Does it seem like you spend more time chasing off pests than taking care of your animals? While it probably isn’t that bad, flies and other pests still pose big problems on farms. Along with being a nuisance, they can spread diseases, which is the last thing you want near the animals. Fortunately, you can make the flies buzz off with these tips.
Dispose of Manure Right Away
You can’t have animals without manure, but unfortunately, animal waste attracts flies. Flies are a little picky when it comes to manure, though, and prefer the fresh stuff over the old waste used to fertilize crops.
If you leave manure in the stables and barns too long, flies will lay eggs on it and can complete an entire lifecycle in no time at all. Thus, make a point to clean the stables and barns often so flies won’t have such attractive options for laying eggs. Also, don’t just put it right outside the barn to use as fertilizer later. This is because the flies will stick around as long as it still has even a hint of freshness. Instead, choose a place that’s far enough away from the animals that you won’t care if some flies hang out around it. At the same time, don’t put it so far away that your farmhands have to search for available rideshare options to reach it.
Introduce Parasitic Wasps to the Farm
Because flies are so small, facing off against them can be a challenge. Instead of going head-to-head with them yourself, bring in the big guns in the form of parasitic wasps. They don’t have an interest in people or animals, so you can go about your business on the farm without them bothering you. However, they’re natural fly predators and will immediately start hunting for fly pupae. If you’ve never seen pupae, it’s essentially a hard shell that houses inactive, developing flies while they mature. But they won’t get to mature if the wasps have their say. Instead, they disrupt their growth and development by laying eggs inside the pupae. That kills the flies on the spot, so you won’t worry about babies adding to your farm’s pest population.
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Use Fly Control Products
Following the first two tips can reduce the number of flies on your farm by about half, but you aren’t done yet. Even dealing with half of your existing fly population would be bothersome. Thus, you’ll want to use fly control products to cut the number down some more.
First, you can apply an insecticide to kill the remaining flies but be mindful that it could also harm your parasitic wasps. Thus, only apply it in areas where it’s safe.
Flypaper is also useful for eliminating flies, especially in the barn. You also might want to add some fly traps around the property to capture the adult house and stable flies.
While you might not be able to kill every last fly on your farm, these strategies can help you lower the number of pests dramatically. Thus, you might run across a fly now and then. However, the pests will be much less of a nuisance for you and your animals.
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