I was moving the wire for my group of cows and calves which has all Herefords except for one registered Angus heifer, now cow.

This is the time of year when flies start to be apparent here. The group was grazing fresh grass, mostly side by side in a tight bunch. Most of my Hereford cows have slicked up nicely by now and were mostly free of flies on their backs. Even the Herefords which were not yet fully slick had almost no obvious flies on their backs.

However my one Angus cow was in the middle of the group but just covered with flies on her back! She has not slicked up like my Herefords and still a little woolly and obviously bothered by the flies on her back.

As soon as I was done moving the wire I went up to the waterer and hung and doused my rubs for the first time this year, thinking about the difference in flies, especially on the slick Herefords compared to the one Angus in the middle of a side by side group of 8 or 10 cows.

Are flies more attracted to the somewhat woolly Angus compared to the slick Herefords? Do some breeds attract flies more than others?