Where there is livestock, there is manure. Where there is manure, there are flies. Every homesteader and small farmer in Maine knows this, and those buzzing and biting insects must be controlled for the comfort and health of their animals.
“There are some really important reasons to control flies,” said Colt Knight, state livestock specialist with University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “They are not just an irritant — flies can be disease vectors, too.”
Different fly species pose specific threats to livestock and have particular places they like to gather around homesteads or farms. One thing they all have in common is how fast they multiply. A single female can lay up to 100 eggs in two days.
“In a few days you can have that single fly making 500 more flies,” Knight said. “So thinking of killing off one or two flies at a time is really not making a difference.”
It’s also easy to underestimate the fly problem, he said.
“If you only see three flies on your cow every time you go out, keep in mind it’s never the same three flies,” Knight said. “You may be seriously undercounting what you have.”
Since there is no single solution that controls all flies, you need to know what you’re dealing with first.
The common flies buzzing around Maine livestock are stable flies, face flies, house flies and horn flies. In some spots, deer flies and moose flies are also problems for livestock.
homesteading tips and tricks
Biting flies such as horn flies, house flies and stable flies are a source of major irritation to livestock.
“These are flies that bite the animal so they can take a blood meal,” Knight said. “Basically, they are sucking out the blood like a tick and a fly might come back to the same animal 30 or 40 times a day.”
Multiply that by hundreds of flies and they can drain out so much blood the animal becomes anemic.
These flies can also carry and infect livestock with pink eye, a disease that in cows can turn into cancer if left untreated.
Just the simple irritation caused by flies leads to behavior changes in livestock that can reduce the amount of time spent grazing according to North Dakota State University Extension. That, in turn, can result in weight loss and decreased milk production.
“If it’s summer in Maine, we are dealing with flies,” said Corinna Caron, of Casa Cattle Company in Corrina on the family farm. “We always take the necessary measures to control and prevent flies.”
This summer has been particularly good for flies. Ongoing hot, humid conditions provide the perfect environmental conditions for them to breed, especially in fresh manure.
On Caron’s farm, it’s a two-pronged approach using ear tags infused with a fly repellent and powder sprinkled all over on each cow.
Both are good strategies, Knight said.
The ear tags are good for getting rid of face flies that will cluster around the nostrils and eyes of cattle. It’s important to make sure the tags are replaced before the active pest control ingredient fades.
Waiting too long, Knight said, means the flies will start getting low doses of the chemical and that can allow them to build up a resistance to it. The effective dosage period on most ear tags is indicated on the packaging. But since it starts to weaken before that expiration date, it’s a good idea to replace them sooner.
Lee Miller has a small herd of belted Galloway beef cows at his Hampden homestead. To keep files down, he said he feeds his cattle food that contains a fly control mineral.
“The mineral goes through the cow’s digestive system and comes out the other end when it poops,” Miller said. “Because of the mineral, flies that get into that manure die.”
Keeping things clean also keeps flies down. And that means regular mucking out of stalls in barns to remove manure — a favorite breeding environment of flies — or spreading out any manure in pastures.
“Sanitation is a really big deal,” Knight said.
homesteading tips and tricks
Stable flies like to hang around in taller vegetation along fence lines, Knight said. He recommends keeping things trimmed or mowed down.
You can also buy long, fabric sock-like tubes called fly bullets. These can be infused with pesticides and hung or draped around a pasture or barn.
Livestock will rub against them, Knight said. Not only will it safely apply fly repellent to the animal, it will also rub off any flies hitching a ride.
“It also gives the cows something to play with,” Knight said. “That’s good for their mental well being.”
