British summer time is in full swing & we are in full heat wave mode all across the country. As much as we are enjoying this glorious weather it means no more horse blankets and the flies have started to emerge. If flies have had you and your horses frustrated in the past, and you would like to learn more about minimising the amount attracted to your barn or stables check out our hot tips!
Manure Pile
· Ideally, your manure pile should be located away from the barn because it will attract flies.
· By positioning your manure away from your barn, you’re drawing flies away, instead of to, your stable.
· make sure that you can easily access it with a truck and tractor if you plan to have it hauled away. Alternatively, you might want to use a small trailer or dumpster, rather than creating a manure pile.
Barn Ventilation
· make sure that your barn is well-ventilated! This may seem obvious but it will deter flies from entering your barn as flies don’t like circulating air. An added bonus to this is that it will help cool down your horse on hot days.
· Design your barn so that there are plenty of windows to open to create cross breezes. You can also use large barn fans to help with this.
Feed and Water Buckets
· Flies are attracted to dirty feed and water buckets, so regularly cleaning out these buckets will help deter the flies.
· Help keep flies at bay by dumping and cleaning water buckets daily, and try to clean out feed buckets at least weekly.
· Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, and it can take between 4 days and two weeks for the eggs to become larva, then pupa, and then to emerge as an adult mosquito. If you have water troughs on your properties this needs to be thoroughly cleaned and dumped regularly.
Stalls
· If your horses are in their stalls during the day, then pick out the stalls regularly. Not only will this help to keep the stalls cleaner, but it will also mean that you’re removing the manure that attracts flies.
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