Adult females, which live about 25 days, lay an average of 800 eggs, generally in material containing much vegetative matter. Eggs hatch in 1 to 2 days and the larvae are white maggots. Areas of breeding are common in silage, bedding mixed with urine and faeces, rotting hay, straw or sawdust, fermenting feed, piles of grass clippings, along the edges of feeding aprons, under fences and along stacks of hay or straw and in effluent drainage areas. The stable fly has a stout black proboscis that is used to pierce the skin and imbibe blood. They feed at least twice each day.
Males also feed on blood but less frequently.
Females need 6 to 8 days of feeding before breeding starts. Hygiene Sanitation must be the first step in a control program. Remove manure, or spread it in thin layers for drying before incorporating it into a heap. The stable fly breeds in older manure mixed with dirt, feed and moisture. Manure should only be stockpiled in a fly proof enclosure.