Fly control on livestock

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elkwc

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Wasn't sure where to post this so decided to try here. Flies are the worst I've ever seen now. And over a wide area. I've talked to many livestock owners and have tried several products. We had good results with Saber the first time. Lasted 5-6 weeks. Then used Lintox, Atroban and Ultra Boss with limited results. Poured most with Saber again last weekend. I won't be back down until next Friday. The cattle will be checked Monday so will get a report then. Switched to the Vita Ferm feed with garlic and fly control in early summer but have had trouble with some groups eating it. So was wondering what others are using elsewhere and what results they are having.
 
I have treated with UltraBoss all summer. On occasions when there are a lot of house flies, I use a synergized 1% permethrin mix. I appy it with a sprayer. The UltraBoss absolutely eliminates hornfles but is not totally effective for common house flies.

In general, this approach has controlled flies where I am in Kentucky. In the past 3 weeks, horseflies have been awful. Nothing seems to deter them.
 
I used cydectin to worm last year and really haven't had much of a problem yet this year. My dung beetle population is booming. I bought this place about two years ago and have noticed that my problem area seems to be the close up areas that the previous owner used as the receiving area and everything that went through the corrals got long range.
 
Used Long Range wormer in early Spring and have been feeding Purina Wind & Rain w/ Fly Control (Altosid) and have virtually no flies this season. Haven't even used any fly ear tags this year! We also rotate the herds every 10-14 days depending on conditions and feel that this is one of the best things you can do for fly control. I have heard that there are some herds in the area that are having one of the worst fly years ever. The good news is that Mother Nature will take care of the flies in the next 2-4 weeks.
 
Used Long Range wormer in early Spring and have been feeding Purina Wind & Rain w/ Fly Control (Altosid) and have virtually no flies this season.
I great results with Purina W&R with fl control this year, but last year it was a big disappointment.
 
greybeard":2uienu23 said:
Used Long Range wormer in early Spring and have been feeding Purina Wind & Rain w/ Fly Control (Altosid) and have virtually no flies this season.
I great results with Purina W&R with fl control this year, but last year it was a big disappointment.

If our neighbors would use it too, i'd bet it might work.

Do you have neighboring cattle that also use F/C mineral?
 
my nearest neighbors with livestock are a mile away. last I saw, he was still using those $7 hard red blocks
 
Best fly control on livestock I have found is not to have livestock. It seems no matter what you try they overcome it and nothing stops them completely is my experience and I will say again this is the ABSOLUTE WORST year I can remember with flies.
 
Have used sweet pro tubs for years with altosid , but this year they started using garlic as their fly control and I am happy with the results . They will jump on the garlic taste and consume more than normal for a couple of weeks and then level out at 1 1/2- 1 3/4 per day :( if you have young heifers you are retaining and feeding they will not consume the blocks as needed but my mature Brahman & Hereford have no flies at all . Now if your bull is running with them he will have flies as he is not consuming anything as he has other things on his mind
 
elkwc":3las6i4y said:
Wasn't sure where to post this so decided to try here. Flies are the worst I've ever seen now. And over a wide area. I've talked to many livestock owners and have tried several products. We had good results with Saber the first time. Lasted 5-6 weeks. Then used Lintox, Atroban and Ultra Boss with limited results. Poured most with Saber again last weekend. I won't be back down until next Friday. The cattle will be checked Monday so will get a report then. Switched to the Vita Ferm feed with garlic and fly control in early summer but have had trouble with some groups eating it. So was wondering what others are using elsewhere and what results they are having.


I tried the Heat tub with garlic based on everyone one claims on fly control.
I saw zero fly control.
My neighbor has cattle on 3 sides of me and uses fly tags and igr and has just as many flys.
I just keep a sprayer in ranger and spray them periodically
 
Cross-7":1kaf2slt said:
elkwc":1kaf2slt said:
Wasn't sure where to post this so decided to try here. Flies are the worst I've ever seen now. And over a wide area. I've talked to many livestock owners and have tried several products. We had good results with Saber the first time. Lasted 5-6 weeks. Then used Lintox, Atroban and Ultra Boss with limited results. Poured most with Saber again last weekend. I won't be back down until next Friday. The cattle will be checked Monday so will get a report then. Switched to the Vita Ferm feed with garlic and fly control in early summer but have had trouble with some groups eating it. So was wondering what others are using elsewhere and what results they are having.


I tried the Heat tub with garlic based on everyone one claims on fly control.
I saw zero fly control.
My neighbor has cattle on 3 sides of me and uses fly tags and igr and has just as many flys.
I just keep a sprayer in ranger and spray them periodically
It's much more effective against vampires.
 
Came here looking for advise as files are horrible on my cows right now. Flies covering the entire neck/chuck area and under bellies. Was able to spray the docile cows with some permethrin from a hand pump sprayer and that seemed to knock them down, but the skiddish cows that wouldn't come near are still covered in flies. All my cows have XP-820 Insecticide tags from early summer and it's not helping.
 
TexFarmer":3nl3ghjt said:
Came here looking for advise as files are horrible on my cows right now. Flies covering the entire neck/chuck area and under bellies. Was able to spray the docile cows with some permethrin from a hand pump sprayer and that seemed to knock them down, but the skiddish cows that wouldn't come near are still covered in flies. All my cows have XP-820 Insecticide tags from early summer and it's not helping.
Tex about all you can do is hope to get some of them. Nothing is going to kill them all. If you have a corral might pen them and see if you can come up with a larger more powerful sprayer and give them a good soaking bath with some good fly spray. That will kill most of what they have now but won't last long. IGR mineral helps as well as the insecticide tags you're already using.
 
This works great for me. I spray them down when the flies get bad. Hit them with a spray bottle when they are eating cubes. Heck it kills flies when they are on the cattle. Most my cows know what it is and don't mind. One cow has half her tail bitten off. She stands as long as I spray, poor girl can't swipe them off her back. I use fly tags for the ears. Flies are not a problem.
 
I have tested mineral oil with cedar oil and fulvic and been able to go up to ten days without spraying except for bull. I also have been spraying pasture with fulvic which is suppose to reduce flies by 60 percent. (Test results from Australia) We care for 8 cows 6 bulls right now and cattle across road handled by family employee has to spray every three days and even went to using strong stuff. Fulvic like garlic has sulfur and the fulvic smells like liquid smoke but makes their fur shine. I also put apple cider vinegar with de in tub by water. Flies hate smell of smoke vinegar (you won't want to put on fur just for drinking) and cedar oil.

I have also noticed the grasshoppers are fewer where I sprayed the fulvic. It is a new product a guy in Kansas is having me test.

The cedar oil was fairly expensive and also the mineral oil but thinking saving from less spraying and less cake to bring them up close. They come for cake because of molasses and wonder if one could just spray grass with it and save too.
 
It has been a tough year for flies no doubt. We always tag ours with Warrior tags. We will get 8 -10 weeks easily out of them. Always tag end of May and usually can get by without tagging again. We should have re-tagged first of Sept but we were fooled with a cool snap and thought fall was going to be early but we were fooled.
 
kilroy60":1494hdad said:
It has been a tough year for flies no doubt. We always tag ours with Warrior tags. We will get 8 -10 weeks easily out of them. Always tag end of May and usually can get by without tagging again. We should have re-tagged first of Sept but we were fooled with a cool snap and thought fall was going to be early but we were fooled.
They say you are supposed to rotate the kind of tags you use from year to year as the flies can build up a resistance to the insecticide. They are "supposed" to last 6 months, I get about 4-5 out of mine, maybe due to the heat heat, not sure.
 

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