horseflies..

Anonymous-0 · Jul 10, 2009

Hey folks,
any secrets to taking the itch away from the bites? Anyone got a creative way of trapping/controling them other than getting rid of the horses or the storebought traps??? I'd use the traps but heard they weren't worth buying.

Dave

Billy NY · Jul 10, 2009

Seems to be an age old problem, though I have not noticed those being much of a problem around here, it's the deer fly, one with black spots on it's wings and orbits your head, then the pretty green ones, + gnats, black flies, no see-ums etc. Maybe 2-3 months of the year they are a problem and annoy the horses, though many of them wear the mask/net when pastured.

The ones that are just unreal in population at our place are the house flies, we do a decent job of eliminating habitat, but they are rampant, those nasty odor rotten meat scent traps from TSC seem to work, but the shear numbers of them are just hard to deal with. I think the darned things have made me sick 2 or 3 times, can't keep em out of the car, in the fall it starts to cool, they migrate to the warmth, got to keep em out of yer lunch box etc. I have not figured out how to rid the place of them, and of course they have proliferated at times when manure was not able to be hauled out immediately, that is one of the main problems, feed room is also another place to tighten the ropes, they love that stuff.

glennster · Jul 10, 2009

billy, i have a bad deer fly problem at my place, and i found this on the net. works real good a lots of fun too. order some tanglefoot trap glue from gemplers (some farm stores sell it too) i got a quart for about 18 dollars. then use either the blue disposable plastic cups or get some plastic flower pots and paint em blue. brush the tangle foot on. i have the pots mounted on the golf cart and riding mowers, and then carry the cups on a stick if im working near the woods. the dang flys beeline right for the blue as long as you keep em moving. really gets em good. heres a link
deer fly trap

gitrib · Jul 10, 2009

Get some fly preditor wasps to put out. We have used them for several years around the dairy. have to get them early in spring. You cannot use insecticides after you get them. Google "Spalding".
gitib

Nancy Howell · Jul 10, 2009

The only repellent that works on the jumbo-jet size horse flies is called "Bite-Free". I think I got it from Jeffers. www.jeffersequine.com. Its also effective against deer flies, stable flies and mosquitoes. You might try adding garlic to their feed. It will help repel the flies.

One home remedy for itchy horses is mix 50-50 regular listerine and baby oil. Shake well before each use, apply with a squirt bottle set for a stream and not mist, and rub in. This is very effective for one of my horses that rubs its mane and tail during the summer. Re-apply every 3 or 4 days or as needed.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 10, 2009

Thanks! The itching was for me. The concentrated flyspray in the yellow bottles from Jeffers works good as a repellent for us. Got my little troopers used to using a big garden sprayer (not......). The babies think the shower is just another form of attention and eat it up but the big ones deal with it in different levels of stress. Most are OK with it except the gelding, who outweighs everyone else by 200 pounds. You'd think he broke a nail or something when he sees dad coming w/ the big white jug....

Dave

Nancy Howell · Jul 10, 2009

The best thing I ever had for itching was a form of calamine called Zyradril. Guess what, they don"t make it anymore.

Try any of the ointments for poison ivy. They should help your itching.

Billy NY · Jul 10, 2009

Thanks, they sure are annoying, will look into that, anything has to be an improvement, darned things can really get thick up their, the toad population absolutely thrives, and there are some big old timers, leave a florescent light on at night and they literally line up for the chow line.

Billy NY · Jul 10, 2009

Glennster, that there is a "slick" idea, though for some reason, most times you only get a few buzzing you, it's always when both hands are occupied. Now if I was to pain the back of a glove, then put my hand on my head, that always gets em, usually I let em land on my hand, and get em before they start drilling for oil !

Billy Shafer · Jul 10, 2009

They make some water bag traps that work very well. But after awhile they do tend to stink. I have also used quickbait kills real fast. Use the red collored bait. The green does not work as well. Same thing in both,but they seem to like the red the best.

Roy in Ga · Jul 10, 2009

regular old spray Lysol it helps poison ivy also

horseflies..

Anonymous-0

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Billy NY

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glennster

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gitrib

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Nancy Howell

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Anonymous-0

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Nancy Howell

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Billy NY

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Billy NY

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Billy Shafer

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Roy in Ga

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