Farm & Ranch
Out for Blood: The horse fly is a major pest – and a major pain to control
There are few guarantees in life, but one guarantee is inescapable: if you have livestock, you have flies.
One of the best known of these pests is the largest, the bloodsucking horse fly. It is also one of the most difficult to manage, according to entomologist Dr. Sonja Swiger with the Texas A&M Research & Extension Center in Stephenville.
“Horse flies are hard to control,” she says. “They are only on the host long enough to take a blood meal and then they leave.”
When most people mention “horse fly” they think of the big black flies with huge eyes that look like rainbows on an oil slick when the light hits them just right. This horse fly is actually part of a large family, the Tabanidae, which includes both horse and deer flies, and like their distant cousins the mosquito, only the females are bloodsuckers.
A study by now retired Texas A&M entomologist Bart Drees and James Goodwin identified 109 distinct species of horse and deer flies in Texas alone, compared with about 350 species known in North America and 4,500 known worldwide. According to Dr. Swiger, some of these are very specific and localized, while others have evolved to take advantage of large herd animals; though, as many people have painfully learned, horse flies can be fairly opportunistic biters. To read more pick up the February issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM
Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.
Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.
The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Tressa Lawrence
Babies are tucked away in every nook and cranny. Many ranchers across Wyoming have baby animals popping up all over this time of year.
By Lindsey Monk
Another load of grain in to keep feeding the calves until the green grass can really start popping.
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