# Insect control on Goats



## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

Do you guys spray or use anything to deter flying insects bothering your goats?


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

Fly tags, approved for dairy cows, work well. I use Zip ties, and fasten them to the "D" rings on their collars.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

I spray with a mix of citronella lavender cedar and eucalyptus diluted in water when the biting flies start. I don't know if it works or not really since it dissipates fairly quickly but they are confused enough that if I stand there in the herd I can swat for them.
Gosh gal get a life huh?
Lee


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I use Bronco horse spray to help keep biting insects away. I have also made a mix of coffee, white vinegar, eucalyptus, citronella, peppermint and pennyroyal. I have heard that cedar works well too, but haven't tried it yet.


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## tiger408 (Aug 3, 2008)

We use the Bronco horse spray too. It works really well for keeping the mosquitoes and biting flies off them.


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## Dacaree (Jan 31, 2009)

I use skin so soft from avon. Works really well. Have to do it everyday though.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I haven't found any spray, pour or wipe on stuff that I didn't have to apply daily. I often wondered about the cattle tags, if they would work on the goats collars. Do they nibble on them at all? That's what I was worried about.


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

Mine don't bother them, and they certainly get relief quickly. The tags will last for a long time.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I'll have to try it. Just might work on the horses halters too. Hmmmmmm........

Thanks!


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

do the tags work for mosquitoes too?


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## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

The flies got ahead of us bad this year! We always had good success with the predator wasps from Spalding when we had more horses. We just turned the first batch loose, after stripping & re-bedding the barn. They don't wipe the flies out completely, but they sure cut the population. Of course, this means you can't go throwing DE, Seven dust, or other poisons around, or you'll get your wasps, too. An old, oft-cited controlled study in Canada showed that Muscovy ducks are as effective as fly spray in dairy barns. That means you gotta deal with duck poo, which is nasty, but then who wears their church shoes to the barn?

Tom


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

We've got flies from haties this year. All the rain I'm assuming really helped them increase their population. They don't really seem to be on the goats or horses, just in the barn, mostly in a couple of stalls. I've got about 20 fly tapes hung up and they are absolutely covered with flies. I've ordered fly preditors and quick bayt. Do the preditors get on the bait? And I'm wondering why I have to order preditors every month, won't they breed around my barn, or are the conditions not right? 
Okay, I am looking out my window and just realized why we are having fly problems in just a couple of stalls....these stalls are closed off, used for mother/kid private pens, and my milking stall/feed room....the chickens cannot get in these stalls. I kept a bunch of roosters, only because I needed them for fly control....they like to scratch around in the bedding in the stalls. I don't mind the poop, except at night when they roost in the barn rafters over top of the center isle where the horses come in and out, and they do poop on the the horses occasionally. Gross. Maybe I need some ducks...they don't roost do they?


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## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

We bought the quick bayt.... we have a bucket with about an inch of pellets hung up about 15 feet in the air....has done nothing at least it seems. DH says we can't put it low, cats, kids, dogs, etc...So I wonder if we should just hang more buckets of this stuff up around the barn. I know many of you put it inside an empty feed bag underneath the milking stand, but that just isn't possible. We were just talking abou these wasps, it is $18 a month...I wonder if it is worth it?


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## Madfarmer (Nov 18, 2008)

I think the monthly ordering on the predators is partly marketing, partly insureing that you keep a good population going. Being laboratory-bred, it's possibly they've forgotten how to 'do it' on their own. We also have two kinds of traps out, the one that really caltces flies is the plastic bag type with a liquid bait. Can't remember the brand, Steve got it at the feedstore.

Tom


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

OH heaven save me from ducks running loose! Worse than the flies! 
Drying things out is the only thing that reliably keeps flies at bay. 
The larvae need moisture to mature. So with this crazy tropical spring here in the south we just may have to resort to ducks! The monthly wasp order is because they are assuming you will be cleaning up and not be leaving places for their waspy kiddos to hang out (dead flies).
Lee


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I use the bait stuff but it didn't work unless I add it to my own bait. I learned this accidentally when I dumped some in the bottom of the dog poop bucket by mistake one morning. By the afternoon, the bucket was about 3 inches deep in dead and dying flies! It seems the bail itself wasn't smelly enough to lure the flies in on its own, but when it was sprinkled on top of dog poop, they flocked to their deaths like crazy! I keep the dog poo pail just outside the kennel area, which is also just outside the goat barn. I used to keep it covered because even though I emptied it between the morning and evening feeding/cleanings, there was always a residue of poo stuck to the bottom. The day I accidentally dumped the fly bait in the bucket I left the lid off because I wasn't sure if the bait would become gaseous in the sun. After finding all those dead flies, I baited the bucket every morning after I emptied it. Worked like a charm.

I also use those plastic bag fly traps that you add water too. Farnum makes them. They stink to high heaven, but work very well after a couple of days in the sun.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

The fly killing wasps must have a mortality rate too, especially if you have birds who go around pecking up the fly larvae. Direct sun (if I remember correctly) and hard rain will kill them. They figure out how many wasps you need for the amount of animals you have, and the monthly supply is to help maintain that amount throughout fly season. That's what they say anyway.


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## Narrow Chance (Oct 29, 2007)

I use a mixture of Skin so Soft, apple cider vinager, premetrin. Keep a spray bottle near the milk stand.
Takes care of the 'biting' bugs.. and I swear by the fly tape.
In months like this.. I have to roll it almost every couple of days. I had the hanging strips.. but since my barn is open.. the wind blew them to the rafters. 
I love the roll tape.. doesn't kill them.. but they aren't on my stands and stuff. That stuff is so sticky.. that every couple of days.. we have to remove a bird or two.. and there are always feathers stuck to it. 
I also have bait out where the dogs and 2 legged kids can't get it. That works well too if there's nothing else for the flies to larve on.


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## nappint (Jun 26, 2008)

We use several things to deal with the flies:

Metered fly spray thingy's in the barn, they spray at 15 minute intervals so set them to where one is spraying every couple of minutes depending on how many you use. The spray is safe for dairy so no worries about contamination. We have 3 right now but will probably add another because the fly population has just now exploded for us.

Quickbate, I just took a bunch of old milk jugs and cut holes in the sides, hung them high from the support posts along the aisle and filled the bottom with the bait. You could also use bleach jugs they are more sturdy. I add more bait every couple of days and just stand on a chair to reach the jugs. We have children, cats etc. and they can't reach the jugs so I don't worry.

Equisect (sp) fly spray on the goats. Equisect's only active ingredient is pyrethrins which are safe for dairy animals and then it has several essential oils also. I've only been using this for a couple of weeks and the difference is amazing! I spray the goats down after I finish milking in the morning and just the smell filling the barn as I spray drives the fly's out. I also use it on the LGD and a tiny bit on the kids.

We still have flies but so far we've been able to keep them at manageable numbers. I agree with the others, cleanliness along with fly spray/bait is the best way to keep flies under control.

I'm going to try the fly tags also - what a great idea!


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

I'm using "Avenger" fly tags this year. You can google the name to find out more about them.


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## nappint (Jun 26, 2008)

KJFarm said:


> I'm using "Avenger" fly tags this year. You can google the name to find out more about them.


Found them - Thanks!


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