Control of Face and Horn Flies with Ectiban Tail Tapes on Dairy Cattle, 1984

A herd of 26 dairy cows at the University of Missouri Foremost Dairy was treated on 20 Jun with 1 Ectiban tail tape/tail. The tapes contained 1.8 g permethrin each and were wrapped loosely above the switch of the cleaned tail. The 3 pesticide-containing glass vials within the tapes were crushed after installation on each animal treated. Retention was unsatisfactory (96% loss within 6 days); therefore, new tapes were installed on 5 Jul. The latter tapes were applied by first crushing the glass vials and then stretching the tapes firmly around the animals’ cleaned tails. A nearby herd of 15 untreated dairy cows served as a control during the course of the experiment and a herd of 28 beef cows treated with two 7.5% flucythrinate (Guardian) ear tags/head was used as a standard. In all cases, assessment of treatment efficiency was made on a weekly basis via inspection of 15 head selected at random from each herd. Inspections were made only during mid-day while the animals were pastured away from barns and corrals. Face flies were counted on the entire face and horn flies on a single side of each animal examined. Data thus obtained were converted to log10 (n +1) prior to analysis; however, true averages were tabulated.