Common Sense Control of Insect Pests on Homestead Animals
(Page 3 of 5)
July/August 1971
By R.J. Holliday, DVM
There are several management practices that can be employed to aid in the control of these pests. The primary consideration, is the elimination of breeding sites. In the case of most flies, this involves composting manure and decomposing vegetation or else spreading it out so it can dry. Mosquitoes have been known to complete a life cycle in the small amount of water found in vases of cut flowers in the home and in the water in hoof prints by a pond or stream; thus it is very important to drain all areas of stagnant water and marshy areas. This will also help reduce the numbers of horseflies and deer flies. If you have places that cannot be adequately drained and in which natural controls such as minnows or frogs are absent, the mosquito larvae can be suffocated by the application of a thin film of oil to the surface of the water.
RELATED CONTENT
In regions where ticks are a severe problem it is wise to exclude your animals from brushy pastures for several weeks in the spring and early summer. This avoids subjecting them to contact with the ticks at the time of peak activity.
Flies are less active at night so you may want to allow your animals access to a dark barn during daylight hours and let them graze at night.
Do everything possible to encourage natural insect predators such as cowbirds, barn swallows, martins, and the various parasitic beetles and wasps that prey on the eggs or larvae of flies. Many of these beneficial insects are available commercially and are a worthwhile investment.
Your County Extension Agent may have plans for flytraps that you can build.
Insects vary greatly in their response to repellents so their use requires a great deal of ingenuity. Many people are of the opinion that a daily allowance of vinegar, garlic, or sulfur will affect the bodily secretions of animals to the extent that they are no longer attractive to insects. If you care to try this a daily dose of 2 to 4 ounces of vinegar would be about right for a horse or cow, and it can be added directly to the feed or water. Smaller animals would get proportionately smaller doses. Powdered sulfur can be provided free-choice to large animals or mixed in their salt at the rate of approximately 3 parts sulfur to 97 parts salt. Dogs can be given one 5-grain sulfur tablet daily for each 30 pounds of body weight. Discontinue the use of sulfur if the animals develop diarrhea.
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