The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: tommytink on June 03, 2019, 02:44:24 pm
-
I have read on the NADIS website that “Inexpensive fly traps have been shown to reduce strike incidence by 80% in a season”.
Has anyone used fly traps outside, and if so what sort? I’m guessing not the sticky tape stuff hanging from trees!!
I’ve just ordered up a bottle of Clik. Getting so paranoid about flies as all of a sudden there seems to be swarms of them, collecting on poop etc. I’ve been killing what I can, but if traps reduce incidences by that much it’s worth a go.
-
Red top fly traps. They catch a lot of flies. I certainly found they helped the sheep on the edge of some woodland where we got a lot of headflies.
-
Ah okay. So an auction site has various brands of this design. Have you used just the Red Top branded ones, or would a cheaper alternative do the same job?
-
I’ve only used the branded ones.
The only things I could imagine going wrong in a cheaper alternative would be a) year flies escape or b) it’s not as robust so can’t be reused as many times
-
What are they like to use? We used to use beer traps to stop the slugs on our vegetable plot, but they were truly disgusting to clean out. :tired: :yuck:
-
The Red Cap type are single use. That is, when it is full (they capture enormous quantities of flies) tip the contents on the compost heap and throw the container away.
-
Am I imagining that I could replace the bag a few times, then? (It is entirely possible that I have made that up in my head; it was a few years ago.)
-
They come with a powder to which you add some water. It’s this concoction that attracts the flies. So you lose that when it’s emptied out.
-
You neesbsome muscovy ducks. A study in Canada suggeted that muscovy ducks were more effective in controlling flies in cow sheds than chemicals and traps.
-
I’ve got one up now. Think it takes a few days to ferment a bit and start working. Keeping fingers crossed!
Interesting about the ducks. We have a lot of wild birds about but they don’t seem to get any numbers down.
-
Muscovy ducks - specifically - are the best. Both adults and ducklings hunt flies in flight and eat maggots and eggs.