Horses and flies

We have a horse with fly allergies. He gets welps from them and they are all over this time of year. Besides the obvious stuff like cleaning out the pen often are there any suggestions? Does Diatomaceous Earth work to spread on the ground, should he eat DE regularly? He has some trauma to sprays so I’ve soaked a sponge and slopped him with it as I brush. That helps temporarily but he won’t let me get his face where it’s bad and I have to do it often to help. Any other solutions or suggestions out there?

I also just saw a short about an all in one bio pod that attracts flies, traps the larva which falls into a bucket making chicken feed. Acorn Land Labs on youtube. Neat idea to think about.

My suggestion would be to gently stroke his face as if you were petting him.

Then do the same thing again with a rag soaked in apple cider vinegar.

My favorite show on TV is Heartland where a young girl takes after her mom who worked with horses.

When she talks to the horses as she gently strokes them and talks to them about how she is not going to hurt them, instead she is trying to help them.

I know it is only a TV show though I feel that this does calm the horses.

Best wishes for finding a solution.

Hi Betty,
Specifically to the face issue... have you tried one of those face shield things? I don't recall their proper name, but they are made out of mesh and strap on to the horse face and the flys can't bother them, and the horse can still see fairly well.

Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Betty,
Specifically to the face issue... have you tried one of those face shield things? I don't recall their proper name, but they are made out of mesh and strap on to the horse face and the flys can't bother them, and the horse can still see fairly well.

Matt, yes we have. He rips them trying to scratch his face but good reminder that I could get more while they are bad. I completely forgot about them. Prob because he’s gone through a few haha.

Something else that I thought of is Skin So Soft which is an Avon product.

It is made from citronella.

I wonder if planting citronella plant around where you keep your horse would help also.

It will repel the flies if you put it on the horse's face.

I have used it to keep ants out of dog food pans.

You can also make a homemade fly spray that uses any of these:

Lavender, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Peppermint, or Marigold.

I would brew some like you were making a tea then apply it to the horse.

I hope you find something that will work for your horse.


Marigold

I hope you’re having a bit of success with the fly problem so far.  Here is what I had done when I had my farm:
1. Keep the barn areas mucked and as clean as possible. The flies are attracted to manure as well as any feed areas.  I also milked my goats in the barn, which attracted them.  I tried to keep all of the barn clean.

2. Use fans.  It gets hot here in SC, so fans were used for a dual purpose. I had industrial fans mounted leg height and head height on one side of the barn. The air being pushed around in the barn kept the flies immobile or discouraged them from coming into the barn.

3. Fly predators. pro: I tried these one year, and they did work to eliminate the majority of the flies. Cons: they are expensive and you need to start using them in the spring before numbers get too bad. You have to use them all summer, and the companies ship new predators monthly.  You also need to get enough for the number of horses or livestock that you have.

4. Fly masks and sheets. I know you said you use flymasks, but some brands are better than others. I’ve even modified some or bought them handmade. It depended upon the horses needs.  Sheets work, too. I’ve never tried it, but I’m assuming you can use citronella products or essential oils on the sheets. (Color also plays a part. Flies are attracted to dark colors more than light colors).

I hope this helps.

Look up natural fly repellant.  I think we make some out of peppermint oil, lemon grass oil, and a few others.  But, the girl seems to think that "Mosquito Halt" works good too.  I think it is mostly natural oils.  With that in mind look up natural oils fly spray and see what ingredients they include them make up your own.
Nothing works perfect but a good blend of natural oils work pretty good in the right dilution.
Good luck.

I felt so sorry for the poor horse so I hope Betty will come back and tell us what worked.

Horses aren't necessarily allergic to the flies, as they are the fly saliva. It irritates their sensitive skin, and flies bite on and lay eggs under the raised skin. Consumed DE has no effect on their skin, dusting him with it would do good prevention. (DE would be beneficial in treating stomach ulcers if that was the case) If you make your own rose/lavender/lemongrass/cilantro tincture, stabilized with vinegar, and add two tablespoons of baby oil when diluting that into a water solution, this should be a very effective organic alternative. If he is allergic to the saliva, any amount of preventative will not work. An immune booster supplement would be a good feed additive, we use OTC antihistamines for one of our horses, as he is allergic to organic methods unfortunately.

With the face, never spray a horse's face, they are as averse to it as we are. Spray on a rag and wipe his face, stand at his shoulder, put your hand under and around and hold it lightly on his nose/cheek, start by just bringing the rag close, and when he relaxes take it away, do not let him move his head away, but also don't hold his head very firmly, this will only make it worse. Continue progressively bringing the rag closer until you can lay it on his cheek (no fly spray) and take it away. This little cat & mouse game allows you to get closer and gives him time to understand you're not trying to whack him or do something bad. Horses having their eyes covered is a very vulnerable motion, so do so with utmost care, he wants to trust you.

Fly masks are a great option, especially if you have a horse that has excess eye gunk production or is getting pink/infected eyes in the summer. There are many options with ear covers, without, and lined with fleece. My personal favorite are Cashels, they are comfortable and non-irritating. We tighten them until we can comfortably place two fingers between the mask at the jaw and the jaw itself.

Thank you for reading my ramblings, best of luck.

Catnip, either the dried leaves brewed as "tea" or ordering some oil, works well on most flying pests, it's really great for mosquitoes as a spray.

WARNING - if you have moggies (cats), and you use the spray they will have conniptions!!!


Peace