Fly Bites!

[SNORKEY]

Hi, My horse came up in small bumps on his neck and face about 3 weeks ago, I presumed they were fly bites but they arn't going.
Do fly bites take a long time to dissapear? I cant think of anything else it could be, he's been in the same field for years and never had a reaction to anything.

 

[harmony_]

Ive got a very sensitive TB and he comes up in rashes all through summer with fly bites and they dont go untill the flies go away! He also comes up in a rash if he lays in nettles, is this a possibility?

Anyway I normally spend a fortune on fly spray that doesnt work and have recently started mixing white vinegar, citronella oil and water together and his fly bites and rashes havnt appeared since!

Hope you find the cause soon!
R x

 

[SNORKEY]

Hi, ive been using that mixture myself as well, maybe i was a bit late and they bit him before.
He is a sensative horse but ive had him 9 years and he's never had bites like this. Il just keep putting fly repellant on then and hope they go away. Ive been meaning to bath him as well which may help if I use something soothing.

 

[chestnut cob]

Loads of them or just a few? Mine had an allergic reaction this time last year to midge bits and then developed one to alfalfa. Took ages to clear up.

He's very sensitive to fly bits and always gets savaged. The best spray I've found is the NAF Deet one, it's brilliant.

 

[SNORKEY]

Loads of them or just a few? Mine had an allergic reaction this time last year to midge bits and then developed one to alfalfa. Took ages to clear up.

He's very sensitive to fly bits and always gets savaged. The best spray I've found is the NAF Deet one, it's brilliant.

He's been on Alfafa for the first time in the past month! he has about 15-20 on the right side of his neck and about 10 on his right side of his face!

Could it be that then? it would tie in with the time he's been on Alfalfa and came up with the bumps.

 

[chestnut cob]

He's been on Alfafa for the first time in the past month! he has about 15-20 on the right side of his neck and about 10 on his right side of his face!

Could it be that then? it would tie in with the time he's been on Alfalfa and came up with the bumps.

Just seen your other post about alfalfa...

You need to speak to your vet really but the easiest thing to do is to stop feeding it - if they go away then you'll know that's the answer.

Mine was unlucky and got a bacterial infection at the same time. That cleared up pretty easily but the protein lumps took ages. I've always fed chaffs containing alfalfa but switched to Simple System pure alfalfa. He's always been a good doer so never fed much hard feed - when I went on holiday last year, my YO got a bit confused over the amounts and fed him enormous amounts (bucket full every day!). By the time I came back he was covered in hives, all over his shoulders, chest, up his neck and belly. Part of the problem was that it took me a long time to realise what it might be. I took him off it and they did go down but not away completely. For a long time he couldn't tolerate haylage either and would come up in huge lumps if he got hot too. I switched him onto D&H Safe & Sound a few months ago which is the only chaff I could find that doesn't contain alfalfa and *finally* his hives have gone away. My vet did say that once they've had an allergic reaction to something, it can make them very sensitive to other stuff for a while.

Vet told me there were basically two ways of going about things... a) claim on your insurance and get all of the allergy tests done to establish exactly what is wrong or b) cut out as much as you can from his diet then slowly re-introduce things. I cut out everything bar hay and grass, and started again from there. BUT... it might not be an allergy to alfalfa so best talking to your vet first.