Fly control for cattle

ryanwheelock · May 3, 2010

What would you recommend for fly control for cattle?? I've seen a small plastic feeder that the mineral block stes in and the fly stuff is on a cover above the block and rubs on the cows head when licking the block, only gets the head treated.
Also seen a rope thing hung between two trees that the cows walk under, seems betther than the feeder cause gets the body.
What do you use and/or recommend??
Thanks
Ryan

kyplowboy · May 3, 2010

I like the back rubber myself with face flaps tied to it. The last few years I have been using fly control blocks till real late in the summer, seems like they don't work as well later on. If your cows have never seen a back rub they may not want to use it if it's just tied between two trees. When I started use'n one I tied it up real high in a gate going into a small pen that the water tank is in. I lowered it real slow as they got used to going under it and when they got used to it at normal hight added a few face flaps till I got them all on.

Good luck.

Dave

Nancy Howell · May 3, 2010

Hmmm. Wonder if this would work for my horses?

tjdub · May 3, 2010

I've had good luck using the IGR mineral blocks from MoorMan's (methoprene).

What it does is makes the cow's manure worthless for horn fly larvae, so it really cuts down on the overall fly population. For this reason, the effects aren't immediate, so if you already have a bad fly problem, you won't see results for a long time (maybe 30 days?) after you start the cattle on it.

thurlow · May 3, 2010

Type.....and effectiveness.....of control probably depends on number of head among other things; 10 head? 100? 1000? When I was in the business, I tried pretty much every thing on the market, back rubs, 'fly' blocks, sprays, pour-ons, tags, etc. The blocks only work if your cattle are 'isolated'; if your neighbor(s) have cattle across the fence, you'll get a continual re-infestation.......if he doesn't control his'n. For the last 20 years that I had cattle, I found the ear tags to be the most effective/least trouble; when I bought my last ones (tags), they didn't offer season-long control, so I had to plan on either replacing them or go to a back-up plan towards the end of the year. It's been my experience that nothing will work unless you work at it.

John (C-IL) · May 3, 2010

Nancy, I've had several customers report good success with Rabon in their feed. We use the 7.76 premix, about a tablespoon per head per day.

Anonymous-0 · May 3, 2010

Co-op I work for sells Rabon Blocks and tubs and also Altosid in loose mineral and blocks and tubs, it is common practice to rotate yearly...And it is time (or past) to start whatever program you are going to use...

David from Kansas · May 3, 2010

Just don't look for 100% control. Been doing this for many years and have also been using the IGR for beef cattle since it was introduced. The more consistent the cattle are in their intake of IGR, the better the control. Doesn't take any extra labor as it is already in the mineral. I have read that if you can keep the fly population per cow below a couple of hundred per cow you are getting pretty good control, but ours rarely have an infestation that heavy. Fly tags are good for face flys but not very effective for others.

Anonymous-0 · May 4, 2010

Get some dung beetles, no dung, no fly.
millions.

Fly control for cattle

ryanwheelock

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kyplowboy

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Nancy Howell

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tjdub

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thurlow

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John (C-IL)

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Anonymous-0

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David from Kansas

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Anonymous-0

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