How many fly traps or repellents have you tried? I have tried everything except the putrid ones. I can’t bring myself to do that. What I have tried is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have had fly-attracting animals for years, meaning chickens and goats. This year I got my first horse, so more attraction for flies. The neighbors have had cows in an adjacent field for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is my summary of effectiveness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have tried a variety of sticky (mostly yellow) fly traps over the last few years. This includes hanging tapes and cylinders of various brands. Even when placed where flies are swarming in the chicken area, they don’t seem to catch very many flies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sun or shade, it doesn’t seem to matter. Garage or on a fence post near the chicken pen. In the chicken pen. In the greenhouse. Plain yellow or imprinted with images of flies to trick the little buggers into thinking it’s a party, the sticky fly traps don’t catch very many flies!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of my biggest disappointment with the sticky traps was when they seemed to catch more of the predator wasps than flies! More on predator wasps below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is only something I use on my horse when getting ready to ride. She is not very fond of it, but it does have some effectiveness. I spray it on her body, then usually put it on my hands to carefully apply it to her face (then wash my hands), but a friend recently recommended a roller applicator and I plan to try that soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have used two brands of fly spray for horses, so far. Of those, I like Pyrahana<\/a> the best. There was a more noticeable difference in flies on my horse after using it. However, any of the sprays only lasts a couple of hours in my experience and according to reports I hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only one I have tried is Bug Check<\/a>, for my horse. The reviews were very strongly positive. It has been hard for me to tell how well it is working, but that could be because I have only had my horse for one summer and have never had a year without trying anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, what I can<\/em> say is that either she tips the bowl and most of it ends up on the ground, or she manages to eats most of the Nutrena Safe Choice<\/a> and leave a lot of the Bug Check in the bottom of the bowl. All is not lost, though, as the goats seem to like the Bug Check and eat it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Will I use it again next year? Not unless I can come up with a way to see that she actually eats it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is just a fun concept. The larva show up in the mail, you wait for them to start hatching, then you go spread them around the high fly areas. This is all explained in careful, helpful detail on the packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got started late in the season with the fly predator wasps by 1 or 2 cycles. This is important because the fly predator wasps eat the fly larva, so it you miss the first laying of eggs, the flies get a head start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from seeing the small wasps hatching in the packages, I’m pretty sure I’m getting a good hatching rate because of how many were attached to my yellow sticky traps. Since the sticky traps weren’t catching flies so well, I removed the sticky traps. Maybe that will also help with late fall effectiveness of the predator wasps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the major drawbacks to the predator wasps is cost. They are an expensive experiment. I will probably try them one more year, getting an earlier start to see if it makes a bigger difference. I bought mine from Arbico Organics<\/a>. They call the wasps “fly eliminators.” The shipments come very regularly and in good condition, as promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is probably my favorite and most apparently effective fly solution so far. Not to mention least expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is similar to the putrid containers you can buy to capture flies, but with important differences. Most of the traps using putrid bait that I looked at – and I looked at a lot – list putrified egg whites<\/em> as a main ingredient in the attractant. The thing is, I want to get rid of the flies because they make going outside so unpleasant. I can’t bring myself to set out a putrid smelling container that will make being near my animals just as objectionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDietary supplement<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Fly predator wasps<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Various inverted or milk jug containers with some sort of liquid<\/h4>\n\n\n\n