Fly Predators as a control system for Horse Stables

The plastic bag was sealed tight. The shreaded wood chips allowed the dark cocoons to rattle around. Nothing was moving. I picked up the sealed bag and watched carefully for 3 days. One morning my mom called me "The bag is full of ants. The ants have eaten all the flies. Well later that morning I went straight for the predator flies infested with ants! Hmmmm... looks just like it always looks except this time the etsy bitty little flies are scurrying around as they escape their cocoons. I take bag into the kitchen and fix up some coffee and my mom and I give these tiny little flies a good once over. No ants. just tiny little flies. We started with Predator Flies the summer of 2006. We were not able to deploy flies for a full season. 2006 was the summer I broke my leg, ankle and foot. That was the summer that I left my dream ranch and moved back to town. I received my last shipments in town. However, 2007 and 2008 we spread the cocoons around the corrals on the manufacturers schedule for our region. I do notice a difference.

I first heard about Fly Predators while volunteering at a Horse Rescue. Everyone was a buzz with this new fad. I had no previous experience with the concept but the hypothesis makes perfect sense. So what are Predator Flies? Do they look like ants? According to Garden Insections The fly Parasites predator are the naturally occurring enemy of all manure breeding pest flies.Check it out! http://www.gardeninsects.com/flyParasites.asp

Two Naughty Girls on a Warm Winter afternoon

I just heard from daughter that the delivery guy did in fact load the hay in the barn and then he locked the gate on the way out....... well when I was her age I wouldn't have know where my keys were either, so she had to call to the main house and wait for grandma to get out to the gate with a key...... then once she got the gate open....... she was tricked by the prangsters; Elizabeth and Star. Evidently they were determined to continued their afternoon escapades and escaped into Aunt Helen's big field! There they snooped around the Horse Trailer, checked out the bird food, nibbled on some free growing bermuda grass. Sister told me they could not be bribed with pellets, or treats! So now, Daughter had to use all her Cowgirl skills today! Both of the playful girls are blanketed and back in the corral with Sydney and Max. Whew.... that's what makes horses so much fun!