Horse Flies

mozarkian · #1 08/23/11, 01:33 PM

Anyone else having more trouble with horse flies than normal? I treat all the cows with Ultra Boss pour on as directed and then dilute some of it and spritz in on them as needed, but still kill at least 30 or 40 flies every night and morning. These are the biggest horse flies I have ever seen--some look more like birds than flies. One cow came with a docked tail and they are feasting on her everytime I turn my back. Any ideas on what works better or how to make a trap would be greatly appreciated. thanks! moz

genebo · #2 08/23/11, 02:03 PM

Horse flies are different from the other flies. They aren't attracted to scent. They're drawn to heat, carbon dioxide and motion. Heat most of all.

The most effective trap I know of is the Epps trap.

One of my neighbors showed me this trap in action. It collected an amazing number of horseflies in just a few minutes! He said it cleared about 5 acres of pasture.

He had another home-made version that he said cleared 10 acres.

To simulate how it works, park your truck in the hot sun with the door left open. Almost every time you'll get a horsefly in the truck. It's the heat inside the truck that attracts them.

Horse flies will travel a mile or so. You can do everything possible to eliminate them, but if your neighbors don't, you'll still have them.

mozarkian · #3 08/23/11, 02:14 PM

genebo, I know that my neighbors are part of the trouble-- the guy has a 5 acre wedge just across from my front pasture with 5 horses, a donkey, 3 steers, dog kennels full of squirrel dogs, etc and lots of muddy ground and standing water around his pond that I read online is a breeding ground for them. His donkey had so many flies on him the other day that I was afraid they would lift him off the ground if they all took off at one time.
Any pointers on making a trap? I am trying to find the Epps trap online now to order, but if I could make something till it comes in would be awesome.

mozarkian · #4 08/23/11, 02:27 PM

yikes! epps ain't cheap, about $300 bucks - but it don't look too complicated, either. Think I will work on a homemade version before I spend that kind of $$.
Thinking that I need to use some posts to hang appropriate dark fabric with some trays of dish soap solution for the flies to fall into once they hit the fabric. Make it about the size of a cow, and maybe add some reflective, shiny objects or trim as research says the flies are attracted to mirrors and shiny things in addition to heat. Thank you very much for the ideas, at least I have something to try now. moz

genebo · #5 08/23/11, 04:40 PM

The Epps trap has a clear film stretched over a frame that holds it diagonally just above the water trough. Flies heading for the black panel hit the film and are knocked into the water, where they drown.

I don't think fabric will work as well as metal panels. The metal panels will get blazing hot in the sun. Fabric won't. My friend used copper flashing painted with matte black grill paint.

Be sure to put it somewhere central to your pastures, where it can be seen for a long distance. Put a barrier around it so the cattle can't get to it and knock it over or drink the water.

It might work best if it were closer to your neighbor's place. Get the flies before they come over the line?

My friend said the biggest pain of using the trap is that it has to be emptied daily and fresh water put in. His home-made trap uses a 1/2 of a water heater for the water tank, so it doesn't have to be serviced daily. Probably holds several gallons of water, instead of the couple of quarts that his Epps holds.

For his home-made one, he cut the metal panels into the rough silhouette of a cow, because he read somewhere that it would work better that way. It looks neat in the pasture, anyway.

SuperDog · #6 08/23/11, 06:15 PM

Here is a link on how to make a trap...

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G7013

ufo_chris · #7 08/24/11, 01:43 AM

Genebo,
Could you please post some pics of that homemade trap?
I made a flimsy version just to see if it would work (it did) but it got blown to smithereens first little wind we had.
I'm ready to build a sturdier version now.
Does he know how much $ he has in it?
Thanks,Chris

mozarkian · #8 08/25/11, 10:53 AM

We are going to build one of the traps Sunday and will update next week to let you all know how well it works. The links and information are much appreciated!

ufo_chris · #9 09/08/11, 09:59 PM

Did you built the trap?

mozarkian · #10 09/09/11, 09:33 AM

No- we were going to built it on that Sunday, but horseflies have pretty much disappeared here now-- the only difference is that the weather changed that weekend and night time temps are now in the 50's and daytime stays in 70's. I assume the cooler temps make them much less active??
I was killing 50+ a day and have only seen a couple a day since. We did print out the information and put it on the winter to do list though for next year. If they come back before winter, we will have to get it done sooner. I never want to battle them again like we had them this year.

SCRancher · #11 09/09/11, 09:53 AM

My cows would be insane if I was killing 50 a day - at most I have seen is about 1 per cow so less than 15 total for my herd. Even with that # I feel for the poor girls because these suckers are almost the size of my entire thumb and leave small pools of blood on their backs.

mozarkian · #12 09/09/11, 10:34 AM

Scrancher, we have never had them like we have this year. I work from home so I take my "breaks" out with the herd about 4 or 5x a day so between spritzing them with fly sprays and killing the flies it was a full time job. Yesterday I killed 2 flies total, so hoping the worst is over. These flies were huge here too.

ufo_chris · #13 09/09/11, 11:52 PM

Oh no, I was hoping to copy yours now I'm gonna have to wait.......
Anybody have any plans for a homemade Epps?

mozarkian · #14 09/10/11, 02:40 AM

We looked at all the info that Genebo and others gave and did some research and came up with our "plan". We wanted to use things we had as much as possible, so we intend to use a large piece of a smooth rubberized, black mat that we used to use in a stock trailer. It's about an inch thick and gets super hot when left in the sun -- heat is supposed to be one thing that draws them. Gonna cut it roughly cow shaped on top and sides and leave bottom straight and then hang it on an old swing set frame so that we can move it around to keep it from being a new toy for the bulls. Then we will attach some trays to hold a dish liquid and water solution at the bottom, to hopefully catch them when they fall. Got some old cans of flat black paint to paint the trays and whatever else needs it. We also have some old mirror tiles that we are going to hang from the ends of the swing set frame as some research says they love shiny, sparkly things too. Unless the flies get bad again in the next few days, this is on the winter to do list for next year. Don't know if it will work, but can't hurt to try before we shell out big bucks.