Fly Predators: Do they work?

[Cincinnati]

I have decided to try the Fly Predators and have ordered 10,000 of the little buggers. :winkgrin:

Who has had success with these critters?

[easyrider]

Raising hand.

[Nipntuck]

Yes! But it is not an immediate fix. It seems like there are flies early in the season, then none all of a sudden, and each year the flies seem less.

I love the bugs!

[Bluey]

They seemed to have work very well for us the last three years.
This will be our fourth year and hopefully they will keep on working.:yes:

We put half in the yard, half in the barn.
We have cattle all around and they still seem to work fine for the yard and barn area.

[trubandloki]

They work for me.

They also work for a woman I know. She says she was not sure and one year she did not buy them and it was horrible.

[monstrpony]

I'm on my third year, and very happy with the results.

[Twiliath]

I've used fly predators for going on my 7th year now and can tell when I'm at a place that doesn't use them.

The info says that their effectiveness increases year by year as you continue to use them.

It also says that if you're near someone (within 1 mi. radius) who doesn't use them, they'll be less effective.

I have two neighbors less that 1/4 mi. away who don't use them and about 1.5 mi. away is a dairy farm. I have no idea if he uses them or not.

But I still get a significant reduction in flies (dictated by my son who's standing behind me).

[andylover]

i too have had success, however, it depends on how many farms are around your place and if they use them or some type of fly control. we are surrounded by cow farms and without the fly predators it would be impossible to make it to the barn.. however, there are still flies.. but we are only buying enough for affect i think 5-7 horses..

[tabula rashah]

They are wonderful. I am pretty isolated from another horses/ livestock where I am. Last year was the first year I used them and I had virtually no flies :)

[JB]

Raising my hand too!

Our property had been animal-less for quite a few years before we moved in, but there were horses on 2 neighboring properties. I started the predators the first year. Do we still have flies? Sure. But the worst of them, by far, as the face flies, B-52 bombers, and deerfly, none of which are targeted by the fly predators. The "normal" flies are almost nonexistent. Our house is in the middle of the "U" that is the horse pasture, and we just don't deal with flies at all there.

[tabula rashah]

Raising my hand too!

Our property had been animal-less for quite a few years before we moved in, but there were horses on 2 neighboring properties. I started the predators the first year. Do we still have flies? Sure. But the worst of them, by far, as the face flies, B-52 bombers, and deerfly, none of which are targeted by the fly predators. The "normal" flies are almost nonexistent. Our house is in the middle of the "U" that is the horse pasture, and we just don't deal with flies at all there.

We had a horrible problem with the horse flies, B-52's and deer flies too (think hot, damp and in the woods- yuck). I got one of these http://bitingflies.com/ and it has made a huge difference- I would say at minimum a 75% reduction in the biting flies.

[deltawave]

They did not seem to work for me, at all. :no: No nearby horses or farms, they just didn't cut it. Feed-through (simplifly or equitrol II) is much, much better on my place.

[basil's mom]

Love, love, love them. They made a huge difference. Horse farm on one side of me, cows on the other. I rarely see a fly.

[JeanM]

...BUT don't be cheap like I was when ordering, and order the first shipment too late!! I needed the good lil' buggers LAST month, and my first shipment of the year (due to my scheduling) only arrived a few days ago. Meanwhile, those nasty little black fly-thingies have been going at it for weeks now! :mad:

[the_other_mother]

This is my third summer using them. They work.

[cloudy18]

It's our 2nd or 3rd year. Only two horses, but we have cows right across the road. Well, WE don't. The only time our flies get bad is fall, when it starts cooling down and they all want IN the house. Gross. But I think these are mainly from the cows. We were also using traps to get any adults, but I am going to try to avoid the kind with the smelly attractant, bc that will lure the ones from across the road more. This year I am going to try just tape traps. I think I spent $110 for the season this year for the predators.

[Gloria]

Um I wish they worked on mine:(. We have tried for three years in a row. Did not see any impact. I feel I was just throwing money away so I'm not trying this year.

[Lady Counselor]

I am in my tenth season. If you order enough (and I do recommend over ordering) and get them in early enough and often enough, then they work very well. I had to up my order to every 3 weeks from 4 and took advantage of an early bird double your order for free deal. That was because I have neighbors nearby with horses who don't seem to practice any management and the farmers have been dumping huge loads of horse manure from the local girls school right next to my place. Sigh.

[PalominoMorgan]

I have had great luck with the Spalding Labs little buggers. The Arbico ones didn't work for us. We had horrible cluster flies in this old farmhouse when we moved in and the fly predators took care of those too. I just sprinkled some in the flower beds by the house. We are an isolated 2 horse farm but last year I didn't get around to ordering the fly predators and it was BAD. The horses were miserable. This thread reminds me I need to get my order in for this year.

On a side note my hubby is growing garlic in pots on the kitchen window sill to transplant to the garden and we have not seen any flies in the house this spring. We just picked up some pots and each of the trouble rooms (in this old farmhouse) is going to have a pot of 2-3 garlic plants in it. :-) Maybe if we had a garlic farm we wouldn't need fly predators outside. LOL.

[MintHillFarm]

For my farm, in upstate NY, no they did not work at all. It was a waste of money the summer I tried it. Gave the full fly season and even ordered more then suggested.
I went back to my over head fly spray automatic system as well as the feed through daily control...