Flies

[skyhightree1]

Is there anyone here having a tough time managing flies this year ? I have changed spray chemicals 3 times and I think this year is the worst I have ever seen. Does anyone have a good spray to use or good recipe for fly control ?

 

[dun]

Is there anyone here having a tough time managing flies this year ? I have changed spray chemicals 3 times and I think this year is the worst I have ever seen. Does anyone have a good spray to use or good recipe for fly control ?

We had a year like that last year. I finally ended up working the cows once a month and pouring them with ultra boss. This year we're doing everything like we did in previous years and hardly a fly to be seen. But I suppose part of that could be the drought.

 

[Limomike]

dun,
You musta sent all your flies over here.. :lol2: We got plenty thats for sure, but no more than last year. Drought hasnt gotten rid of em around here, but I keep my cattle going under a backrubber & face flyps, with Prolate/Lintox-HD, then use free choice minerals with fly control and it seems to help greatly!
Then I hit my replacement calves that I have penned up, with Prozap insectrin X spray. Seems to do the trick

 

[skyhightree1]

I have used every fly spray or pour that agri supply as I do not recall the names but the flies must love it cause they come back in huge swarms lol .. I have never had to use a cattle rub i always just coraled each one and sprayed them pretty good with the sprays... Maybe i should invest in a rub and see if that helps.

 

[dun]

dun,
You musta sent all your flies over here.. :lol2: We got plenty thats for sure, but no more than last year. Drought hasnt gotten rid of em around here, but I keep my cattle going under a backrubber & face flyps, with Prolate/Lintox-HD, then use free choice minerals with fly control and it seems to help greatly!
Then I hit my replacement calves that I have penned up, with Prozap insectrin X spray. Seems to do the trick

We use Permectin II in our wipes, but roataion and fly minerals has been our standard for years and it worked great except for last year.

 

[skyhightree1]

I am gonna try those to control the flies its ridiculous the flieshere look like killer bee swarms going across the cattle.

 

[dun]

I am gonna try those to control the flies its ridiculous the flieshere look like killer bee swarms going across the cattle.

Remember there is no silver bullet! It takes multiple methods working together to get a handle on them. Starting to use the mienrals now won;t show much result this year. You really need to start before fly season for it to be really effective. BUT, it doesn;t hurt to start now and maybe be helping for next years fly population. Flocks of wild turkeys turning over the old pattys and plucking out the laevae probsbly doesn;t hurt either.

 

[skyhightree1]

I need a flock of wild turkeys to come stay for 2 months straight... I hate flies

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

IGR! We used it for the first time, and hardly a fly bugging the cows. We have one pasture on it, and they hardly bat a tail. We have another pasture that is not on it, and they are sprayed nightly (our show pasture, because they get mineral in their grain). We will use it again for sure. But, you have to start about the time of the last frost...

 

[greybeard]

I have used every fly spray or pour that agri supply as I do not recall the names but the flies must love it cause they come back in huge swarms lol .. I have never had to use a cattle rub i always just coraled each one and sprayed them pretty good with the sprays... Maybe i should invest in a rub and see if that helps.

Well, I tried the PYthon ear tags earlier this summer, and if they worked, I couldn't tell it. I then got two 10' sections of rub at TSC and strung it up across a water crossing they all have to walk under to drink, using 1/2 pint of Prolate with 2- 3 gal of diesel for each 10' section and it really did help, so I got another section and strung it over the entry to the loafin shed where they get mineral and added some face flyps. Seems to work even better.
As far as the flyps go, they're just 2" X 32" strips of polyester cloth (tee shirt material), split about 1/2 way down to tie on to the rub. They cost about $1 each if you buy the box of 22--or you can make your own as I did for the one I have over the water crossing.
Apply the chem mix slow--I used a garden sprayer and if you put on too much, you will come back the next day and find a lot just dripped off onto the ground. You want the rub to soak it all up first,then the flyps to wick the stuff out as it is needed.
I'm going to use 10% Permectrin next.

Your results may vary.

 

[skyhightree1]

GREYBEARD... Excellent idea I will try your suggestion... I will go get everything tomorrow anythings worth a try at this point.

 

[jerry27150]

you can worm with a cheap ivermectin & will kill all horn flies & most face flies for 4-5 weeks

 

[skyhightree1]

you can worm with a cheap ivermectin & will kill all horn flies & most face flies for 4-5 weeks

I will try that as well I just put up the rubs so i guess i will see what happens I probably will do what you suggested this weekend jerry

 

[slick4591]

I don't have the Permethrin container handy, but is there a problem spraying lactating cows and their calves with it?

 

[dun]

I don't have the Permethrin container handy, but is there a problem spraying lactating cows and their calves with it?

Looks to me like there isn;t, we use it in fly wipes for everything from little baby calves through the bulls
Permectrin II label
http://www.valleyvet.com/Library/lib_16499_-label.pdf

 

[slick4591]

Thanks, Dun.

 

[robertwhite]

Maybe someone can explain to me why I can't get rid of the zillions of horn flies this year.

I use Permethrin/diesel mix on my back rub with face flips and all it has done is make the flies move to the cows bellies and legs. I grain every other night in the barn and they all get sprayed with Permethrin/diesel mix using a pump type sprayer.

I am using a 6oz per gallon mix as per the label, so I am guessing it is killing the observed/sprayed flies (it is killing flies that I take out of the water tank and spray), yet there are more (new?) flies on the cows at the next feed, guaranteed.

Springtime all cattle were fitted with 2 (1 forward facing, one rearward facing) Patriot ear tags which I feel did nothing and I also have IGR mineral out on a free feed.

Never had this problem before and one would think that the drought would make less flies, not more.

What gives?

 

[skyhightree1]

I thought it was working for me but its like now they drink the stuff and back to normal..lol maybe I need to put it down more heavily on the rub or something

 

[dun]

I thought it was working for me but its like now they drink the stuff and back to normal..lol maybe I need to put it down more heavily on the rub or something

You're behind the curve by starting now. It's proabably doing more good then doing nothing but to really be effective you have to start early in the fly year or even better, before the flys get started. Like I sadi, a couple of years ago we were just hammered with flys even with our normal methods. I would go and mist the cows and calves every week plus the IGR and the flys. Not sure how much it helped but it made me feel better about doing something

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Just a thought; is your cows eating the recommended IGR? I have noticed that when the cows back off the mineral with IGR, the flies get bad in a few weeks. Once they are around, it is hard to get rid of them! I had to look at the bag, ours suggest 4 ounces of mineral per cow per day, so I did the math on how many cows and how long a bag should last. They backed off the mineral when I moved the mineral feeder further away from the water source (they were eating twice the recommended amount), so I had to move the mineral feeder closer to the water source so they would consume what they are supposed to. This is the first year we have not sprayed the cows with fly spray, so the IGR is working. You just have to stay on it. When the fly population reappeared (when they were not eating enough mineral), I used an Ivermectin pour on that killed internal and external parasites. Flies are gone, and have not come back, so I think I got a grasp on it again. It has been such an odd year weather wise (so hot and dry all summer, now hot and humid after two days of slow drizzle from Hurricane Irene), I am not sure the flies know what to do!