[WaningMoon]

It is not mandatory to put them on a pile. I know some ppl who use them who only have three dogs and a couple of ducks. They release theirs in damp areas throughout the property.

The experience over 13 yrs of using preds has been nothing but absolutely fantastic. Could there not be anything else going on when you tried them? Did you use them for the whole season? Could birds have eaten them? Neighbors with animals who don't use them? I just can't imagine them not being effective based on what Ive seen with them. I am just amazed you didn't have a good experience with them. I am glad you found something that works for you.

[Jealoushe]

Anyone know where I can get these in Canada?? Specifically Ontario?

[JB]

I've been using Arbico for 8 years now, and other than the first year or 2, I've used fly masks more for snow glare than for flies

[ironbessflint]

Another positive vote for Spalding's Fly Predators. We simply don't have flies.

Now if only there were mosquito predators and bomber predators, then we'd be all set

[SouthernOakFarm]

I have used them for 2 years in South Florida (year round flies) and it has made a HUGE difference. The flies use to be so bad the horses would beg to come into the barn for some relief. Now they rarely swish their tails and I hardly see a fly bothering them. We pick up manure 2x daily in the barn/paddocks and spread in the pastures weekly. We put the predators in the paddock area where the horses normally poop and in the pasture area they have designated the poo area. Works Great!

[Bluey]

I've been using Arbico for 8 years now, and other than the first year or 2, I've used fly masks more for snow glare than for flies

I have heard that Arbico is the main supplier, even what Spalding sells they buy from them, or used to.
Don't know if that is right, but it was not denied when I asked Spalding.

I used Arbico for several years with excellent results.
Then one shipment didn't emerge and when I called them on that, they were rude.
Next few years I used Spalding, but last year, maybe because of the drought, we had more flies than normal and didn't even have hardly any animals.

This year I am again trying Arbico, see what happens.

I think any one such company that sells them today are good enough.

Cattle feedlots around here have used fly predators and fly bait around their buildings for some 25 years now, long before horse people started using them and they worked great for them, no more fogging the pens for flies as they used to have to do.

May not work so well in other places, that I don't know, but sure does here.

[IronwoodFarm]

I have about 20 horses on my farm at any given time. All horses are on 24/7 turnout. There is no central manure pile. I have used predator flies for the last 10 years or so. I would never stop using them as they make a huge difference.

I'm a Spaulding user and have had no problems with them. I know there are competitors out there, but Spaulding's prices have been level for years, their service is good, and I find them customer focused. So why change? I don't fix what's not broke. Goodness knows, I have enough broken things that do need fixing on the farm!

[microbovine]

They work down here in bug paradise. Florida is like the NYC for bugs. We have an organic farm with chickens, horses and cattle. We compost manure and use only non-pesticide fly sprays. We like a challenge, LOL!

[Real Rush]

Do the fly predators help at all with the little midges/noseeums that tend to get on the horses' bellies? I've already decided to give them a try this year just for fly control, but was wondering if they help with any other species.

[arabhorse2]

Do the fly predators help at all with the little midges/noseeums that tend to get on the horses' bellies? I've already decided to give them a try this year just for fly control, but was wondering if they help with any other species.

Nope, just flies. Whichever company you go with will give you literature about what predators will and won't kill.

I use a several pronged approach to fly control. For whatever species the predators don't go after, I use baited traps. I've been effectively fly-free for the last several years. Ladybugs and stink bugs now, oy!

[apprider]

I used Arbico for several years with excellent results.
Then one shipment didn't emerge and when I called them on that, they were rude.
.

I had a really bad experience with ARBICO's customer service as well after giving them 8 years of business. I was double charged on a large order and it took over two months to get a refund. Spalding now has my business, and so far, so good.

[Hulk]

Ok sorry for the delayed response about why I was questioning about their affect on a garden. (I haven't been feeling well lately) The question is what they are selling is Nematodes. Some Nematodes attack plant roots feed on them or lay their eggs in roots. However predaceous and fungi trapping Nematodes are cheif antagonists to the plant eating Nematodes. So I was wondering if the fly predator ones are very host specific. Which I thought they would be , but just wondered about personal experience, instead of a fly predator companys word.

I really wanted to try them I was just worried about the garden. Mabey I am just overthinking things.

[Fox Wood Farm]

Ok sorry for the delayed response about why I was questioning about their affect on a garden. (I haven't been feeling well lately) The question is what they are selling is Nematodes. Some Nematodes attack plant roots feed on them or lay their eggs in roots. However predaceous and fungi trapping Nematodes are cheif antagonists to the plant eating Nematodes. So I was wondering if the fly predator ones are very host specific. Which I thought they would be , but just wondered about personal experience, instead of a fly predator companys word.

I really wanted to try them I was just worried about the garden. Mabey I am just overthinking things.

The fly predators are wasps, not nematodes. They prey on the eggs/larvae of specific fly species.

[Hulk]

Sorry my misunderstanding, about them being wasps. The Arbico flyer I recieved in the mail called them Nematodes.

[JB]

Arbico doesn't call fly predators/eliminators nematodes They also sell nematodes, and the sections might be mixed in together, but they're very separate

[andylover]

After years of using the predators as a method of fly control I gave up. The price was getting to be outrageous and since I am surrounded by other farms that dont use the program, it was short lived where I was fly free. I have gone to baited traps with the plastic milk container, fly cap top and it works just as well as the predators and is still toxic free.

[Leo86]

When do most of you start putting out the fly predators? I can't remember when they really start showing up around here in NC

[Martha Drum]

This is very interesting, because after three years of using them and not feeling it was worth the money, I have decided NOT to renew the Predators this summer. My guys are out 24/7 and there are some cattle down the road, but not nearby....just didn't feel it was worth the hundreds of dollars, still had to buy masks last summer... this year will be an interesting comparison without using them (I started in March last year). We'll see.

[Bluey]

This is very interesting, because after three years of using them and not feeling it was worth the money, I have decided NOT to renew the Predators this summer. My guys are out 24/7 and there are some cattle down the road, but not nearby....just didn't feel it was worth the hundreds of dollars, still had to buy masks last summer... this year will be an interesting comparison without using them (I started in March last year). We'll see.

When I first used them, I didn't think they were working that well until I was holding horses for the farrier at my neighbors and their horses were going nuts stomping for flies.
Guess they were working for us better than we thought.

[horsepoor]

I thought they weren't working that well either, so one year I didn't order. Then the flies were terrible early on, so I went ahead and got them going again late (want to say around June or so? usually start them in Apr/May). I do think they help. It will be interesting to see how things are this year as I used to be pretty isolated - no cattle around, just a couple of goats at one neighbor, and at least 1/2 mile or more to the nearest horse. But our goat neighbor has a couple of horses now, I see, and I'm sure they do NOTHING about flies/manure/etc.

I wish there was a mosquito predator. Well, I guess there is, but our swallow houses weren't that successful last year! I'm hoping we convince a few to move in this year and keep the mosquito population down!