Is your stable armed with enough sticky fly traps to stop a locust swarm? Well done that’s great… but you could still be forgetting some super important steps. To save you a little time, we’ve come up with some tips that you might not have thought of before to help you keep those flies at bay!

1. Know Your Pests – Knowledge is power in this situation. Taking some time to understand your property and what type of bugs will be drawn to it, will keep you one step ahead of the flies which is crucial to managing them. For example, flies mate in spring and will love to feed on the moist delights of any barn; manure, feed spillage, rubbish, rotting hay so you’ll likely see a lot of them. Whereas wasps don’t pose their biggest threat till late summer here in the UK as this is when their colonies reach peak numbers, causing them to act more aggressively towards any horses (or humans) that get in their way.

2. Moisture Management – Flies and mosquitoes love stagnant water so don’t neglect your drains, it’s important to keep them clear and free of debris and foliage. You should also empty and replace water troughs every few days to prevent them from becoming a breeding ground for larvae!

3. Place Your Traps Strategically – It may seem logical to place fly traps in the stable or barn as this is area you want be fly free. But read the labels on products properly. Some smelly fly traps work by attracting flies to the trap, so you want to place them in the area that lead flies away from your stable. Not draw them to it!

4. Watch the Wasps – Wasps can become problematic because the nooks and crannies around barns and sheds provide perfect nesting sites. Taking steps early to identify any attractive nesting areas such as overhangs and corners and regularly checking them for any activity can prevent a problem even occurring in the first place!

5. Stop the Cycle – An important step of controlling and eliminating pests is to regularly tackle any potential breeding sites to put a stop to the cycle of flies. Unfortunately for us, flies love to reproduce in fresh horse manure. Therefore, you should make sure any soiled bedding and manure is removed from the barn every day. Again – unfortunately for us, that isn’t a ‘problem solved’ it’s a ‘problem moved’.

The way in which you store your manure is key to stopping the reproductive cycle of the flies. Whether its piled up or spread, the key is to make sure it’s no longer an attractive breeding ground and that it is kept far enough away from the barn.

6. Stable Management – This should go without saying, but good and proper stable management really is half the battle! Having a good strategy in place and knowing where the problem areas are can significantly cut down on the irritating issue of bugs.

Remove rubbish regularly and make sure to keep any rubbish bins on the property tightly closed at all times. Make it common practice to always clear up feed spills and implement a cleaning schedule to make sure you are regularly tackling potential breeding sites.

7. Feed Through Fly Control – Effective feed through fly control options normally come in the form of a food supplement and work by breaking the life cycle of the fly in treated manure. But did you know adding a small amount of garlic powder to your horses feed helps repel flies naturally? Whichever you opt for, remember that for feed, though fly controls to work, it must be used by all horses in your stable!

8. Mix & Match – If every year you feel like you go through the same process of buying fly control products but feel like it’s not making an impact on your insect problem. It’s probably because it’s time to mix it up a bit! We have so many different types of pest control products you might just find something that works perfect for you…

If you haven’t already read our blog post The Bugs Are Back, go check it out for a really useful breakdown of the different types of pest control and how they work.