would ride them bareback in the pasture. Nothing on but a halter. We let them go where ever they wanted. They were so gentle, you could crawl under them and swat a horsefly on their belly as hard as you want, they didn't even move.

We get some control of horse flies. The problem insect here the last few years has been solid black insect I suppose is a type of wasp. When he bites they drop a few inches. Have found nothing that will touch them.

elkwc said:

We get some control of horse flies. The problem insect here the last few years has been solid black insect I suppose is a type of wasp. When he bites they drop a few inches. Have found nothing that will touch them.

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Black horseflies? They're a little larger than "regular" horseflies but solid black. We never used to get them but have the past couple years. Pure evil!

As far as I know it is the female(horse fly)that goes after meat/blood and is attracted to dark moving objects.
I always set up bottle traps plus a hanging rotten(meat) bait trap with fly poison sprinkled on it if flies get out of hand. You kill thousands of flies this way...one can't only treat the cattle.

we have very few horseflies here, haven't seen a single one this year, last year I saw a dozen or so.. the cows KNOW the difference between a horsefly and anything else, they'll run like mad when one lands on them.. I suppose if there were a lot of them they'd just deal with it
My bull is always covered in flies, he comes up to me begging me to swat them, without exaggeration I can get 100's in a swipe.. He doesn't really like the fly spray though because it makes a cloud of flies that gets in his face and bothers him more.. so I have to be sneaky about it.
Most of the calves don't mind the spray, I usually have a curry comb to brush them at the same time.. a few cows haven't figured out the benefits though, Prada was not having any of it today, until I got her in a small pen and she had no choice in the matter