what type of fly control?

[ihuntgsps]

Have 2 Dexters (bull and cow) Cow is due to give birth any day now. Been spraying them when I can get close enough with some Bronco fly spray I use for my horses. Seems to not be very effective at all but could be due to all the rain. Looking for an economical way to provide them with some fly relief and wanting to do it soon before the calf hits the ground. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I am planning to move them to a fresh pasture area within a week if that changes anything in your suggestions.

[copperhead46]

I wish I could give you the "easy" answer, but flies are just the worst to try to control. We've had so much rain, and that doesn't help, at all. I keep chickens and ducks to keep the population down around the barn, but my cows in the pasture, don't have much relief. I throw fly powder on them when they come up to feed, but that only helps for a while. I have one of those back rub things but they won't go under it !! The feed store has a dairy fly spray, that I use when they get really bad, I mix it up in a hand sprayer and get them in the corral and soak them down real good. Sorry I don't have any good answers for you.
P.J.

[nathan104]

We use the aresol spray and have used the powder. Of our two calves, one is friendly and we are able to spray and pwder her very well. The second is very skiddish and suffers the flies because of it. We have our pig pen right beside our small barn where we feed the cows grain and the flies are terrible in that area. We spray the aresol all over the place every few days. We have tried the fly bait poison you sprinkle around to no avail. Its crazy how fast and how many of these biting flies pop up. Didnt have them until we brought the calves in. Defintly a battle.

[JulieLou42]

I'm going to try the Orange TKO product and see if that'll do it. If not, I can use it for cleaning the house and anything else, I suppose, so all is not lost.

[genebo]

It's a problem, all right. My dexters are as friendly and gentle as can be ..... until the fly spray bottle comes out. Then they're only interested in things on the other side of the pasture. I'm lucky if I get 2 of them 1/2 way done.

I've used Muscovy ducks to control flies for several years. It works well. The Muscovies roam widely. They follow the cattle, waiting for manure to hit the ground. Then they scatter it, looking for something edible. The manure dries out and won't hatch flies.

The cattle learned how else the Muscovies can help. They lie down to chew their cuds and let the Muscovies pick flies off of them. That's the best horse fly control. You can often see a cow turn her head or stretch her neck so a duck can reach a biting fly.

I recently added some Old English Game Bantams. All chickens are good at fly control, but most stay pretty close to the hen house. The Old English not only roam wider, they also like to pick flies off of the cattle.

A feed-through fly stop block can be of benefit for a while. I think they're called Rabon blocks. The active ingredient is supposed to stop fly eggs from hatching. After a few years, the flies become immune.

I tried applying Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil to the cattle as a fly repellent. I did it yesterday. They let me rub it on their backs, faces and legs. Today, the small flies were worse. It was almost like it attracted them.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[travlnusa]

I have used sprays and they work good for a day or two.

My chickens do well at keeping their numbers down.

Has anyone used the predator wasps?

[Naturaldane]

the python system at tsc seems to be our best seller, so I would say it works.
we also sell some drops like for dogs and cats that seem to be working quite well for my horses. I also do a feed thru fly birth control so to speak, they have it in a sweet mineral block, for a few cows it may work well enough? Im still getting used to the multiple stomach critters so I dont know if thats a factor