Botulism Beware By Jess Hallas-Kilcoyne Commonly found in soil, decaying animal carcasses, and, sometimes, decaying plant material, Clostridium botulinum is the bacterium responsible for producing the toxins that cause botulism. These powerful toxins prevent the release of neurotransmitters that [...]
"Screens for barns," a word that most people are telling Horse Fly Net they use when doing a Google search for their stable or run-in-sheds. Why not? Screening is the same technique we use to protect our own homes from the multitude of flying insects which follow the light at night and enter our homes. But, Horse Fly Nets are more than just a barrier against the aggravation of flying insects. [...]
Sweet Itch photo from Lingfield Equine Vets "Sweet itch in horses, ponies and donkeys is an allergic response to the saliva in the bite of the Culicoides midge (gnat, no-see-um, punky) and to a lesser degree the black fly(Simulium Equinum), horn fly and stable fly which gives rise to intense itching" says Stephen Ashdown. Gnat Recently, one of our customers [...]
Storing Manure unattended manure buildup Manure is something we horse owners all have to deal with. Where do we put it? Can we repurpose it? How? Simply dumping all the manure into a giant pile creates an ideal breeding ground for flies and other insects and can also conceal intestinal parasites. After a rainfall, as surface water leaves the manure pile, it picks up nutrients and [...]
Stables and Flies written in 1917 Cover Manure Piles. " The object of this article is to call attention to two important phases of a fly prevention campaign, to wit: a campaign against fly food in other words, a campaign for clean houses and premises; and a campaign against fly breeding places-in other words, a campaign against bad stable conditions. Drs. Porter and Byrd of Florida[...]
Early method of preserving forage, Romania image from Wikipedia History: Early farmers noticed that growing fields produced more fodder in the spring. As the animals did not eat all of the spring and summer grasses the idea of cutting the grass in the summer, drying it, storing it and feeding it in the winter evolved . Originally this was done in Europe in the 1500s with an instrument known as [...]
Those of us at Horse Fly Net® think this is worth reading by trail riders. Yellow Fly, less than an inch in size It’s that time of year again, and those nasty yellow flies are biting… here are some tips for armoring yourself and your horses against a painful pest. In Florida, the name “yellow fly” is used to describe about a dozen different species of yellow-bodied biting [...]
Mighty Mouse, a TerryTune cartoon character Anyone, throughout history, who has owned a barn has had the same small critter invade their premises, the mouse. Shelter from the elements and, by the barn's nature a continuous supply of food, makes the barn a perfect target for mice home building. And, so the barn cat, mouse trap and mice poison become the staple equipment for [...]
The Horn Fly Where do all of these nasty flies come from? These little guys are half the size of the stable fly which Horn flies can bother horses the most blood suck their diet from the back and belly of the horses. They will remain on their host day and night. But the most important fact is that they are breeding in freshly deposited manure during hot and humid weather [...]
Stable fly The house and stable fly are similar in size, color and general appearance. They sometimes are called the barnyard fly. But the stable fly is a bloodsucking fly and aggressive. They bite with the sharp mouth part protruding from the head. Life Cycle: Stable fly eggs are only 1 mm long. They develop into larvae and are hard to see because they are translucent. When [...]