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fly control

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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Of course!

Why is this not more obvious!

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Leah Sattler

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posted 16 years ago

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I'm definitely going to focus more on attracting swallows. what a great idea! I found this link that includes plans for constructing a swallow box. http://extension.umd.edu/publications/PDFs/FS800.pdf

In addition I have been hunting for a natural alternative to the feed through fly control products meant for horses to use fo rmy goats and chickens.

Basil has a reputation for repelling flies as well as pine oil, and I have always wondered if the refracting light from a bag of water really works and if you could acheive the same result with a bit more attractive windchime that has hanging crystal shards.

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paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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Which common bird is the best at catching flies?

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Charley Hoke

Posts: 66

Location: Blue Ridge Mountains

posted 16 years ago

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There are many birds proficient at catching flies as well as other flying insects.

Blue Birds
Purple Martins
Certain Warblers
Nighthawk
Whip-poor-will
Flycatchers

Our favorites here are the Cliff Swallow, Phoebe, and even the Ruby Throated Hummingbird.

Our favorite and most common is the Phoebe. We actually have two nests on our house with Phoebes on them now, this is their second time this year. They have been coming here since we moved here five years ago.

They are a lot of fun to watch. We sit on the porch and see them perched in a sycamore tree, they will fly out catch an insect and return to the tree and enjoy their catch, then fly out and catch another, sometimes this will go on for hours.

The picture is the nest over our bedroom window. Last year a black snake looking for a meal knocked the nest down. The phoebes returned this year and rebuilt.

I'm not sure which is the best at catching flies, but I would guess maybe the Bluebird, swallow, or one of the flycatchers.

phoebe.jpg

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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It kinda seems like the root for some fantastic university study. Which birds to attract for fly control. Go into how many flies they eat per day, and how well they get on with farm animals and people.

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Charley Hoke

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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains

posted 16 years ago

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You have stirred my interest in this subject. We do not have a huge problem here with flies and I feel this is in part due to no livestock, and the abundance of Phoebes and Bluebirds.

I found this interesting piece by Joseph Mailliard dated July 14, 1919 in which he states observing Sparrows and humming birds catching flies.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v021n05/p0212-p0212.pdf

This is another interesting site that lists some different birds that eat flying insects
http://www.birdnature.com/idbycatchfly.html

Leah Sattler

Posts: 2603

posted 16 years ago

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dragonflies can supposedly help to control flies also. A bit of cultivated water may be worth the trouble if there are no natural sources.

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Susan Monroe

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Location: Western WA

posted 16 years ago

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Natural farmer Joel Salatin rotates his cattle from one pasture to another every few days, and then runs free-range chickens behind them. The chickens scratch through the manure the cows left behind, scattering it around and eating all the insect larvae they can find (including fly maggots). Not only does this help keep the fly population down, but it helps break up the parasite cycle in the cattle.

If you aren't familiar with Joel Salatin's farming books, you should check into them. http://www.polyfacefarms.com/books.aspx

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Sue

Posts: 92

posted 16 years ago

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SueinWA wrote:
Natural farmer Joel Salatin rotates his cattle from one pasture to another every few days, and then runs free-range chickens behind them. The chickens scratch through the manure the cows left behind, scattering it around and eating all the insect larvae they can find (including fly maggots). Not only does this help keep the fly population down, but it helps break up the parasite cycle in the cattle.

If you aren't familiar with Joel Salatin's farming books, you should check into them. http://www.polyfacefarms.com/books.aspx

You Can Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Pasture Poultry Profits
Everything I Want to Do is Illegal
Holy Cows and Hog Heaven
Family Friendly Farming

Sue

Very wise practice I would suggest.
Parasites in cow and horse dung are killed off to a good degree by exposure to sunlight, so having the chickens follow behind is a great idea. Less flies and less deworming needed.

Does any one have any thoughts on predatory insect to control flies?
It's something I've been looking at but what are the real long term effects, and does it work?

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paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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I have visited with a half dozen people that have mentioned some sort of tiny wasp that provides excellent fly control for about six weeks. So they say that they buy more wasps every six weeks or so throughout every fly season.

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Leah Sattler

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posted 16 years ago

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I have always wondered about those. Do think there would be some way to establish a population so that you wouldn't have to keep buying them?

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 16 years ago

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I would think it would be possible. I wonder why they don't just buy one batch and they reproduce for ever more after that. After all, I thought that what killed the flies was that the wasp laid eggs in the flies.

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Posts: 92

posted 16 years ago

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Leah Sattler wrote:
I have always wondered about those. Do think there would be some way to establish a population so that you wouldn't have to keep buying them?

Good question, and my only thought at the moment is that many of those species may not overwinter very well or some such with climate conditions different from their native habitat. Don't know............

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Chuck Freeman

Posts: 116

Location: Southcentral Alaska

posted 13 years ago

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We have 20 some swallow boxes and a few bat houses, between the two they keep the worst of the flying insects at a livable level. We also have a lot of nest platforms in protected places for robins. Robins do a job on crawly bugs and larva's including maggots. You can never have enough bug eating critters.

FrontierFreedom

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 13 years ago

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Covered a little in this podcast: http://www.richsoil.com/permaculture/344-podcast-048-family-bugs-mining-missoula/

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Mike Turner

pollinator

Posts: 508

Location: Upstate SC

posted 5 years ago

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Having a healthy dung beetle population is one of the best ways to control flies since they bury the dung before the flies can breed in it.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson

pollinator

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Location: zone 4b, sandy, Continental D

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posted 3 years ago

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Wrens are good at catching insects. We put a number of bluebird houses and wren houses so shelter is taken care of.
Having a birdbath is inviting to them too and we've noticed a much better stay on the deck now that we have all sorts of birds flying around, plus, we love their antics in the birdbath.
It beautifies the place and reduces flying insects. Next might be a bat house, but our location is not great for that, and while we could attract a few during the summer, what will happen to them during frigid temperatures? [I can't afford building a bat cave, so...]

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Carla Burke

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Location: Missouri Ozarks

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posted 3 years ago

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Muskovy ducks are awesome at knocking out sky raisins! It's said that in 24hrs, a handful of muskovy will happily reduce a bad fly infestation in a horse barn, by about 50%, and another 90% in the next 24hrs. We got some, this summer, and they're only just now old enough to be moved from the brooder box to the outdoor aviary, and yet, they were doing a number on the fly population from the indoor aviary, even only from inside the brooder box. (P.s. "indoor aviary" is code for 'garage')

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