Fly Control Mineral

[quartermeter]

Going to try it this year. I'm in S Tennessee. When should I put it out? Thanks

 

[bird dog]

asap.

 

[bse]

I put mine out by the end of April just depends when I need a new bag.

 

[dun]

Best to get it out a couple of weeks before fly season.

 

[quartermeter]

I think I'll get it out this weekend. I have a couple of 55 gal plastic barrels with holes cut in the side. Thought i would put a mineral block and fly control mineral in them. So they have free choice. Would they still eat the fly control? They've only had block mineral. Looks like winter is about over Thanks

 

[dun]

I would only use the loose mineral. If the blocks have IGR and the loose does too, it wouldn;t be an issue. But if only one has it in it you would be spending money for IGR and diluting the results you would expect. They need to eat a specific (or close to it) amount of IGR each day for it to be effective

 

[cowgirl8]

We fed it the past 2 years and found that it did not work like we wanted. We will not be feeding the mineral with the fly control this year...

 

[TexasBred]

We fed it the past 2 years and found that it did not work like we wanted. We will not be feeding the mineral with the fly control this year...

You may find that it was working better than you realized. It will never get rid of all flies, nor does anything else.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

I picked up a ton yesterday and will start putting it out once it dries up a little.

 

[ropinranger]

That's the plan here as well..may take a while.

 

[quartermeter]

We fed it the past 2 years and found that it did not work like we wanted. We will not be feeding the mineral with the fly control this year...

Did you start in spring and feed it all summer?

 

[quartermeter]

I picked up a ton yesterday and will start putting it out once it dries up a little.

Where did you buy it? I bought mine at coop for $15/50 lb bag. Seemed high but was cheapest they had. Is it less by the ton.

 

[cowgirl8]

We fed it the past 2 years and found that it did not work like we wanted. We will not be feeding the mineral with the fly control this year...

Did you start in spring and feed it all summer?

We use Wind and Rain. We keep it out year round, but the stuff with the fly control in it we started putting out in Feb, last year which was a very cold year so this year may be different. Our cows do not border any other herds outside our own. So i watched near by herds i knew werent getting any kind of fly control. After feeding it months, by around june, we were hit with flies with vengeance both years. We rarely spray our cows, but we had to get them up twice and spray for flies. Neighboring herds had flies just the same... This was the second year we've used it, and both years we had flies pretty bad.
We bought most of ours with a 15% off coupon at TSC by the pallet and got it for around $33 a bag.. I started mixing it with a little salt because the cows were eating it so fast. They require so many oz a day, but they were eating about a pound a day... I'd put a 50 pound bag out in a heard of less than 50 and they'd eat it in a few hours.. I started mixing part of a bag of white salt with it, and it'd last a couple days.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Cowgirl8, One thing to note. If you have neighbors with cows within two miles or so, and they're not using an effective fly control, you're wasting your money with fly control minerals. Most fly control minerals contain Altosid, which is an IGR (insect growth regulator) which doesn't kill the flies, but makes them unable to reproduce. Therefore if your neighbors aren't using fly control minerals, or a spray to kill the flies, then the flies are reproducing on the neighbors farms and then moving to your farm. By the time your IGR mineral is effectively reducing reproduction, you have a new crop of flies coming from the neighbors.

 

[cowgirl8]

Cowgirl8, One thing to note. If you have neighbors with cows within two miles or so, and they're not using an effective fly control, you're wasting your money with fly control minerals. Most fly control minerals contain Altosid, which is an IGR (insect growth regulator) which doesn't kill the flies, but makes them unable to reproduce. Therefore if your neighbors aren't using fly control minerals, or a spray to kill the flies, then the flies are reproducing on the neighbors farms and then moving to your farm. By the time your IGR mineral is effectively reducing reproduction, you have a new crop of flies coming from the neighbors.

As i stated, we have no neighboring cows that border ours. But we do have cows in our area....
So, if you do have neighboring cows within 2 miles and they dont feed it, then there is no point of anyone feeding unless everyone is..right?

 

[M-5]

I never limit them , if mine eat a bag I put out another. Mine also have free choice salt.

 

[dun]

Cowgirl8, One thing to note. If you have neighbors with cows within two miles or so, and they're not using an effective fly control, you're wasting your money with fly control minerals. Most fly control minerals contain Altosid, which is an IGR (insect growth regulator) which doesn't kill the flies, but makes them unable to reproduce. Therefore if your neighbors aren't using fly control minerals, or a spray to kill the flies, then the flies are reproducing on the neighbors farms and then moving to your farm. By the time your IGR mineral is effectively reducing reproduction, you have a new crop of flies coming from the neighbors.

As i stated, we have no neighboring cows that border ours. But we do have cows in our area....
So, if you do have neighboring cows within 2 miles and they dont feed it, then there is no point of anyone feeding unless everyone is..right?

Wrong! I don;t recall which flys they are, but some travel a distance and there are some that stay within a short distance, like feet of the host. IGR/Altosid will work on the ones that stay to home but won;t work much on the long distance type. You will at least be controlling one type of fly. To some that isn;t worth it, to us it is. I have finally gotten my closest neighbor to start using the stuff. He started last year and when we went to pick up minerals last week he got the exact same stuff as I did. He's so tight he makes the buffalo on a nickel beller. If he's willing to spend the oney he must figure it's worth it.

 

[TexasBred]

Had such a mild winter flies never completely disappeared around here so I fed it all winter. They have a few flies but not really bothered by them. Got cattle in every direction from here as well.

 

[cowgirl8]

I never limit them , if mine eat a bag I put out another. Mine also have free choice salt.

My cows were eating a pound a day..i'm assuming some where eating more some less, but nobody has that kind of money.....lol I think its what, 3 or 4 oz per cow...The salt limited them to where they were eating the right amount..

 

[M-5]

Give them free choice salt and then they will not overconsume the mineral.

I buy a bag of mineral every 2 weeks. 30+ animals , I put out a bag of salt about every 10 days. They have to get their fill of it then they only eat what they need.