Flies flies flies

[Patton]

The last few years flies where bad for me too and I was determined to make a dent in them this year. So far this year I would say I have reduced the fly population by 75%. In the early spring I put out tubs with IGR, these seem to only work for awhile. I then started spraying with permethrine and pro late using water and a bit of mineral oil usually every 3 to 4 weeks. I rotated the chemicals using permethrine one treatment then pro late the next. I will also be rotating the cows to different pastures several times over the growing season spraying them before the move so they are going to a clean pasture and not bringing flies with them. The cows seem to be a lot more comfortable this year.

 

[NEFarmwife]

Trying everything here. With the flooding, we are seeing a big increase in every bug. June bugs were awful.

I hate even taking pics of the cow/calf's because of the flies. We are going all in on an attack this weekend. I messaged my nutritionist about garlic. They aren't there yet.

 

[simmrock]

I haven't used it, but I have heard from several individuals that the Long Range inject-able is excellent fly control. It isn't labeled as such or developed for that, but it seems to work extremely well. One guy said the flies would hover over the cows and never land on them. It is pretty pricey, but if it works well it might be cheaper to treat effectively once than over and over with sprays.

 

[jschoolcraft86]

I use Long Range and I'm not ready to sign off on the hovering vs. landing claim. I can't say that it is wrong, but my animals do have flies landing. I am a fan of what it does for the animals regardless of fly control though, and for all I know it may be putting a dent in the flies I just can't swear to it. I am gonna continue using Long Range as a dewormer but I am also going to continue spraying.

One thing that has got me interested is the VitaFerm HEAT minerals. There has been some talk about the garlic in it helping keep flies off, I'll be putting that to the test as soon as I find a place that sells it for something reasonable. The feed store I get my mineral from has it for almost 3x the price of the other VitaFerm products I use.

 

[CattleMan1920]

I use Long Range and I'm not ready to sign off on the hovering vs. landing claim. I can't say that it is wrong, but my animals do have flies landing. I am a fan of what it does for the animals regardless of fly control though, and for all I know it may be putting a dent in the flies I just can't swear to it. I am gonna continue using Long Range as a dewormer but I am also going to continue spraying.

One thing that has got me interested is the VitaFerm HEAT minerals. There has been some talk about the garlic in it helping keep flies off, I'll be putting that to the test as soon as I find a place that sells it for something reasonable. The feed store I get my mineral from has it for almost 3x the price of the other VitaFerm products I use.

Save your money on the Vitaferm and get this instead. Use it 4-5 times per season, and your life will be far easier, not to mention your cattle's lives.

https://youtu.be/L1FRnX-mnpg

 

[jschoolcraft86]

I've been wondering about those and how effective they are. They sure look like more fun than what I've been doing.

 

[Bright Raven]

I use Long Range and I'm not ready to sign off on the hovering vs. landing claim. I can't say that it is wrong, but my animals do have flies landing. I am a fan of what it does for the animals regardless of fly control though, and for all I know it may be putting a dent in the flies I just can't swear to it. I am gonna continue using Long Range as a dewormer but I am also going to continue spraying.

One thing that has got me interested is the VitaFerm HEAT minerals. There has been some talk about the garlic in it helping keep flies off, I'll be putting that to the test as soon as I find a place that sells it for something reasonable. The feed store I get my mineral from has it for almost 3x the price of the other VitaFerm products I use.

VitaFerm heat is ideal for a summer mineral but it will not have a significant effect in reducing fly numbers based on my experience.

 

[CattleMan1920]

I use Long Range and I'm not ready to sign off on the hovering vs. landing claim. I can't say that it is wrong, but my animals do have flies landing. I am a fan of what it does for the animals regardless of fly control though, and for all I know it may be putting a dent in the flies I just can't swear to it. I am gonna continue using Long Range as a dewormer but I am also going to continue spraying.

One thing that has got me interested is the VitaFerm HEAT minerals. There has been some talk about the garlic in it helping keep flies off, I'll be putting that to the test as soon as I find a place that sells it for something reasonable. The feed store I get my mineral from has it for almost 3x the price of the other VitaFerm products I use.

VitaFerm heat is ideal for a summer mineral but it will not have a significant effect in reducing fly numbers based on my experience.

I second that, and I used it three years in a row, kept the feeders full the whole time.

 

[CattleMan1920]

I've been wondering about those and how effective they are. They sure look like more fun than what I've been doing.

Don't use it if rain is forecasted minutes later, but instead get a decent window where you think it won't rain for 3-5 days and treat them. The flies are gone in minutes. I shoot our bulls twice with them, one on each side, and they look spotless in 15 minutes, and that's saying something for bulls which seem to have a lot more flies than the females.

 

[bball]

I haven't used it, but I have heard from several individuals that the Long Range inject-able is excellent fly control. It isn't labeled as such or developed for that, but it seems to work extremely well. One guy said the flies would hover over the cows and never land on them. It is pretty pricey, but if it works well it might be cheaper to treat effectively once than over and over with sprays.

Not seeing it this year. Long ranged the calfs earlier this year. Poured them again with ultra boss 2 weeks ago gecause the flies were getting nasty

 

[Bright Raven]

I use UltraBoss for my primary fly control. It absolutely eliminates horn flies. But in my experience, it is less effective for face flies and stable flies. I keep flies under pretty good control by treating with UltraBoss about once a month and using a hand pump garden sprayer with Martin's 1% Synergized Permethrin. I cut it just about 80/20 with diesel fuel. I use the Martin's on an as needed basis.

 

[Little Cow]

Anyone else use fly predators? They worked great at our old place because the neighbors were far away. We are closer to other people's livestock now, so not as effective. The only trick is to keep your hens out of the compost pile. Unless, of course, you use your hens to control the flies in the first place. We use much less pour on products with the predators on patrol.

 

[alisonb]

I've been wondering about those and how effective they are. They sure look like more fun than what I've been doing.

Don't use it if rain is forecasted minutes later, but instead get a decent window where you think it won't rain for 3-5 days and treat them. The flies are gone in minutes. I shoot our bulls twice with them, one on each side, and they look spotless in 15 minutes, and that's saying something for bulls which seem to have a lot more flies than the females.

Man I've seen flies on your animals in the videos you have posted...you had better be telling the truth :lol:

 

[CattleMan1920]

I've been wondering about those and how effective they are. They sure look like more fun than what I've been doing.

Don't use it if rain is forecasted minutes later, but instead get a decent window where you think it won't rain for 3-5 days and treat them. The flies are gone in minutes. I shoot our bulls twice with them, one on each side, and they look spotless in 15 minutes, and that's saying something for bulls which seem to have a lot more flies than the females.

Man I've seen flies on your animals in the videos you have posted...you had better be telling the truth :lol:

They would be far worse than what you see if I didn't use the Vet Gun..

When it rains every few days, and is above 90 most of the time, flies have a perfect environment.

My mineral has Rabon, I use Vet Gun, and I use a pour on sparingly.

Talk to BR, he's in my area and has seen my cattle, flies are BAD this year.

Using the Vet Gun ahead of rain is useless. You need a few dry days, which we rarely have.

Maybe I should only post photos with every fly removed with photoshop, you know people do that right?

 

[alisonb]

Maybe I should only post photos with every fly removed with photoshop, you know people do that right?

That may take a very long time, precious time

 

[alisonb]

I messaged my nutritionist about garlic.

You going to start eating garlic?

 

[shaz]

Anyone else use fly predators? They worked great at our old place because the neighbors were far away. We are closer to other people's livestock now, so not as effective. The only trick is to keep your hens out of the compost pile. Unless, of course, you use your hens to control the flies in the first place. We use much less pour on products with the predators on patrol.

Can you elaborate some on this? Are you saying you keep chickens in with your cows?

 

[Little Cow]

Anyone else use fly predators? They worked great at our old place because the neighbors were far away. We are closer to other people's livestock now, so not as effective. The only trick is to keep your hens out of the compost pile. Unless, of course, you use your hens to control the flies in the first place. We use much less pour on products with the predators on patrol.

Can you elaborate some on this? Are you saying you keep chickens in with your cows?

No. We compost our manure outside of the cow pasture. If your hens can free range, they will scratch in your compost pile. SInce that is where you put the fly predator larva, the hens will eat the larva before it can hatch into the tiny wasps that prey on fly eggs. When our hens are free ranging, we put the fly predators in smaller piles where the hens can't get to them easily. You CAN put your predator larva into compost piles in the cow pasture.

 

[garnetann]

The flies are the worse I can remember. We put in fly tags, sponged them with permectrin, and a fly kover cover mineral feeder. We also put out some rabon blocks. This is a new pasture, and the last person has a creep feeder that leaked, and the spot left old grain that basically fermented. Is about a 12x12 foot spot, just bare dirt. Was stinky and covered with flies. I could hear them when I walked by it...So I mixed up some extra strong fly repellent and doused that spot. Smells like fly spray now, but no flies on it. The girls are doing pretty well, and will keep an eye on them. But we are in for a hot next couple of weeks.. The guy we get our protein tubs has them with garlic too, supposed to repel the flies...

 

[NEFarmwife]

I messaged my nutritionist about garlic.

You going to start eating garlic?

Ha. I do eat a lot of garlic. I can live off ranch and garlic, I'm sure.