Our heifer is being driven to distraction by flies. We're concerned about using a fly spray, wondering if it might affect the soon-to-be-borne calf or the milk. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are our concerns about chemical fly sprays unfounded?

-- Jonathan Lindvall (Lindvall@BoldChristianLiving.com), May 15, 2000

Answers

Response to Organic Fly Control?

You could use an ear tag or a rub, check with the feed store, they can tell you.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), May 16, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

look in older messages under pests and go to repelling flies with water GL shaun

-- shaun cornish (shaun-terri@juno.com), May 16, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

1800-Jeffers or Tractor Supply carries fly sparys for dairy cattle. Which when used correctly leaves no residue in the milk, even on our dairy goats. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

Jonathan, there are a LOT of different kinds of flies. It may be that the flies after your heifer are at the maximum population and will soon pretty much disappear. Or this might be what it is going to be like all summer. If you're really interested and want to avoid pesticides as much as possible, figure out what kind of flies these are, where they breed, what they like, and go after them.

Some ideas, check back through the archives (misc, uncat, all the livestock) for various fly suggestions. Make a serious outlay for fly tape. Sometimes I would have a fly boom and need to hang fly tapes in the chicken coop. I'd frequently have flies stuck to a tape before I could get it unwound. Then the first tape would be filled before I could get the 2nd one up. I love fly tape. Cruel to the flies, but relatively harmless to everything else (except my hair). You can even hang them in an open shelter, just watch that you aren't picking up good bugs and small birds. If you are, go to plan B.

Plan B. Fly traps. You can buy traps, or make them. The simplest are a cone of screen stuck in a large jug. Put water, some dish soap and bait (I told you you needed to know what the flies liked) in the jug. The flies funnel down into the jug, generally can't figure out how to get back out and drown. Again, watch that you aren't attracting anything you have no ill-will towards.

Sanitation. If you know what sort of things appeal to these flies, you can destroy their breeding grounds.

If your heifer is really having problems, you might have to go to a dairy-safe spray at least for a while. Hopefully, you'll be able to gain control over the flies using other means and be able to reduce or eliminate the spray. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

Hello,

I tried all the sprays and stuff,, but it never really worked the way I would of liked it too. I started using Fly Predators,,,and I am very please with the results,, and you don`t have to use chemicals!!! 1-800-845-2847 http://www.spalding-labs.com

Good luck in what ever you try!! :O)

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 17, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

Though we have very few flies in the dairy barn, cleanliness, our sock bullets of golden malrin and stinky (PEEEEW) fly traps, the goats are bothered non stop out grazing and in the woods by the little flies on their backs. We have 150 acre cattle pasture next door, so a dairy insecticide is the only solution we have found. Back rubs are not an option since we milk twice a day and show. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 17, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

Hummm,

The neighbor has 12 dogs next door, (wish everyone would just get Sheep or goats!!)anyway.. I aways get some Extra fly predators, so they will take care of the neighbors that generate those extra flys. Works well,, if you run out of Fly larva for them to lay their eggs in,, they will go search for many miles until they find some more!!! Taking care of many of the flys in your area. Just think how happy those fly predators would be with all those dairy cows!!! :O)

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 17, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

Consider this horrible stuff as a fly bait: Catch 15-12 sunfish, filet them and keep meat to eat later. Place guts, heads and rest of fish in a 5 gallon plastic bucket. Leave lid off for two days then cover tightly. Set bucket out in warm sun. You might not want to keep this on your back porch.

After a week you will have had a generation or two of flies that are born, lay larvae, and die (repeat). You'll end up bit a greyish larvae-disgested soupy mix that really and I mean really smells bad. I believe this will draw flies from neighboring states.

Forget about using the plastic bucket for much anything else.

-- charles (clb@watervalley.net), May 19, 2000.

Response to Organic Fly Control?

I got a horse several years ago, and come summer fly season, I bought something from the feed store to spray her with. When I got home, I read the label carefully and never opened the can! Went instead to the health food store and bought some oil of pennyroyal. I diluted it with vegetable oil and rubbed it on the horse with a rag. Did a fine job of repelling the flies without poisoning me, the horse, and everything else in the area.

-- Sam in W.Va. (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), May 21, 2000.