Fly repellent - amazing!

[Orangehorse]

Yesterday my son put something onto his cattle as a fly repellent. Cattle get annoyed by and suffer from flies as much as horses and can get serious eye infections and other things, and you don't handle the cattle every day to spot it until it is bad, and then there is the problem of fetching one in from the field a mile away .......

Amazing - today we were sorting them into batches in a smelly outdoor yard and not one animal had flies on its head. It is supposed to work for at least 6 weeks. I was looking for the carton to see what it was, but I couldn't decide which one, and I suppose that it might not be licenced for horses. I wish I had asked the vet, I would have if I had known they were doing that.

If only it was available for horses.

 

[Nettle123]

Coopers spot-on? . Not licenced for horses but works well.

 

[paddi22]

is that the blue liquid you dot down their spine?

 

[Quigleyandme]

We use Butox here. Only licenced for cattle and sheep but routinely used on equines too. I have a field of bull calves here and none of them are experiencing any fly worry. All I can see of them at the moment is their yellow ear tags as they are all lying down under the trees but the tags aren’t moving.

 

[LegOn]

Probably was Deosect - I've used it on horses, it does really work but it stinks!

 

[windand rain]

Probably fly pour or switch

 

[Tiddlypom]

Probably fly pour or switch

That's what I use. They are the same product, but Switch comes in smaller bottles (250ml) and costs much more per application than Flypor.

Vets can legally prescribe Flypor off label for horses, though, and so I bought a 3l bottle a few weeks ago. It's 40 ml per horse applied weekly to the top line.

4% w/v permethrin.

 

[Rowreach]

I use Coopers and have done for about 20 years

 

[ycbm]

I've just bought deltamethrin, same chemical as Coopers but cheaper, from the Farm Supplies shop because Joe is so bothered by being bitten. It has been tested on horses but not licensed. It's a huge bonus that it stops ticks when you live in deer country.


cost £21 for 250ml, 25 doses, lasts 4-6 weeks per dose.
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[Rowreach]

I've just bought deltamethrin, same chemical as Coopers but cheaper, from the Farm Supplies shop because Joe is so bothered by being bitten. It has been tested on horses but not licensed. It's a huge bonus that it stops ticks when you live in deer country.


cost £21 for 250ml, 25 doses, lasts 4-6 weeks per dose.
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That’s about half the price of Coopers.

 

[ycbm]

That’s about half the price of Coopers.

I'll get the name of it if anyone wants it when I go outside in an hour or so. Spotiton, I think.
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[ycbm]

Spotinor.

 

[ycbm]

It works! I put it on at 6 last night and today I saw one fly near Deza, a horse fly which circled around, got close to landing, changed its mind and flew off.
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[soloequestrian]

Many years ago I used one of these pour-on repellents on a horse and she came up in a huge weal right down her back where the liquid had spread. I've never dared use one since. Has anyone else had this or could it just have been that one horse?

 

[windand rain]

As with any new chemical it is best to spot test on a fairly hairless bit of the horse to test for a reaction 48 hours should be enough

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Does it get washed off when cold hosing ?

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Spotinor.

We use it. We get it for the sheep but a couple of horse doses go 'astray' every few weeks.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I don't use Spotinor, I use Flypor (4% permethrin) which for horses is a once weekly application along the top line. Interestingly for cattle it's application every 4-8 weeks.

It's definitely been less effective this week, it was last applied on Saturday. I have been cold hosing the horses all over several times a day during the heatwave, which may well have something to do with that. I wouldn't normally hose along their top lines, just in this extreme heat.

 

[ycbm]

Does it get washed off when cold hosing ?

No it's systemic, it soaks right into the horse and then they exude it all over their bodies for several weeks. It disappeared from my 3 within 48 hours.
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[Jamie Kent]

Are we still using these types of chemicals in 2021 ? no judgement but permethrin & deltamethrin is proven to be a strong neurotoxin and toxic for the environment so maybe we should move on from these to be more eco responsible

 

[ycbm]

Are we still using these types of chemicals in 2021 ? no judgement but permethrin & deltamethrin is proven to be a strong neurotoxin and toxic for the environment so maybe we should move on from these to be more eco responsible

No judgement ?

I have two horses who are producing serious lumps from horsefly bites and a third with multiple scars from sarcoid removal, a close neighbour/good friend currently is box resting a tendon injury caused by trying to run away from a horse fly inside a fly rug, and my unfertilised, spot weedkilled (for dock only), wildflower hill meadow is home to huge numbers of insects and some rare wild flowers and endangered birds and mammals.
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[Jamie Kent]

No judgement ?

I have two horses who are producing serious lumps from horsefly bites and a third with multiple scars from sarcoid removal, a close neighbour/good friend currently is box resting a tendon injury caused by trying to run away from a horse fly inside a fly rug, and my unfertilised, spot weedkilled (for dock only), wildflower hill meadow is home to huge numbers of insects and some rare wild flowers and endangered birds and mammals.
.

I'm really not judging, it's just that we should be looking into safe solutions for both our loved ones and nature.
three things :
First : using permethrin or deltamethrin will only make it worse on the long run as insects have been proven to adapt to those chemicals in the long run and become fairly resistent to them
certain insects are already not responding to these, many videos have shown that ticks show heavy resistance to it and that it's actually not that us
Second : these chemicals alo kill "non dangerous" insects such as flies, honey bees, ladybugs ... making it worse for the environment as we know they're essentials to our ecosystem
Third : it's also dangerous for a lot of other animals (cats; frogs, fishes...)
All i'm saying is let's not destroy an entire natural habitat just to make our horses more comfortable

 

[ycbm]

All i'm saying is let's not destroy an entire natural habitat just to make our horses more comfortable

I'm all ears Jamie, please tell me how to protect my horses without using rugs which I consider dangerous or chemicals which you do. They are already indoors from 9 to 6.

Bearing in mind also that all around me my cattle farming neighbours are pouring deltamethrin on hundreds of cows.
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[Jamie Kent]

I'm all ears Jamie, please tell me how to protect my horses without using rugs which I consider dangerous or chemicals which you do. They are already indoors from 9 to 6.

Bearing in mind also that all around me my cattle farming neighbours are pouring deltamethrin on hundreds of cows.
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Unfortunately I don't have a miracle solution, for flies and small insects I suggest either sticky fly paper; or maybe diatomaceous earth based insect killer which is more natural; for ticks and stronger insects essentials oils have actually been proven more efficient than certain chemicals

But in all of that really you have to accept a certain amount of insects around your horse unless you keep him and the barn squeeky clean at all time

 

[ycbm]

Fly paper in a ten acre field?

I don't have to accept insects biting and bothering my horses, deltamethrin has proved extremely effective. Bear in mind that biting by horse flies carrying bovine papilloma can be fatal long term.

When cattle farmers around me stop using it, I will consider doing the same with my 3, hopefully tomorrow 2, horses.
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[meleeka]

I think it’s all very well expecting a certain amount of flies/mozzies, BUT it does depend on the individual horse. I have 5, 2 of which cope perfectly well without fly repellents, two of whom get a spray when they are particular bad, but one that is driven demented by them. I’m afraid i’m unwilling to let him suffer unnecessarily. I could use a fly rug, but have seen horses where horseflies have gotten underneath and a rug wouldn’t protect his under bits where it bothers him most.

 

[ycbm]

Update on Spotinor.

I put it on 3 horses a month ago with no ill effects at all and it definitely stopped flies from landing on them.

I repeated it two days ago and two have had no reaction at all. But my youngster has come up in a raised patch exactly where it was put. I would not dare use it again, as his reaction next time could be off the scale now his immune system has been primed.

Obviously anyone planning to use it for the first time should spot test, but my own experience is that spot testing for the second application would also be wise.
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