Ruminants

How to Get Rid of Flies in Cattle?

Flies are one of the distressing external parasites for cattle. There are an innumerable variety of flies that negatively impact productivity. Moreover, flies cause nuisance, pain, and constant disturbance with feeding, resting, and other daily activities. Some species feed on cattle’s blood by piercing the skin with persistent biting. The bites can even lead to sores on the head, resulting in a secondary infection and a high risk of spreading diseases among the herd. The problem may worsen during summer when the population increases and impacts cattle’s weight and milk production.

Primarily there are three types of flies found in cattle, horn fly, face fly, and stable fly. Horn flies feed on the cattle’s blood and is prominently settled on the back, shoulder, and belly region. In contrast, face flies are non-biting flies that feed on secretion and are morphologically similar to house flies. Stable flies are blood-sucking flies that feed on the legs of the cattle. Animals repeatedly stomp to avoid biting. Other behavioural changes involve lying with legs tucked underneath and standing in water.

Here are a few ways you can get rid of flies.

Fly tags

Fly tags are small tags that are placed on cattle’s ears. These tags are imbued with higher concentration insecticides released in small amounts over the animal during grooming. Tags are most effective when placed when you have 200 flies/cows. This is important to achieve optimum efficacy. Also, as the concentration of insecticides decreases, make sure to remove the tags after 3-5 months to prevent resistance.
Chemical pour-on

Several chemicals pour-on are available that are applied on the back of the animals. During spring, one can apply a pour-on for internal parasites, potentially effective against horn flies. Subsequently, you can use products specifically effective against flies.

One of the significant advantages of using chemical pour-on is that it is effective against almost all flies. Moreover, it doesn’t demand milk withdrawal of cattle and can be applied to pregnant or lactating cattle.
Walk-through fly traps

Cattles are made for walking through a specialised structure integrated with traps to collect flies when the cattle pass through the tunnel. The flies are contained in the false ceiling within the tunnel. This method is most commonly employed in the farms of the USA for flies management.

With more improvisation, a vacuum is installed that blows air to detach flies from cattle as they walk through and are sucked into the machine. The repeated use of this method can effectively reduce the flies population.
Sprays

Sprays are one of the effective methods for fly control. The insecticide is applied to only specific parts of the cattle, like the udder area. The timely use of spray with water emulsion is convenient.

Management of flies can be exhausting, especially during summer. However, one can efficiently get rid of them using the above methods. It is essential to take proper care of your cattle as optimum health decides the ultimate output of the cattle. Hence, Topicure advance is an effective spray to repel flies and maggots and heal wounds potentially.