How to Control Flies in a Horse Barn

The tail is your horse's defense against flies.

For any type of fly to infest a barn, it needs a source of food and breeding material. Potentially harmful and pesky flies include stable flies, horseflies, deerflies, horn flies and face flies. Once they start breeding in your barn, it's harder to get rid of them. To keep the flies away, you just have to find and eliminate the sources of food and breeding material that allows the pesky flies to congregate. Then, attack the living flies.You will need to continue all these techniques to ensure that the flies stay away and can't thrive in your stables.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Broom
• Wheelbarrow
• Fly spray
• Residual insecticides
• Fly traps/paper

Instructions

1. Keep the barn clean by sweeping away grain and organic matter. Stable flies will breed in organic matter such as standing water, hay piles, loose straw and small piles of sawdust.

2. Remove manure from stalls, aisle ways and pastures. Compost the manure to avoid giving the files a place to lay eggs. House flies lay eggs in manure.

3. Hang bait traps and sticky paper to capture flies.

4. Apply a residual fly spray to walls, rafters and other areas as directed on the bottle.

5. Spray the horse with fly spray. Use fly masks and sheets to protect the horse.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider buying and releasing a fly predator, which belongs to the Chalcididae family and eats fly larva.

References

• Horsekeeping: How to Control Flies
• University of Minnesota Extension: Fly Control Around Horses; Roger Moon Ph.D and Betsy Gilkerson Wieland; 2008.
• University of Kentucky College of Agriculture: Fly Control Around Horse Barns and Stables; Lee Townsend; 2010
• Natural Horse Magazine: Beneficial Insects: Good Buys For Flies; 2001

Resources

• My Horse