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Face flies

B

burnt

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
6,617
Location
Mid-western Ontario
What to do? I've never seen them so thick on the cows and calves.

We ran them through the tub about a week ago for vaccinations and Cydectin. The flies disappeared immediately but now the face flies are back with a vengeance. Should have put fly tags in them - 20-20 hindsight. Cydectin has only very limited control on face flies although there are very few other flies on them.

Going to set up an oiler of sorts tomorrow on the feeder wagon and the creep feeder as well.

Any recommendations as what to put in for a repellant?

What is the price of Cylence out and around the country?
 
We used to use Cylence for years, til the cows built up an immunity to it and we had to change.
We found it to be the cheapest, easiest to apply and the longest lasting. Burnt, did you apply the
Cylence over the top of their heads? We found that worked well for face flies.

Hope you find a solution.
 
FH - We didn't use Cylence; it was Cydectin for internal parasites. Cydectin is to be less harmful than Ivomec to the dung beetles, resulting in a more rapid decomposition of the cow pies.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
cows101 said:
Big Muddy rancher said:
$360 in Canada
$90 in USA
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When did you guys in Canada switch to pesos? :shock:
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Free Trade ain't exactly Free :mad:
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It's not unusual to see a huge price difference on the same product across the border. This is the most extreme that I have seen and it just isn't justifiable.

I don't know if a farmer or rancher can bring it across on his own or not. Does anyone have any info on that? I'm only 2 hours from the border...
 
burnt said:
FH - We didn't use Cylence; it was Cydectin for internal parasites. Cydectin is to be less harmful than Ivomec to the dung beetles, resulting in a more rapid decomposition of the cow pies.
Click to expand...

You no doubt know that Cylence is not an avermectin product. You might check on that product and see how it is for dung beetles, etc. The applicator sprays out in three streams and you don't have to run the cows through the chute to use it, but you would have to get them in a corral or alley. We just stand there and apply it as they go by or stand in the middle of a pen and apply it. Sorry, I read Cydectin as Cylence. Around our area Cydectin isn't used much any more. People call it purple water.... :???: We liked using Cylence in summer for flies as it gets flies and also lice: and interrupts the life cycle of the lice. We saw a noticeable less lice load during the winter. Hope I didn't hijack the thread....just letting you know an option for getting rid of face flies.
 
Faster horses said:
burnt said:
FH - We didn't use Cylence; it was Cydectin for internal parasites. Cydectin is to be less harmful than Ivomec to the dung beetles, resulting in a more rapid decomposition of the cow pies.
Click to expand...

You no doubt know that Cylence is not an avermectin product. You might check on that product and see how it is for dung beetles, etc. The applicator sprays out in three streams and you don't have to run the cows through the chute to use it, but you would have to get them in a corral or alley. We just stand there and apply it as they go by or stand in the middle of a pen and apply it. Sorry, I read Cydectin as Cylence. Around our area Cydectin isn't used much any more. People call it purple water.... :???: We liked using Cylence in summer for flies as it gets flies and also lice: and interrupts the life cycle of the lice. We saw a noticeable less lice load during the winter. Hope I didn't hijack the thread....just letting you know an option for getting rid of face flies.
Click to expand...

FH - You're not much of a hijacker. :wink:

That's interesting about Cydectin. I've only used it a couple of times over the years so can't say much about its efficacy.

I'm looking into different options today for back rubber or oiler products since I don't really want to bring them in and run them through again unless it becomes very needful.
 
We don't have Face flies but
i was almost sick when I saw some of those cows down in PEI. For the most part they came to water at a tough, I thought they could use a dust mop or oiler with a flap and have the cows funnel under it to get them to use it.
 
Permectrin sprayed over the top should get you 60 days. I've thought of building an alley that necks down to 12' with spray nozzles on top and bottom (pointing up) and sides for perhaps 20 linear feet and walk cows through the alley. I use an automatic (brand name) squirrel cage mister blower. Cows standing bunched up in the heat will stand pretty well to let you spray them. They seem to get conditioned and that helps. After they get conditioned to the sprayer you can spray in the morning when it's calm. In the heat of the day, you can use a slight breeze to help spray. Use a dog to turn and push the herd so I can get both sides on everything. I use hydraulic power from the haybed to turn a hydraulic motor, but I think a small gas engine might be better. The hydrabed hydraulics don't have a cooler, and build heat.
 
The IGR in the mineral has worked really well and we have good input that it is working well again this year, but it only gets horn flies. It is horn flies that cause cattle to bunch up....and of course when they are doing that, they aren't making money. The producers that use the IGR during the summer always have heavier calves because the cattle graze longer instead of bunching up for several hours a day. Of course they all lay down around noon, regardless....or they should be laying down then as that is their grazing pattern.

We do have customers that spray their cattle like Brad S mentioned and they get along fine. They put some pellets on the ground in the pasture and the cattle are used to being sprayed. Works good for them.
 
I didn't know it was horn flies that made cows bunch up - I hate seeing that. It must be an oven in there amongst those cows when they're bunched up.

I thought of laying down some cake like fh said, I didn't know if it was safe to get overspray on something they eat. Good to know that works.
 
I'm waiting for the pasture drone that reads rfid and treats cattle and records it. Something tells me fh' igr might come in at a lower price point.

Seriously, some of those bigger Sandhills ranches could already use a drone to follow a route and take pics of windmills twice a day.
 
I am a firm believer in the IGR...so much so that I won't get LOOMIX from about April 1 until mid October without IGR in it. We also have LOOMIX with Rabon, which is good for four species of flies, but it can thicken the liquid up to where it'll barely flow... which presents big problems for me....so IGR, which doesn't cause the liquid to thicken, is my choice.

FWIW, I used to add EDDI (basically iodine) at the trough...but the government says I can't do that anymore. The EDDI would help with footrot, so now I advise my customers to put out iodized salt to help with footrot problems.
 
loomixguy said:
I am a firm believer in the IGR...so much so that I won't get LOOMIX from about April 1 until mid October without IGR in it. We also have LOOMIX with Rabon, which is good for four species of flies, but it can thicken the liquid up to where it'll barely flow... which presents big problems for me....so IGR, which doesn't cause the liquid to thicken, is my choice.

FWIW, I used to add EDDI (basically iodine) at the trough...but the government says I can't do that anymore. The EDDI would help with footrot, so now I advise my customers to put out iodized salt to help with footrot problems.
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Same here loomixguy. One thing, like you mentioned, is that IGR needs started early and kept out til the first freeze
which keeps the flies from overwintering and the spring hatch will be less.
Not to dispute you :wink: but I have learned is that iodized salt helping with hoof rot is an old wives tale. :D
Zinc improves the integrity of the hoof....makes them tougher and more able to withstand bruising, cracking, splitting, etc. which can lead to footrot. Now I AM hijacking the thread. :help: :gag:
 
It's Horsefly season down here now. They bite so hard the cow's backs will have blood running. Back rub's with an insecticide and diesel fuel has always seemed the best for that................. Heel flies are a pain too. They'll make the cows run with their tails straight up in the air. Always something.
 
Mike said:
It's Horsefly season down here now. They bite so hard the cow's backs will have blood running. Back rub's with an insecticide and diesel fuel has always seemed the best for that................. Heel flies are a pain too. They'll make the cows run with their tails straight up in the air. Always something.
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Those are terrible to deal with. Since the pour-ons have become available, very seldom do we see heel flies.I think heel flies
hatch from grubs and the pour on kills grubs.

Horse flies aren't all that common, but they are a bugger when they appear. They don't last long, but we hate them with a passion.
 

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