Fly Bites On Udders

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NikkiC88

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Im trying to prepare for the impending fly bites my poor girl always ends up with!
I have seen a stand alone horse belly fly guard that looks like it might work for her belly fly bites. Has anyone tried this?
Im considering trying to make a kind of udder guard and attaching it to the belly guard. Not too sure how successful it'll be though.

I have tried a snuggy hood rug, she absolutely hated it. I've tried countless sprays and creams. The creams seem to make her sweat though, so if its not the fly bites making her itchy its sweaty boobs 🤣
The vet said it probably isnt worth giving her the sweet itch jab, its not actually sweet itch she suffers from. Just awful reactions to the flies. Last year she was on antihistamines, it didnt make much difference.
Deosect slightly helps, but not enough to stop the poor girl getting worked up. If anyone has suggestions please throe them at me!!
 
my geldings get terribly bitten sheaths in summer. I smoother them with aloe vera vasoline to create a barrier, but their tails and everything just get really minging - have to wash them a lot :(

The mozzies are starting to come out already and are HUGE so im already worrying about flies in summer.

We’ve tried so many sprays etc nothing seems to work properly.
 
Wash the area with warm water drop of dettol daily, give it a thorough wash to start with usining dove soap, use tea tree lavender essential oil, and all that stuff a few drops for the pong factor

I use sudocrem, vaseline and effol fly spray, it stinks, and tie a band from one side of fly rug to other about 3 inches wide soaked in everything i can find.

I do wash horses stomach daily and undercarriage in summer
 
My mare gets bad fly irritation along her midline and udders. Think it's a certain type of fly as it only happens earlier in the year around AprilMay. I've tried allsorts but the only thing that stopped it was benzyl benzoate which used to be easy to get in the chemist but now it's not so I've had to get killitch which has BB in it. Seems to do the trick x
 
Nettex Summer Freedom salve works well. Not quite as messy as sudacrem. If you use the Battles then patch test it really well as my pony had a very bad reaction to it.
 
Second the dettol rinse, but nothing ever beats neem oil in my opinion. My mare tolerates it, too (she throws a fit if I try applying any goo of any description and even 'bed baths' are a feat which should really feature on Strictly.
 
NikkiC88 said:
Im trying to prepare for the impending fly bites my poor girl always ends up with!
I have seen a stand alone horse belly fly guard that looks like it might work for her belly fly bites. Has anyone tried this?
Im considering trying to make a kind of udder guard and attaching it to the belly guard. Not too sure how successful it'll be though.

I have tried a snuggy hood rug, she absolutely hated it. I've tried countless sprays and creams. The creams seem to make her sweat though, so if its not the fly bites making her itchy its sweaty boobs 🤣
The vet said it probably isnt worth giving her the sweet itch jab, its not actually sweet itch she suffers from. Just awful reactions to the flies. Last year she was on antihistamines, it didnt make much difference.
Deosect slightly helps, but not enough to stop the poor girl getting worked up. If anyone has suggestions please throe them at me!!
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Uddermint dairy salve, agri supplies
Benzyl benzoate, on line if not at the merchants,
De Meulenkamp or Boett sweet itch blankets with the ‘fanny flap’ fitted.
 
Meredith said:
Not the most dignified of pictures but it shows what I used on an SI mare I owned a while ago.
A Snuggy udder cover with the velcro attached to a Shires SI rug.
I had 2 to change daily.

View attachment 173935
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I tried the snuggy udder covers with the snuggy rugs, and all it did was act like a nappy and fill with poop and pee 😭 I was gutted it didn't work for my mare at the time, Snuggy were very good and we tried all sorts of adjustments to get it to not fill, but we came to the conclusion that the mares anatomy just didn't agree with the covers.
Ever since, I've just applied sprays/creams to keep the flies away, reapplying daily, but it sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle if she gets irritated from them being sweaty too. Covering them won't really help there are you're just restricting airflow which will make them sweat more.
Is she particularly hairy around there, or does she have quite large/fat udders that stop them from getting proper airflow?
 
rabatsa said:
Careful with uddermint, not all horses appreciate the feel of it as it can heat up the area.
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Yes, definitely patch test any product before slathering on, altho Uddermint is for cooling and a soothing effect, I think menthol in it, and feels so on hands when used on cows. Seems to barrier-deter flies fairly well, the concern being mastitis.
 
Nasicus said:
I tried the snuggy udder covers with the snuggy rugs, and all it did was act like a nappy and fill with poop and pee 😭 I was gutted it didn't work for my mare at the time, Snuggy were very good and we tried all sorts of adjustments to get it to not fill, but we came to the conclusion that the mares anatomy just didn't agree with the covers.
Ever since, I've just applied sprays/creams to keep the flies away, reapplying daily, but it sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle if she gets irritated from them being sweaty too. Covering them won't really help there are you're just restricting airflow which will make them sweat more.
Is she particularly hairy around there, or does she have quite large/fat udders that stop them from getting proper airflow?
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Oh dear! never had that problem, but a great, big, peach-backside mare, so the udder cover tucked neatly between her legs. Snuggy material is quite thick at side of the Boetts and DeMs, tried once but proved far too sweaty and sold it.
 
Exasperated said:
Yes, definitely patch test any product before slathering on, altho Uddermint is for cooling and a soothing effect, I think menthol in it, and feels so on hands when used on cows. Seems to barrier-deter flies fairly well, the concern being mastitis.
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Not what my OH said when he put it on his knees and the fumes/heat went up his trousers. He stripped off pdq.
 
rabatsa said:
Not what my OH said when he put it on his knees and the fumes/heat went up his trousers. He stripped off pdq.
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Actually, was it Teisen brand? That one is ‘avoid mucuous membranes’….
Just been to plunge my fingers into a big tub we use, lovely and cool, minty perfume, labelled as ‘udder cream salve’. (Apparently Sophie Loren, actress, once endorsed a minty udder cream, for moisturising her skin!)
Anyway, tickly uddered mares have benefitted from this cooling cow product in the past. Not sure about husbands, altho mine’s always been fairly enthusiastic about gorgeous film stars.
 
rabatsa said:
The proper/original Teisen stuff that we used on the cows. It is actually sold as a liniment.
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Sorry, I did know Teisen can be peppery, especially if you’ve got a graze or cut! Plenty of others, like Kerblmint, Agrimint, various generic versions - maybe just stick to the minty udder salves!
 
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