Both sexes bite and may feed up to 40 times per day. Females require blood meals for egg production and can lay several hundred eggs during their lifespan. They leave the host briefly to lay eggs on fresh undisturbed cattle manure. Mature larvae move below the pats into the soil to pupariate and emerge as adults 1 to 2 weeks later. The entire life cycle from egg to adult is completed within 2 to 4 weeks, and 3 to 4 generations may occur throughout the summer.
Horn flies overwinter as puparia beneath cow pats and emerge the next spring as adults.
Cattle spend less time grazing. Large numbers of flies in densities of 500 to 1000 per animal or greater will result in much lower weight gains and milk yields. Current management practices primarily involve applying pesticides to cattle.