Bot flies

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apkelly01

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Hi everyone,
Just wondering what people's experiences have been with bot flies.

I had my first encounters on Saturday at the National Irish Draught show in Mullingar. At first I thought it was a bee trying to sting Super and was wondering why it wanted to do it! But I was talking to an Austrailian women who came over to see Super and she said it was a bot fly and it wasn't trying to sting Super, but was laying eggs on her!! I've never seen that before!!!

Anyway, while we were waiting around for the colt class, this fly kept returning and returning trying to lay eggs on her legs and we'd just swipe it away. Then when the photographer came to take Super's photo, it came back and this time was trying to lay eggs on her belly and sides - she went ballistic!! She totally went into a blind panic and starting rearing, bucking, jumping in the air, kicking herself and everything around her. At one point, she jumped into the air and kicked out with her back and front legs! She sent poor Bandit flying and I looked to see if he was alright as he was on his back with four legs in the air! He was fine but dazed and scared of his mum! I tried to hang onto Super and swipe the fly away - very dodgy when hooves are flying! I managed to hit it and then I trotted Super away from the spot with poor Bandit following. The fly never returned and Super settled back to her old calm state and Bandit then was able to suckle without the fear of being sent flying!

I was able to look over Super and Bandit while she was quiet and her legs and sides were cover in bot eggs! Bandit was the same! When we got them home we tried to use horse razors to remove the eggs. The stud manager then arrived with wormers for the two of them to tackle any eggs they may have eaten.

I've never seen Super so psycho! I felt sorry for Bandit, but he's alright and still loves his mum.

I've never seen bot flies before and didn't realise they sent horses so loopy!!
shocked.gif
Has anyone else suffered the same?
 
We get lots here. Theyre very easy to kill, theyre slow so you can just grab them and squash them- its very satisfying!
There's no point worming them at the time, the eggs arent killed by the wormer, it's best to do it in the autumn when theyve hatched.
 
I HATE bot flies...they drive my horses crazy and me...when they lay the eggs it takes hours to get them off.well i find it does anyway! grrrrrrrr. i wish they would go away ...i saw my first one of the year about 2 weeks ago but we had a massive problem with them last year... i would get all the eggs off one minute and go outside later and they would be covered in them again!
 
[ QUOTE ]
We get lots here. Theyre very easy to kill, theyre slow so you can just grab them and squash them- its very satisfying!
There's no point worming them at the time, the eggs arent killed by the wormer, it's best to do it in the autumn when theyve hatched.

[/ QUOTE ]

I tried to catch it, but the bugger was too tricky
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Thanks for the tip on the wormer
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I HATE bot flies...they drive my horses crazy and me...when they lay the eggs it takes hours to get them off.well i find it does anyway! grrrrrrrr. i wish they would go away ...i saw my first one of the year about 2 weeks ago but we had a massive problem with them last year... i would get all the eggs off one minute and go outside later and they would be covered in them again!

[/ QUOTE ]

We don't seem to have them here as I've never been bothered before of had to deal with eggs! I went up today and they still have a few on them so I picked what I could off Bandit but Super was a little bit more difficult!
 
As Boss says, there are loads round here and easy to kill.
I use a special bot knife to remove them from the horses coat but a normal knife (not to sharp) will do the same. Just have the knife one side of the hair the egg is on and your thumb the other and pull, it will come off.
 
[ QUOTE ]
As Boss says, there are loads round here and easy to kill.
I use a special bot knife to remove them from the horses coat but a normal knife (not to sharp) will do the same. Just have the knife one side of the hair the egg is on and your thumb the other and pull, it will come off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for that tip because all the tack shops are shut because of the bank holiday!
 
Some horses just seem to stand and await their fate when these godforsaken things hook on to them to lay their eggs. Others get hysterical - including one of ours who ends up in a complete panic and in danger of hurting himself.

When they fly at the horse they literally fly with their backsides tucked up underneath them so that the sting/hook that they use to anchor on to the horse is aimed directly at them.
 
We rarely get the buggers here. You can also use grooming stones, the ones to remove hair while shedding, and they are extremely effective.
Abbey Diagnostics, a worm-count specialist (and an excellent one) runs an annual 'Bot Watch' on her website.

Why not take a look and see if they have been seen in your area, and notify here when you do see them. She uses the results every year to build up notes and research on them.
http://www.abbeydiagnostics.co.uk/
 
Thanks again everyone
smile.gif
I know the blocks you on about, so I'll try and get one tomorrow.

We don't seem to have them here in our area, but the show was in the Midlands, so don't know if that makes a difference (lakes and bogland)

Thanks Donkeymad, i'll give the website a go.
 
Yeh, we got loads here. They are horrible nasty things, plus I'm sure they love grey horses. Poor Lottie was chased by one EVERYday last summer, funny as its always in the same field the horses get chased. I'd see Lottie galloping frantically around the field I'd let her in to the barn to get away from the damn thing. Best thing to use is a bot fly knife, they come straight off.
 
Is it alright to let the eggs just fall onto bedding etc or do you have to collect them to stop the horse eating them later?
 
We get a lot of them and with three horses to ride I don't have time to mess about scraping the damn things off. So I bought some Net Tex Bot Egg Remover, I think it is the best thing ever! It is utterly vile and stinks to high heaven, but all you need to do is apply it (with rubber gloves) every other day to their legs and there isn't a bot egg to be seen.
 
When I worked at a stud (briefly) we used to put liquid paraffin on the horses legs once a day in summer and that seemed to keep them mostly clear. Whether it keeps the flies away or dissolves the egg-glue, I don't know.
 
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