Fly Control

How to Get Rid of Flies Naturally

IPM for Livestock, Horses, Poultry & Home 

Fly infestations are among the most economically damaging and health-threatening pests in livestock operations, horse barns, poultry facilities, and around the home. House flies spread dozens of pathogens. Stable flies deliver painful bites that reduce livestock production. Horn flies cost the US cattle industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Fly populations, left unmanaged, can explode at alarming speed. Under ideal conditions, a single pound of wet manure can yield more than 1,500 maggots, and a single female housefly can produce up to 600 eggs in her lifetime (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension).

Effective fly pest control requires more than a single product. It requires an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach that targets flies at every life stage. We offer the complete range of natural fly control products: Fly Wranglers, beneficial nematodes, fly traps, and more.

Filth Flies Controlled by Fly Wranglers & Nematodes

The term “filth flies” refers to the type of fly species whose larvae (maggots) grow in manure and rotting organic matter. They grow in soiled bedding, spilled feed, compost, and similar moist materials. They also help with backyard fly control These are the species of flies that our Fly Wranglers target.

• House fly (Musca domestica): The most common fly pest in livestock and poultry operations worldwide. House flies spread pathogens including E. coli, Salmonella, and numerous other bacteria and viruses by contaminating food, feed, and surfaces. Breeds primarily in moist manure.
• Stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans): A painful biting fly that feeds on the blood of horses, cattle, and other livestock, preferring the lower legs and belly. Stable flies breed in looser, drier material, such as mixtures of manure with undigested hay, straw, and feed.
• Horn fly (Haematobia irritans): A major biting pest of pastured cattle. Both males and females spend nearly their entire lives on cattle, leaving only to lay eggs in fresh manure pats.
• Face fly (Musca autumnalis): A non-biting fly that clusters around the eyes, nose, and mouth of cattle and horses. Face flies spread pinkeye and eyeworms in cattle. They lay eggs in fresh undisturbed manure pats.
• Lesser house fly (Fannia canicularis): Similar to house fly but slightly smaller. Common in poultry operations.
• Garbage fly and other filth flies: Various blow flies and flesh flies that breed in decomposing organic matter.

Flies Not Controlled by Fly Wranglers & Nematodes

The following biting flies do not breed in manure or barn substrate, so Fly Wranglers and nematodes do NOT control them. Separate management strategies are needed for these species:

• Horse flies and deer flies (Tabanus and Chrysops spp.): Large, aggressive biters. Larvae develop in wet, marshy soil near ponds and streams, not in manure.
• Mosquitoes: Larvae develop in standing water. Require water source management and separate mosquito-specific control strategies.
• Black flies, biting midges (Culicoides spp.): Aquatic or semi-aquatic breeders unrelated to manure substrate.

Fly Life Cycle

The fastest and best fly control targets flies before they emerge as adults. Adult flies are mobile, can travel miles, are harder to catch, and reproduce rapidly. By the time you see large numbers of adult flies, they have already established the breeding population for weeks. Eliminating the larval and pupal stages in breeding substrate is the foundation of effective IPM:

• Egg stage: Female houseflies lay eggs in moist organic matter, primarily manure, soiled bedding, spilled feed, and decaying vegetable matter.
• Larval stage (maggots): Newly hatched larvae are tiny white maggots that feed and grow in the organic substrate, passing through three larval instars over 4 to 8 days.
• Pupal stage -- the primary biological control target: When larvae are fully developed, they migrate from wet feeding areas to drier zones within or at the edge of the substrate and form a hardened brown pupal case (puparium) around themselves. The fly develops inside the pupae over 3 to 6 days before emerging as an adult.
• Adult stage: Housefly adults live 15 to 30 days depending on temperature and conditions. Stable fly life cycle egg to adult averages about 28 days. House fly life cycle under ideal conditions can complete in as few as 6 days.

Cultural Strategies

Every extension service and IPM researcher agrees on this point: sanitation is the most important and most cost-effective component of any fly management program. Clemson Extension states it plainly: 'sanitation is at least 75 percent of a fly-control program' and 'for all practical purposes, manure management is synonymous with fly control.'

Cultural methods aim to establish an environment that benefits your animals while being less inviting to flies. Remove manure regularly, manage spilled feed, control moisture, manage bedding, and keep proper manure storage and composting.

Physical Strategies

Physical barriers and hands-on methods are a valuable first line of defense before an infestation builds. We offer several products to help:

• Our Outdoor Fly Trap is an easy way to attract flies away from your back yard, stable, or barn.
• Our Window Fly Trap is a great way to catch flies indoors where they hang out the most.
• Our Ribbon Fly Trap is great to hang above garbages, near doorways, or in warm, sunny spots. 

Biological Control

Fly Pupae Control - Fly Wranglers

Fly Wranglers are tiny black to dark brown wasps, 1 to 3 mm long, roughly the size of a gnat or small ant. Female fly predators hunt through manure, soiled bedding, and other fly breeding substrate searching for fly pupae. When a female finds a fly pupae, she drills through the outer shell with her ovipositor and lays eggs directly inside the case. The wasp larva hatches and consumes the fly pupa from within for effective outdoor fly control.

They do not fly around the living or working space of the barn. They stay at ground level near breeding sites. They are harmless to people and animals: completely stingless, biteless, and unnoticed by livestock.

Fly Larvae Control - Beneficial Nematodes

Our Triple Blend Beneficial Nematodes for fly control reinforces your Fly Wrangler program. While Fly Wranglers target the pupal stage, beneficial nematodes target the larval (maggot) stage.

• Steinernema carpocapsae (Sc): An ambush-hunting, surface-adapted nematode that targets mobile, surface-active insects. Sc actively attacks early fly larvae (feeding maggots) as they feed in moist substrate in the top 0-2 inches of soil. 
• Steinernema feltiae (Sf): An active hunting nematode. Highly effective against housefly larvae and fungus gnat larvae. Effective in greenhouse and indoor settings. Hunts in 2-4 inches of soil.
• Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb): Becomes more useful as this fly stage is mobile and may move deeper in the substrate. 

Soft Chemical Control

Essentria IC Pro uses natural essential oils to quickly knock down flies on contact. You can use this water-based concentrate indoors or outdoors. For use in homes, barns, and garden areas, giving you flexible, low-odor control without harsh synthetic chemicals.