Face Flies

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wtrapp

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I have just read an advertisement for "THE FLY KILLER KOVER". This is a mineral feeder that has a reservoir on the cover flap. The reservoir holds insecticide that wicks down into the underside of the cover. When the cattle go for minerals they also treat themselves. The website for this product is www.flykillercover.com Just wondering if anyone else has seen this or have used it.
 
The problem for me is far worse than just the face. Spray their backs and all the flies go down to their belly. When mine get sprayed, they have to be sprayed all the way around.

Hence, I am sure that helps for the face, but it would not solve my problem. Probably less good than a back rub which isn't enough.
 
Ivomec works for about 3 weeks. Rabon stops the cycle for my own, but does nothing about the flies from the 7 adjoining herds sucking the blood out of them.

Am I using it wrong?
 
backhoeboogie":h9ldaz6c said:
Ivomec works for about 3 weeks. Rabon stops the cycle for my own, but does nothing about the flies from the 7 adjoining herds sucking the blood out of them.

Am I using it wrong?


No you are trying to push a rope uphill if your neighbors don't have a herd health management system. Your both losing money to flies. You could always switch to white cows.
 
Caustic Burno":34q1ldl5 said:
You could always switch to white cows.

:D

Permethryn (probably spelled it wrong) spray seems to keep them in check. They require spraying all the way around completely.

The info in this forum is interesting - as far as what works for other folks. My situation is probably an extreme because of all the adjoining pastures of cows.
 
I received the FLY KILLER KOVER the other day. Set everything up, put out minerals and guess what? This thing works. NO FACE FLIES. Right now I'm sold on this thing. Watch your cattle at the minerl feeder. When they push up the top flap it lays on their forehead and face, right? When the insecticide wicks down to the underside of the top flap the cows are eating minerals while rubbing their faces on the insecticide. I'll see how things are in July.
 
backhoeboogie":11v60qbi said:
Ivomec works for about 3 weeks. Rabon stops the cycle for my own, but does nothing about the flies from the 7 adjoining herds sucking the blood out of them.

Am I using it wrong?


Ear tags.

There are now 4 different active ingredients available to rotate with. Down south where we are the flies laugh when you put a Pyrethoid tag on.
 
backhoeboogie":29kooqlz said:
Caustic Burno":29kooqlz said:
You could always switch to white cows.

:D

Permethryn (probably spelled it wrong) spray seems to keep them in check. They require spraying all the way around completely.

The info in this forum is interesting - as far as what works for other folks. My situation is probably an extreme because of all the adjoining pastures of cows.
No Boogie your situation is "typical". Flies "fly"....you may kill every fly on your place but within a few days others will show up...there is no perfect solution and we'll never get rid of all of them...only make every effort possible to get some level of "control" on our own cattle. I've sprayed every pasture for thistles this year as well...there are millions of them...yet right up the road the neighbor has done nothing and those little fuzzy seeds will be flying everywhere soon and I'm sure many will settle on my place.....no different with flies.
 
TexasBred":2f0y977h said:
No Boogie your situation is "typical". Flies "fly"....you may kill every fly on your place but within a few days others will show up...there is no perfect solution and we'll never get rid of all of them...only make every effort possible to get some level of "control" on our own cattle. I've sprayed every pasture for thistles this year as well...there are millions of them...yet right up the road the neighbor has done nothing and those little fuzzy seeds will be flying everywhere soon and I'm sure many will settle on my place.....no different with flies.
Amen on both counts.
 
cypressfarms":361dpar4 said:
Ear tags.

There are now 4 different active ingredients available to rotate with. Down south where we are the flies laugh when you put a Pyrethoid tag on.
I second the ear tags. They don't take care of all the flies but for the cost they help a lot.
 
novaman":33dqiq5z said:
cypressfarms":33dqiq5z said:
Ear tags.

There are now 4 different active ingredients available to rotate with. Down south where we are the flies laugh when you put a Pyrethoid tag on.
I second the ear tags. They don't take care of all the flies but for the cost they help a lot.

Make that a third on the ear tags. Nothing will get every single fly but I guess every little bit helps.
 
What did you spray your thistles with? I used 2-4-D amine and it killed some of the small ones but didn't faze the bigger ones.
 
I've only got 3 things I don;t like about the insecticide ear tags. To be really effective you almost have to have one in each ear. Get's crowded with the ID tags and insecticide tags both. To be any good you have to replace them after a copule of months. That's numbers 2 and 3. 2 is that you have to 3 is so few people do that it helps with creating resistence in the flys. I see way to many cattle with last years tag still in when it comes time to put the new one in the following year
 
Gunner":2oq44f9a said:
What did you spray your thistles with? I used 2-4-D amine and it killed some of the small ones but didn't faze the bigger ones.

Hired it done...they used Weedmaster...didn't even see what is in it but it took care of them. Everybody in this area has millions of them this year. I guess the wet fall and winter had a lot to do with it.
 
Our thistle was horrible this year.. we also used Weedmaster, and it worked great! Didn't take much product either. Now if I could get a handle on the mesquite!

We don't use ear tags any more.. haven't for years, for the reasons Dun mentioned. Instead I run them into the pens twice a week and spray them, head to tail. It seems to work much better. I generally swap out the sprays.. I used Electrol, then Coral, then a permythian (sp?) based spray, in a 5 gallon garden sprayer.
 
I'm on my third season using my Fly Killer Kover. I found it online, bought two, then recommended they advertise in Stockman Grass Farmer. It worked great the first year, not as good last year. They told me to clean the reservoir, helped a bit. This year it hasn't been working well, also some of the rubber around the reservoir fell apart. I just got off the phone, they are sending me the replacement rubber parts for free. They recommended cleaning out the reservoir and using an "aluminized paint" because it will start to corrode. Also, they recommended I take and clean the felt with a pressure washer. I'll be doing that tomorrow and hopefully it does the trick. When it works, it works great, just need to do some cleaning before it goes into use for the season I think. I bought mine as a retrofit for a Brower feeder. I use a piece of rope tied into a "Y" to move/drag the feeder. The two ends of the "Y" have a knot. The other end is a loop. I put the knots in the stake notches and pull on the loop end. I have gone over some pretty rough terrain.
 
Gunner":2fb1mylz said:
What did you spray your thistles with? I used 2-4-D amine and it killed some of the small ones but didn't faze the bigger ones.

same here. 24d didn't impress the thistles much at all!!
 

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