Flies

[gotkiger]

Have any of you experienced this?


I have a 12 year old claybank Kiger mare. She is my best friend and four-legged partner for life. I moved her to the central valley of CA a little over a year ago. Every summer the flies here get really bad (as we live on a dairy). Last year her face was black (she is very white) and covered with bites and healing wounds. Her face this year is not as bad so far but it is starting to get worse as the flies pick back up. I have tried fly masks, sprays pastes and nothing seems to work. Also she is pregnant. Is there something that i can do for her for the irritation and itch i could care less if the hair fell out it is just watching her literally rub her face raw every day that has me concerned that she might injure herself. Thanks

[Michelle Clarke]

I have a topical (oil based) that I have been working on for two years...have had some great success on horses with everything from mane rubbing (because of no-see-ums) to severe fly allergies. I can send you a bottle to try, no charge, if you want to PM me your address. Still in the developing stages, but be happy to see if you have any success with it. Let me know if your mare is out in the sun during the day, that will help me decide on certain oils or not. I will check on the in-foal situation too and make sure we are okay there.

You may want to leave her in for the hottest parts of the day with a fan to help keep flies at bay too if that is possible.

[lindad]

Mosquitos are the plague here in Michigan. Bolero reacts badly and rubs sores and ravages his beautiful mane at times. I just installed an automatic bug spray mister by Country Vet in his shed where he spends most of his time in the summer to avoid the bugs. He hates bug spray (all my Kiger do) and tears off a fly sheet. It seems to be helping. I use fans in the stable for the other horses and they love it.
My little mule attracts flys to his legs for some reason, and spray was not helping much. I slathered on a fly repellent called War Paint that comes in a roll on to use around horse's eyes and it made a huge difference for him. It is thick and sticky but was effective.

[gotkiger]

Thank you that would be awesome. Unfortunately she is outside all day. She does have a shade cover available to her however for some reason she seams to enjoy standing in the sun all day. I feed her in the shade to make sure she does stand there for a little while throughout the day but once done she goes back to the sun. I am thinking of purchasing some pannels and creating a smaller corral/stall for her strictly in the shade. But have no electricity to put up a fan or else i already would have, lol. Love to spoil my babies. But unfortunately with a smaller area that also means she cant get away from the flies. If there was something really good to keep them out of her area I would have no problem doing that.... Her corral is probably 72'x72' and can be opened up to a second corral the same size.

[gotkiger]

I will have mosquitoes here in a few weeks probably but so far we haven't had too many this year. Dollie doesn't mind the fly spray as long as it isn't near her face. I tried the war paint but it seemed to make more of a mess then help ... it is what i am currently trying. We have more then 2000 head of cattle here and are surrounded by other dairy's so there are a lot of biting flies that don't go away until it gets cold. She is fine with a fly mask but as soon as she itches it is ripped to shreds. Her face is normally a beautiful white with black skin showing through a little. Now she looks like a black spotted appy. I feel so bad and i don't want to get the stuff in a wound.

[angelsdream]

Gosh, that just sounds horrible. Bless her heart. I haven't found anything that would keep the flies away. We started putting up those fly bags or fly trappers around and it helped a lot, it at least keeps them from reproducing and they're not in swarms like they used to be. A lot more managable. You could try the bags in her shed then maybe she would hang out there more.

[DianneC]

I've used the bags, I think I have four in each pasture. Still have flys and everyone hates fly masks. I used war paint when I had cows on the same place and just smeared a bit on with a finger, the applicator makes a mess. I tried the fly predators but since we have a big pasture they didn't seem to make a difference. I've heard from others that they were great. We get a few horse flies each year too. I would be tempted to make or buy one of those big fly traps that stand out in the field. They look like they would be really effective. You have to keep a tray filled with soapy water.
I think I'd try SWAT for your mare if she has open places, that's what it's designed for. Can you use either an automatic spray or fly poison in the dairy barn? If you contact a pest control guy they have things that the poison goes into so only the flies can get to it.

[dunbnwild]

I use the Epps Biting Fly trap and really like it-- Bravo uses it for a scratching post though, which causes some problems, so I'm going to need to relocate it, ha ha.

It is very effective, doesn't smell too bad and is easy enough to maintain. It is expensive initially, but since it does last and replacement parts are minimal, over time to really don't spend too much. No chemicals or anything--just water and dish soap.

I liked it so much I bought a 2nd portable one, but have been too busy to get set up. I also use fly predators and while I still have flies, I'm told that you go somewhere that doesn't use predators and you see the difference quick.

[sbutter]

Michelle, is your oil an insect repellent or does it have multiple uses? We have had to switch different fly repellents over the years, just because they seem to build a resistance to them. We have been pretty good at getting rid of breeding grounds for them, but they still are around more than we care for. My mom's Morgan gelding has always been itchy. He hasn't ever rubbed himself raw, but he loves to be scratched by anyone and anything. He is either out on pasture or gets grass hay. He is a very easy keeper....practically gets fat just by looking at food lol.

We looked into the fly predators, but the guy we talked to said that it depends on your acreage and how many horses you have... ie poop. The predators don't produce as fast as flies, so you have to "recharge" them every month or so, until you have the fly population at their mercy. It would cost us $100 a month just from the amount of horses and acreage, but the guy said that the cost would be about $1 -2 a day per horse typically.

[DianneC]

Cindy, does your Epps take care of face flies too?

[dunbnwild]

It seems to catch most anything that flies and lands on a horse, but since I'm not sure what a face fly looks like, I'm not sure if I've fished any out, lol.

Most of the bodies are the stealth bomber shaped flies and regular garden variety flies , with a few of the bigger horse flies as well.