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06 October 2025 - News
Ensuring adequate living conditions for pigs is essential for the livestock farmer, because the productivity of the farm depends on them. Fly infestations pose a serious threat to pig welfare, a potential cause of stress and disease. It is, therefore, essential to adopt good hygiene practices and effective control systems to maintain high animal welfare.
Pig welfare is an important aspect that requires constant attention and compliance with specific regulations, such as EC Regulation 852/2004 and subsequent amendments, as well as the implementation of good preventive practices. The aim is to ensure the health and welfare of animals, without forgetting the profitability of the pig farmer.
The ClassyFarm control system, an information system for monitoring that characterizes farms based on risk, includes Verification Element 34, or Weed Control. This element requires verifying actions aimed at controlling flies, rodents and other parasites, helping to preserve the health and safety of the farm.
In pig farms, flies, in the juvenile stage of larvae and pupae, develop in the litter. As adults, these insects come into contact with pigs, becoming potential vectors of disease. Some species, such as tabanids, can even sting animals and suck their blood, causing stress and possible infections.
A single fly lays an average of 150 to 300 eggs in litter that become adults within 15 days. As a result, up to 300 adult flies are born from a single fly after 15 days.
Among the main diseases carried by flies, viruses such as African Swine Fever (ASF), porcine gastroenteritis (TGEV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) can be identified, as well as bacteriosis (Salmonella spp., Streptococcus, etc.), protozoa (Sarcocystis spp., etc.) and tapeworms.
By combining proper pig farm cleanliness management and the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocol, it is possible to significantly reduce the presence of flies.
The IPM is divided into three points and provides for three different types of control:
For the larvicidal control of flies, the use of beneficial insects is increasingly finding greater application. This methodology allows for a significant reduction in the number of flies present on the farm, reducing the risk of disease and stress in pigs, helping to increase the company’s profitability.
Colkim, in its Bio-Fab, breeds Pteromalid Hymenoptera (Nasonia spp., Muscidifurax spp., etc.), natural antagonists of flies, which it markets as MusciTex and Muscitex Box. Hymenoptera, which are absolutely harmless to pigs, are distributed every 15 days at specific points (see figure 1). Once inoculated, they go looking for fly larvae and pupae (even under grid floors) to parasitize them, thus interrupting their reproductive cycle.
Colkim, in its Bio-Fab, breeds Pteromalid Hymenoptera (Nasonia spp., Muscidifurax spp., etc.), natural antagonists of flies, which it markets as MusciTex and Muscitex Box. Hymenoptera, which are absolutely harmless to pigs, are distributed every 15 days at specific points (see figure 1). Once inoculated, they go looking for fly larvae and pupae (even under grid floors) to parasitize them, thus interrupting their reproductive cycle.
Figure 1: Application points of MusciTex in pig farming.
In the preventive chemical control of flies, it is important to use products that are specifically designed to be attractive to flies, harmless to human, animal, and environmental health. All these characteristics are encapsulated in Advion® Mosche, a biocidal product developed by Syngenta and marketed exclusively by Colkim. The active substance inside Advion® Mosche, idoxacar, is only activated inside insects, being harmless to mammals. It is not subject to replacement, as has already happened for mancozeb products and offers a fly elimination guarantee also certified by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria (see figure 2).
Another useful chemical to incorporate into fly control programs is Demand® 10 CS, a microencapsulated suspension based on lambda-cyhalothrin. It is possible to spray the product directly onto the walls of the farm, so chromotropic panels are not necessary. Thanks to the technology of its microcapsules, Demand® 10 CS, it guarantees a control of adult flies for two months. This product has also been field tested by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria (see figure 2).
Figure 2: Test results performed by Syngenta in collaboration with University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria (Trial number: PPME23009)
In the curative chemical control of flies, when the pressure of the flies becomes unsustainable, it is possible to perform spatial adulticidal treatments, both in the external and internal areas. Cymina Plus is the answer to these needs. Product developed in the laboratories of Colkim, it presents the correct dosage between cypermethrin and tetramethrin to ensure, in addition to a high sniffing and knocking power, good photostability.