All About Those Pesky Flies
The biggest pain that comes with living in the south during the summer are the FLIES! Aiken seems to have everything from pesky house flies to biting gnats, making working in the barn during the summer just that much harder. However, there have been a few go-to products that I have been using in the barn to deter the fly population.
1. Spalding Lab’s Fly Predators: Fly Predators are a great product because they are an all-natural way to prevent flies before they even hatch! After filling out the form online about how many and what kind of animals you have on your farm and where you are located, you will receive their custom measured amount of Fly Predators once a month in the mail. You then sprinkle the contents of each shipment around the barn where flies like to lay their eggs, such as in stalls, around the manure pile, and even out in the pasture. The Fly Predators then take care of the rest - it’s that simple! This is a great fly control solution for me because after choosing the auto-ship method, the only prompt I need to use them is when they show up in the mail each month.
2. Raid Fly Ribbons: These sticky fly ribbons are great around the barn. I use them in my tack and feed rooms, as well as in the barn aisle near the horses’ stalls. They are odorless and contain no insecticides, making these a much better solution than the fly trap options that contain liquid chemicals. When the fly population is high, I find myself changing them out once a week, but now, as those amazing Fly Predators kick in, I have been changing out the ribbons just once to twice a month.
3. Box Fans: The 3-speed box fans that you can find for less than $20 at stores like Walmart and Home Depot are amazing for not only cooling off the horses in their stalls during these nasty hot summer days, but for keeping the flies down as well! I attach these box fans to the metal stall guards at the front of my horses’ stalls just above where their grain and water buckets are located, and the horses love to stand with their faces in front of them to stay cool, dry, and fly-free during the day.
These three fly solutions have worked wonders for me during summers in the south. Two other tips that I’d like to mention are to find a fly spray that you love and that works well for your horses and apply it at least twice a day every day, and to keep grain and water buckets clean and dry when the horses aren’t in their stalls.
Thank you for joining and supporting our community. We are so excited to have you along for the ride!
Until next time,
Jess
pc: Jessica Champagne