Fly Control for Dairy

Fly Predators Are The Cost Effective Solutions For Real Fly Relief

It happens every summer. You hope that the flies won’t be too bad, but then almost overnight, they’re back and yes, it’s a bad fly year again. You rush to put bait out, pour the cows, put new reels on the sticky tape roller, add traps and maybe in desperation call the spray guy.

As usual, none of this works very good or for very long. Your cows are miserable, bunching, swishing tails, stomping feet. Your wife is not happy either with flies in her house. And worse those flies are also costing you a surprisingly significant amount of MONEY! If this sounds familiar why do that again?

“Since we started using Spalding Fly Predators we have seen a dramatic reduction in our fly numbers. We also benefit from the helpful and educational service that Spalding provides.” Darby Holmes
Dairy Unit Herdswoman
Chico State University

Getting rid of flies after they have hatched and built up a tremendous population is like bailing a sinking boat with a teaspoon. There are just too many flies by that time and many, many more on the way.

Fly Predators are tiny and never bother people or animals. You'll likely never see them, but you will see their results.

Instead try stopping flies before they have a chance to reproduce and build-up to problem levels. You can do this by good manure management to make it less “fly friendly” and adding Fly Predators. Fly prevention is like fixing that hole in the boat before you put it in the water. That outcome is always better than waiting till later.

My family started using Fly Predators® 35 years ago with our horses and our fly problem literally disappeared. So we started offering them to others and over the past 34 years hundreds of thousands of livestock owners have relied on them. The vast majority with great results. Once someone tries Fly Predators for at least three shipments, most typically use them for as long as they have their animals. They really do work.

Fly Predators are not a magic “new” fly control product. They are perhaps nature’s original fly control. You almost certainly have some of the species that are included in our Fly Predator® brand beneficial insects already working for you on your property. They’re part of the reason you aren’t literally knee-deep in flies. You may have way too many flies, but without these good bugs, it would be far worse.

“We wanted to control the numbers of flies in the cow barn for less cost and without spray. But instead we eliminated almost all the flies in the barn and also reduced the flies outdoors. We started because I read one of the testimonials printed from Wisconsin in Hoard's Dairyman and then picked up the phone. I was sure out there they would not just say that if it wasn't true. Out in Central Wisconsin, they stick to the facts.” Sharon S.  Squires Farm
Munnsville, NY

When left in a natural state only 2% to 4% of fly eggs usually survive to the pesky flying stage. A big part of this high mortality are Fly Predators, which are parasites. By simply increasing the ratio of Fly Predators to pest flies you can dramatically suppress the flies. They do the work and you enjoy the benefit.

There’s no downside as the Fly Predators do not bother either people or animals. A key benefit is you stop flies before they have a chance to reproduce. A 4% survival rate means you’ve got around 15 new flies coming for every one you see today as each female fly can lay up to 900 eggs. That’s why controlling flies by attacking just the adults with sprays, baits, traps, etc. is almost always a losing battle.

Will Fly Predators alone control every dairy, feedlot or range cattle's fly problem all by themselves? They could, but you'd need more Fly Predators than if you combined them with smart manure management as that is the major factor affecting your fly population.

The first half of this brochure explains how to use Fly Predators. The second half of this brochure describes how to optimize your farm to make the fly breeding areas unsuitable for them, so you can achieve optimum results with the fewest Fly Predators possible.

We want you to win the battle with flies this summer. You can do it!

Tom Spalding
-Chief Fly Guy

Seeing is believing... click here to see close up photos of our customers' animals like those on the right taken August 24th in Portales, NM. You'll have to look hard to see a fly!