Flies only live for 10 days, and in favourable conditions, a fly can hatch 500 new flies. It is therefore important to have a strategy to limit their proliferation.

Many people use fly nets and other things to keep the flies away from the horses. However, this does not stop their proliferation, it only reduces the irritation from flies and reduces the risk of them spreading disease.

In order for flies to have optimal conditions for breeding, they need four things:

• Heat
• Protein
• Fluid
• Somewhere they can lay their eggs

The heat comes from the sun, and that is why flies are very active during the summer months. The flies harvest protein and fluids from wounds, milk from udders and secretions from the eyes and genitals. Flies often lay their eggs in fresh horse droppings, as they have the optimal temperature and humidity needed for the fly eggs and larvae.

Once you know what these basic necessities are for flies, you can begin to effectively plan to get rid of them. Follow our strategy and get better results from your efforts with our fly capture products. Ensure that everyone who works with your horses has the same information and makes a targeted effort to get rid of the flies. This will make the horses feel much better, but it will also make the people who spend time with the horses much more comfortable.

In the stables, there are also a number of small organisms in the form of beetles and other little things that we normally do not see. Some of them live off fly eggs and fly larvae. If you are using insecticides in the stables, they will die and be unable to help fight the flies, so using insecticides in a stable is not a good idea.

With the information above, you probably have a good idea of how flies behave. They are active in warm spots where the sun’s rays can reach. They swarm around the horse’s head and land close to the eye to harvest fluid and protein from eye secretions and they are very active with laying eggs on fresh horse dung. Sometimes you cannot even see the fresh horse dung - it will be completely covered by flies. If there are wounds on the horse or if it is lactating and there are secretions by the mare’s udders, the flies can also be very aggressive. This is because this is where they get their fluids and protein. Often they prevent wounds from healing, by keeping them open. They are also very active around geldings and the genital area of stallions, as there are also secretions to be found there.

Fortunately, flies do not travel great distances. This is an advantage, as once you have reduced the amount of flies around your own environment, you will not suddenly have a new swarm from far away. However, flies will always be present to some extent, and if you do not continually fight them, then via their explosive birthrate they will quickly become a major nuisance again.

Follow the strategy of the FlyPad team and listen to the advice about fighting flies in the stable, in the dunghills and in the fold, and then you will quickly be able to reduce the amount of flies and make a far better environment for both horses and the people who are around the horses.

Fight flies more effectively by capturing them with a FlyPad, FlyCatch and FlyTape, and stop them from procreating. FlyPad, FlyCatch og FlyTape og få stoppet formeringen.

Remember - every fly you catch might reduce the number of new flies by up to 500.

Some flies have evolved to survive the winter and bring in a new generation. You will often see those in the early spring. If you can catch them, you are already well on your way to reducing the number of flies for the next fly season.