Hide color and flies

[Hpacres440p]

The black hide craze seems to be instilled in flies also. We have all black with a single red animal in one pasture. The red has very few flies, the blacks all have enough to need pour on. Our steer pen is a different situation-on our Beltie, the flies all swarm to the white stripe, his black/dark brown pen mate has fewer flies. We had a British white that had fewer flies than black counterparts.
I'm sure someone has done a study…

 

[coachg]

I've read where mosquitoes bite O+ blood type folks more than any other type of blood . Wonder if it's the color of the hide , type/ breed of cattle , smell/ internal chemistry or what with the fly thing ? By the way I'm O + .

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I have a mix of red and black cattle. Ive never noticed more/less flies on either particular color. But I have noticed the same cows year after year seem to have more flies than their herdmates. My thoughts are there's something with smell that attracts the flies.

 

[bird dog]

Its hereditary. Just ask Mr. Pharo.

There is some truth to it. Many years ago when first starting out I bought a registered Brangus cow. She was a excellent animal and I still have some of her offspring in the herd. She was a fly magnet and all of her offspring are the same way.

My red cows seem to have less fly's but I know age and condition have a lot to do with it. Fly's on my old cow group are areal problem. I have two similar places and noticed that one place is always worse than the other.

 

[Brute 23]

Black cattle, long hair, and less Brahman influence the more flies, assuming same factors.

 

[MACVSOG]

while we are speculating, i would go with the red/black but in relation to the soil.

one property has nothing but all
black cattle (black angus and black corriente) and they are covered with flies. the soil is mostly sandy (reddish color)

another property has a mix of several colors of cows, but the majority are red. this soil is all black. i still have my remaining watusi on this place and nothing seems to bother them.

so black cows on sandy soil, many flies.
red cows on black soil, not many flies.
other places to check. nothing definitive yet.
could the soil be a factor, dunno.

 

[TCRanch]

I'm going with hereditary. The same cows in my herd are worse than the others, every year, as are their offspring. Bebe is a perfect example. She's a fly magnet! Old gal is now 15 and all her heifers I've retained seem to attract more flies. Squeaker, on the other hand, is now 14 and she's rarely covered in flies. Same with all her heifers I've retained. Phantom, one of my few Simm-Angus, is now 14 and she gets lice every winter while hardly any of the others do. Same with her offspring I've retained.

Things that make you go Hmmm??

 

[SDgrampa]

Look up zebra straps and flies. We need a new color pattern

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Are we talking about horn flies? Seems like black cattle would be warmer.

 

[BFE]

According to an old man I knew, the red hide was thicker in general than black. That's why the flies didn't bother them as much. I mentioned this long ago on here and got told we were idiots.

The old man in questions nephew had more than one bull in the big AI books years back. Nephew said the old man forgot more about cattle than he ever knew.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Black cattle, long hair, and less Brahman influence the more flies, assuming same factors.

My Black Brangus cow has more than her half Brangus daughters, and red beefmaster/brangus son has none. All same pasture and feed.

 

[Little Joe]

The black hide craze seems to be instilled in flies also. We have all black with a single red animal in one pasture. The red has very few flies, the blacks all have enough to need pour on. Our steer pen is a different situation-on our Beltie, the flies all swarm to the white stripe, his black/dark brown pen mate has fewer flies. We had a British white that had fewer flies than black counterparts.
I'm sure someone has done a study…

There are studies that indicate that cattle frame size has a correlation to flies. In the study, smaller framed cattle attracted less flies than large frame.
Brimmer are the exception to the rule.

 

[Hpacres440p]

With the blessings of rain we have had a fly explosion-pour-on's get washed off by rain, altosid minerals, if they are doing anything, it's minimal. The two worst attractors (black Brangus cow and Beltie steer) have both lost ear tags, I assume from rubbing to avoid flies.
Any other great suggestions? We're in the magic 90 degree fly zone with lots of grass and humidity (which is wonderful!)

 

[TCRanch]

Do you have neighboring cattle or cattle close to your fence line? We used to and my efforts to combat flies were doubled, primarily because they would give their cattle an ear tag and call it good for the season.

I've never tried it, but a lot of people swear by garlic and/or cinnamon mixed in with loose mineral. And a former member of CT promotes By-O-Reg (tubs). Of course, all that is contingent on the amount they consume.

I'm still using Fly Ban as a preventative. Just dump some cubes and spray. Generally good for 2 weeks but maaaaaaybe 10 days in heavy fly season.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Do you have neighboring cattle or cattle close to your fence line? We used to and my efforts to combat flies were doubled, primarily because they would give their cattle an ear tag and call it good for the season.

I've never tried it, but a lot of people swear by garlic and/or cinnamon mixed in with loose mineral. And a former member of CT promotes By-O-Reg (tubs). Of course, all that is contingent on the amount they consume.

I'm still using Fly Ban as a preventative. Just dump some cubes and spray. Generally good for 2 weeks but maaaaaaybe 10 days in heavy fly season.

Other cattle are across the road and tend to stay far away. I'll have to try garlic

 

[Brute 23]

It's hard to keep flies off penned up cattle.

I have a gun that goes on the 1g jugs. It shoots plenty far to hit cattle from a sxs or atv if you can cube them if they get real bad. It has two tips you can swap out for spraying close or far.

We use panels with walk throughs and hang fly bags. They are generally around water so they have to go through it. It keeps the flies off pretty good in-between spraying, most of the time.