Control Those Flies and Mosquitoes in Your Horse Barn

If you have horses, you have flies. There is really no way to completely avoid the pests, but there are many precautions you can take to minimize them around your barnyard. It is also very important to try to control the mosquitoes around your horse as they can carry the deadly West Nile Disease. Flies bother the horses and they bother you, so why not try some of the following tips to get them their pesky friend the mosquito away!

The most important thing you can do to control the mosquitoes around your farm is to remove any standing water. Rain water can accumulate in many hidden places, so you will need to look deep for secret hiding places that the mosquitoes love. Look for empty pails, folded plastic, tarps and wheelbarrows. Be sure to empty any containers after each rain, and check them often. It takes only a day or two for mosquitoes to find these places and lay eggs and start the reproduction cycle all over again.

It is also important to prevent any muddy places in your horses pasture. If there are low laying areas, try to level them so that the water will flow properly after the rain. By eliminating standing water around your farm, you will greatly decrease the number of mosquitoes that may affect you and your horses.

The first step in controlling flies around your farm is to control the manure on your farm! Flies love fresh manure and will flock to every new pile they can find. The flies lay their eggs in the manure causing their population to only increase. The best thing to do with manure is to remove it as far as you can. If you have crop fields, use the manure for fertilizer. You can also spread it thinly throughout a large pasture of grass area. If you cannot completely remove it, start a manure pile as far away from anything you are around and throw it all there. It will slowly compost and make excellent dirt for your garden!

After you have your manure controlled, maintaining a proper de-worming schedule in your horse is also essential to fly control. By destroying the larvae of insects that need a host animal to survive you are stopping the reproduction cycle before it can continue. Horses need to be wormed at least every 3 months with a complete horse de-wormer. Contact your vet for the best de-worming schedule for your horse.

The last thing you can do to control flies around your farm is to use insecticides. Fly sprays are specifically made for horses. These sprays or oils are very effective to keep your horse fly-free. They are especially helpful in preventing biting flies from attacking your horses. You can also use fly tapes and other forms of barn tools to kill flies. Your local farm store will have an entire aisle devoted to insecticides that are safe for use on and around your animals.

By following all these rules, you should notice a drastic decrease in the flies around your farm. Flies are inevitable, but you can help to prevent them from taking over your farm. To keep your horses comfortable during the peak of fly season, try head covers and sheet blankets to keep the flies off.