Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Aerial Assault
horse fly
The aerial assault of deer and horse flies has begun in earnest here on the farm. Today the mares trotted outside from their morning feed to immerse their muzzles in the fresh water of the pasture trough, wander over to the green leafy hay I put out and then ran to the barn like the devil himself was after them. Of course he was, in the form of a biting fly. From what I’ve been told there is no good way to eliminate these blood thirsty pests from an area. The only thing that can help is using Permethrin-based sprays and keeping the horses in during the heat of the day. Seems that when its windy or a tad bit cool the buggers arnt as much of a problem. They also are not known to be as much a problem at night. So I guess I’m going to have to let the horses tell me if they would prefer to be in or out after their breakfast. This morning there was no doubt that they in no way wanted to be out there with those monsters. I’m also going to make a trip to the elevator to see about getting some Permethrin sprays to put on them for night time use. Summer is on its way here!
Further info on these pest can be found on the Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet for Horse and Deer Flies as well as The University of Kentucky Entomology sites College of Agriculture’s Horse and Deer Flies fact sheet .
2 Comments:
Oh I hate those pests.Fly masks and spraying my girls' legs usually work for them, and then the biting nasties go after me when I'm cleaning troughs.
They are terrible, sometimes our manure doesn't get pick up on time and they pile it outside the barn door way to close.
Mostly it is just regular flies but the warmth draws in the others.
Some people use those fly eating larvae and with great results. It seems after a season or two you have deleted the breeding flies in your area.
Good luck and beautiful animals.
Ron
horse for sale
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