# Fly Control in the Barn



## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

Does any one have a successful fly control program they would like to share. Three goats sleep in a 9 x 10 area in the barn. There is a rubber floor with cedar chips changed every 6 to 8 weeks depending on moisture. The sticky fly tape is good. Is there something to put on the floor under the chips that will not be harmful. The boys lay in the chips. Do flies like to live outside or are they mostly an inside the barn insect? Do flies breed in or on dry hay bales. 
Thanks for the help
IdahoNancy


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## cryptobrian (Apr 26, 2012)

idahonancy said:


> Does any one have a successful fly control program they would like to share.


We use both parasitic wasp control as well as baited fly traps (The Terminator/Mangum). I've used the traps for years and attest that it collects thousands of flies, but we still get those "blooms" where you walk near the barn and they are everwhere ... after a day or so they are mostly gone ... but started using the wasps last year and was very pleased with results.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

Flies lay their eggs in manure layers, compost piles and on dead animals when they can find them. The hatching maggots need wet organic material to feed on so I'd say no on the hay bales unless they were wet and rotting. I would guess that regularly changing the bedding material would help keep them knocked down. Another organic solution is fly parasites which lay their eggs on the fly pupa which then hatches out and devours them before they become adults. Here's a link to one of the places that sells them. http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/fly-predators.htm

We have used sticky strips and fly traps in the past. Seemed to me that the fly traps nasty odor attracted more flies than we had before we got them.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

I don't have a fly problem, so I guess I am successful. I have chickens and ducks that free range. (Which means I feed them less than if they were caged.)

The ducks also help keep the box elder bugs down.


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## stinky (Jun 6, 2009)

A big way to control flys is this...start now, don't wait until you notice them. Go out and buy fly traps NOW!!! Once they get a foot hold, the only thing that gets them under control is cold weather.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

I've used fly predators for several years now and I love them! Some people say they don't work very well, but I've had nothing but good luck with them. I get mine from Arbico Organics.


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

I'm with Bob Jones on this. My chickens share the pen with the goats (they have a separate area where their food, roost, and egg nests are). They dig and peck and scratch all the time. No fly maggot, or any other bug, has a chance.


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