Buggzo, Bugoff, etc - do they work?

[stb]

We have had a weirdly warm and very wet winter, so I am already battling flies. My horses started Simplifly 3:weeks ago. I clean stalls daily (usually just urine, horses can go in and out), pick dry lot daily, and pick pastures at least twice a week,

I have a new pony. She’s 28, has cataracts, and is the sweetest soul on earth. She is also a fly magnet. A chestnut fly magnet. I also have a chestnut gelding I added last year and he gets welts from fly bites, so I feel I need to up my game. Are the products like Buggzo effective? Are they safe?

I am using fly spray, of course, but I have yet to find a spray that lasts more than a short while. Any advice welcome, these chestnut horses are a whole new ball game.

[OverandOnward]

Well, they don’t get rid of the need for fly spray. I hope they make a difference, but there is no way that I know of to tell. Flies are a quality of life issue for horses in this area.

In my experience, there is far more benefit to the feed-through fly controller that kills the flies before they hatch (or however they come into being), in the poop. (I’m probably scientifically incorrect on that, but it’s a killer of flies as they come into being, not a repellant.) That makes a huge difference. Especially in the barn. I’ve spent several years in two barns that required it of all boarded horses, and after those experiences, I would not be in a barn without it.

[Simkie]

I do straight garlic, from springtime, because it’s air dried and supposedly carries less risk of Heinz body anemia.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it helps with flies. It does make a big difference for ticks.

[stb]

Well, darn. I am already using Simplifly. I was really hoping against hope that there was a magic bullet that I hadn’t heard about. I have never seen a horse that attracts flies like this pony does. The other two horses can have perhaps a fly or two and the pony will have 20. Yuck.

[SolarFlare]

I used Buggzo for the first time last year (chestnut TB gelding with thin skin), and he did seem better to ride. The previous year, the poor thing had a really hard time at the walk because he’d be biting at his chest, sides, etc the whole time until we trotted.

That said, it was only a one-time comparison so far. I am going to put him back on it again this year.

He still gets turned out in a fly sheet with neck, fly mask, and fly boots, but no fly spray. The previous year I had him in fly sheet and fly mask, no boots, and he stomped himself lame.

You might also want to try the Ecovet fly spray. I got a bottle last year, and it was amazingly effective. I only used it for hacking - we have a wooded area and the deer flies are awful in the summer. I used the Ecovet as directed, and also sprayed the ears of his fly bonnet, and the deer flies wouldn’t touch him. I was one of the few people in the barn who would even hack all summer because of how bad the bugs were.

[SharonA]

Re: Ecovet, just make sure you and horse are upwind of the direction of spray. That stuff could take down an elephant if inhaled. It is beyond foul. But, if you can get it on your horse without either of you breathing it, I think anything that awful has to work against flies.

[stb]

I have used Ecovet in the past and liked it. There are times though, that is seems to wane in efficacy - maybe due to the particular bug load at the time. It is probably my favorite fly spray overall though.

[merrygoround]

Over time, I have found that Absorbine Ultrashield did last a reasonable long time, however not the 14 days claimed. I believe a COTH survey came up with the same convulsion last year, or maybe year before.

It has the bene of water resistance,& sunscreen, so I don’t have bleached out horses. But, it is expensive.

Feeding feed through fly retardants leaves residue in the soil.

[horsepoor]

I used Buggzo in the past for my two that were really sensitive to flies and I did think it made a difference. Last year, I started my haflinger mare on it late in the season (mid-summer-ish) as she was having a terrible time with bug bites. I think it made a difference, but can’t really say for sure since it might just have been us keeping up better on fly spraying her or limiting turnout to less buggy times. I do plan to start her on it again this year, earlier like maybe April. We also use fly predators, keep manure picked up and grass mowed, and use fly spray and fly sheets as needed. This is looking to be a bag bug year here as the winter was so mild and spring seems early.

[BlueDrifter]

I used Buggzo for the first time last year, and think it worked also – my horse had less flies that the rest. Overall, our little group of stalled horses also invested in Fly Predators so the fly load might have been lower, but even so, my horse had less than others. Bought it for this year already.

[OverandOnward]

Some horses do seem to be fly magnets more than others. The ones I have known pretty much lived in swaddling fly sheets covering as much of them as possible. And spent more time than the rest of the herd in a relatively fly-free barn.

There is no ideal magic answer, unfortunately. I think it’s about choosing whatever makes your pony the most comfortable. Sometimes when a horse is truly miserable from whatever condition, I have to go with what works best for the horse, and ignore criticism from the sidelines and just accept that there are some less than ideal issues with the relief method.

[IPEsq]

Buggzo kept mine from getting huge welts last year from bites so I think it made some difference.