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It is somewhat obvious that the presence of flies will always be associated with animal production. In the surroundings of farms, they find everything they need for their development: food, water, optimal temperature and a habitat for development. Given their extraordinary fertility, they can colonize the environment in a short time. This does not mean, however, that we should treat the company of troublesome insects as a necessary evil and not fight them. The presence of flies on farms is more than just a nuisance for people handling the herd. It is also a potential source of large losses in our production.
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Flies are the source of many problems
Naturally, it is impossible to ignore the above-mentioned negative impact of coercion on the work of staff. The presence of flies not only reduces the comfort of work, but also distracts employees and increases the chance that we will not notice disturbing signals from the herd in time (e.g. symptoms of illness). But above all, flies are a real torment for the animals themselves.
A large population of flies disturbs and irritates animals, making them overly excited. On the one hand, this phenomenon worsens the feed conversion rate, and on the other hand, it increases the risk of aggression in the herd, which may lead to biting and cannibalism, and often leads to the death of the attacked animal.
Read more ABC of biosecurity of pig farms: Washing the facility
Flies are also a vector of numerous diseases, including PRRS and dysentery, but also more common diseases such as salmonellosis or coccidiosis. They spread pathogens within the herd, but they can also easily transmit diseases between objects.
An extreme example of the consequences of a large population of flies are situations in which insects lay eggs inside damaged tissues of an animal.
Negative impact on the environment
It is also impossible not to mention the fact that flies occur not only inside the facility, but also in its surroundings. None of us likes it when we have to fight an invasion of flies in our own home, so it is easy to imagine a situation in which the intense presence of insects in the environment becomes a source of conflict between the farm owner and local residents.
Fortunately, we have many effective solutions to choose from that will allow us to keep the fly population in check. We will write about them in the next article.
Source: Pejsak Z.; Pig Health Protection, PWR 2007
