Have any of you tried Fly Predators?

[Lisa Strass]

I'm thinking of trying Fly Predators from Spaulding Laboratories this year, and know I should start soon should I go this route. Have any of you tried them, and how did they work for you?

 

[MountainWoman]

I've used them for years and absolutely love them. They do tell you that if you have neighbors close by with livestock and they aren't using the fly predators, they won't work so well. They've been a great solution for me and they are a great company too. Very helpful.

 

[vvf]

I have been wanting to try them for awhile, but my husband has alot of poultry and I am afraid they will eat them all.

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

We used them last year because my cousin was going to have his wedding at the farm and we didn't want guests to be inundated with flies. Let me disclaim that we had 6 horses at the time (2 minis) plus 8 goats plus chickens and the neighbor has cows with a large pond. It is important to get the proper amount of the predators--a few won't be enough if you have tons of animals. Also with chickens we tried to keep them up a few days after releasing the predators so they wouldn't eat them.

They did work well, but I noticed a big improvement after I started dumping the manure far away from the barn instead of right outside. Flies will go where the poop is so the further away the better. Also its good to make sure you aren't leaving out "dirty" feed dishes and other attractants. And only use fly tape in the barn, the other smelly stuff will just attract them into the barn.

I would definitely recommend them for anyone with a "normal" or horse only setup. If they could work for us with that many animals and issues it could probably work for you.

 

[RescueMini]

I have used them for years and they have made a huge difference. The flies are absolutely horrible at the neighbor's barn a mile down the road, but I barely get any at my barn. I have to worry about mosquitoes and gnats more than flies in the summer, but that's because I live near a swamp.

 

[ionafarm]

We have used them for years. Used to get them from Arbico, 2 years ago swihched to Spaulding. Both worked well, but I think Spaulding is better. They explained that they use several different species of predators and Arbico only uses one. I count 4 minis as one full sized horse to calculate how many to get. I have found that we can start about 2 weeks later than they recommend and stop 2 weeks early. It saves money.

 

[Jean_B]

I used to work for a large pest control company that did large industrial, food processing plants and feed mills, etc. We used (as called in the industry) "parasitic wasps" which is the same thing. They worked wonders around these types of facilities.

 

[Lisa Strass]

Thanks everyone. I just placed my order!

 

[wingnut]

I tried them last year with only minor success. Could be I used them wrong or my setup wasn't right for their use. I don't plan to use them this year.

P.S. Last year was our first with a manure spreader and during the summer months, the manure is spread on a field a mile away.

 

[vvf]

We have a bunch of guinea's that are really good at eating ticks, so we have very few ticks here.. I am thinking that they would eat the fly predators. I am debating yet, I still may try them this year

 

[MajorClementine]

Used them for years on my grandfathers thoroughbred ranch. They worked great. However, if there is a high concentration of livestock around you and you are the only one using them you won't see as much improvement as you would if you were the only horse property around. But they do still work. You'll just get flies from the neighbors places.

 

[Cupcake]

I used them last year from spring until fall. I didn't see much, no, actually that was the worst I've ever seen with flies - BUT I don't blame the fly predators, we had a really mild winter, ongoing drought, so the flies were HORRIBLE. And I think 90% of the predators were eaten by ants! I sprinkled them on the ground and could watch the ants eat them. So I hung them on the barn walk up high and the next day there was a highway of ants going up into the pouch! I also used every possible fly trap on the market and built a manure compost bin, clean up my barn twice a day and the entire pasture at least every 5 days (a must if you want to prevent flies breeding in the manure in the pasture). My manure bin is covered 24/7, "cooks" and gets turned completely once a month (my gym ).

So this year I've already had 2 shipments of predators and waiting on the next - I'm hanging them in the center of my minis stall from the ceiling - no ants! And only using ONE type of trap for the flies - after testing every one of them out this is the one that attracts them like magnets - the mini reel from Smartpak. I tie an end of the string onto an eyelet about 5' high across the stall, by the time I tie the other side there are flies sticking on it already. I order the trap and the predators and the bye bye odor concentrate from smartpak. The odor spray I put in a spray bottle, add fly spray concentrate and spray the stall in the morning after cleaning. seems to be working so far, we have flies but not nearly the amount we had last year at this time and it's been a really warm winter this year too.