Thinking ahead to next summer - do any feed-through fly repellent supplements actually work? My gelding is of the sensitive chestnut variety and the flies make him miserable, even in a full fly sheet and mask. Wondering if I could add something to his feed to see if it helps.
I’ve looked at SmartBugOff and Buggzo from Horsetech.
I’ve wondered about this as well. It is my understanding, though, that most of these are garlic supplements, and I have seen conflicting reports about whether or not garlic is safe to feed long term. I am interested to hear about other people’s experience.
I use Simplifly. Deltawave’s comments in this thread https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/142016-does-feed-thru-fly-control-work are great. I would only add that you need to buy the stuff each year…once I bought some clearance and tried it the next year - nadda. And you have to be consistent and not miss a day. But the product has really changed the summer fly population here.
My question about Simplifly is this - does it kill dung beetles? I finally have dung beetles on my property and I worry about taking them out with the Simplifly. After reading the old thread on the garlic stuff I have decided that is a no-go.
In the past I have used fly predators but I don’t feel like they are terribly effective and they get more expensive every year. I feel like I need to change my routine this year. My new gelding is a thin skinned chestnut and the bug bites make big welts. I feel terrible for him. Fly sprays are only minimally helpful and don’t last long, IMO.
I actually have flies at my place right now. We have had a weirdly warm winter and no freeze yet. I had to buy fly spray this weekend. Weird.
I use solitude and think it works well. I tried fly predators but haven’t had good luck with them. I read somewhere that the fire ants eat them, maybe thats why.
I put my chestnut TB on Buggzo this past summer. He’s also in full fly gear outside, otherwise he stomps himself lame (doesn’t run away from bugs though).
I did find he was better under saddle than the previous summer, when I could barely walk as he would swing his head side to side nipping at bugs on his shoulders and chest, and swish his tail constantly. Note - he was pretty much fine when trotting/cantering and the bugs weren’t constantly landing on him, but walking comfortably was difficult.
I can’t say for sure that it was the Buggzo, or whether it just wasn’t as bad a bug season, but I’m planning to put him back on the Buggzo again this year. It’s worth it if it helps him even somewhat.
BTW, Horsetech was great to deal with. I order their Nutramino too, and I requested a small sample of Buggzo (telling them specifically I just wanted enough to see if he’d eat it before ordering a big tub). They sent me an entire bag to try! He had no issues eating it.
I use simplifly and Fly predators. I think the combo works quite well. Fans make a difference too just to keep the air moving. A few industrial fans in the barn make it less favorable for flies. It is hard to say what actually works–I find the bug burden varies on what the neighbor plants–wheat years are great b/c it only gets irrigated once a summer. Sugar beets are irrigated weekly and so lots of bug.
I have chickens that free range so I have to sprinkle the predators above where they can reach them.
From personal experience at our place, where we’ve been using SimpliFly for years and years, there are still plenty of hard-working dung beetles.
Also, we have finished off the remainder of a container of SimpliFly that’s been held over the winter, the next year, with acceptable results, multiple times. However, we don’t have severe winters, so perhaps that’s the reason it’s remained usable.
Good to know on both counts. I have a large container of Simplifly left over from last year. I bought it and then got nervous about using it. Thanks!
Let me go into a bit more detail: I buy the large container, then off-load 4-6 weeks supply into a smaller container, which is then opened daily to supply the horses. The large container is tightly sealed and stored, while the smaller one is topped off as necessary.
So, the large container is only opened perhaps 6 to 8 times annually (in our climate, I feed SimplyFly 8+ months/year). I feel this contributes to its relative freshness.
Over the winter, I might even take the large container to our home for storage.
I’m fine with this routine; I figure that I’m going to be feeding the SimplyFly for most of the year, so the product in the large container is already going to be several months old (not even considering that it may have been at the distributor for a while before purchase) when fed, so what’s a few more months of storage, especially when the large container is so infrequently opened?
I don’t, however, dip out of the large container on a daily basis, store it in severe conditions, or have so much on hand that it wouldn’t be consumed within a few months of the new feeding season (after storage during the winter).
Example: begin feeding around mid-February, feed through the end of October or so (these dates depend upon weather, rainfall, forecasts, etc.). Store remainder November/December/January, start giving again sometime in February; probably finish container by late spring.
Hope this makes sense.
I feed garlic for ticks, and find it effective there, but don’t think it does diddly for the flies–if you’re considering a garlic based supplement.
Simplifly and Solitude and the like do need to be fed to ALL the horses on the property to work, and are a waste of $$$ if only your horse is on board.
My fly predators got A LOT more useful when I stopped poisoning them by applying fly spray in the stalls. Oops! Fly spray is far more effective killing those little helpful guys than flies!
I use Solitude on my whole herd, at the recommendation of my vet, but then again I’m lucky to have them at my house and not have horsey neighbors close by. We tried SmartBug-Off and that didn’t work. We’ve also done Apple Cider Vinegar in their water and wet lunch with some minor success.
Fly Predators, as said above, can’t be around fly spray. I got chewed out by my vet for applying fly spray in the stalls and when stopped they seemed so much more effective.
Are SimpliFly and Equitrol II the exact same thing? Both are made by Farnam and have the same active ingredient.
For those that commented about fly spray killing the predators - Can you use fly spray outside the barn without harming them? I finally got on board with using EcoVet which made a difference enough that I was able to ride without myself and my horse being bombarded. Now that she is home and we don’t have any farms with livestock (just crops) nearby I want to use a feed through and the predators in addition to the spray.
I have used feed through in the past and it only worked if every horse in the barn was on it and every horse ate it. Many don’t like the taste and depending on the brand, it is essentially garlic put into pellet form. If you don’t have any picky eaters, they might help reduce a flies a little. I would say a combination of fly spray, fly predators around the barn, and good manure management would be the trifecta of keeping flies away. I used the Smartpak brand fly supplement. Had one horse eat it and the other (a picky eater) completely refuse.
Good luck with the flies! I’m not excited for fly season to start again :no:
I used Simplify last year and we still had dung beetles. Simplify did seem to work well and I asked the vet about it before starting. She suggested starting to feed it right before fly season began (don’t wait until you notice the problem) and that was great for me. It didn’t completely take care of the issue because we’re surrounded by other farms with horrible fly/manure issues, but it especially helped with the bot flies. I did still use fly spray as needed (but got away with only once a day most of the time). I’m planning to use it again this year.
Good to know. Thanks.
I haven’t researched feed through control at all. Mostly because do organic farming and I’m not sure if they would qualify since we use the manure for compost. Down here, in the Holy Land of bugs, fly predators and cleaning daily slows them down.
Garlic is an anti-inflammatory. A former barn owner was feeding my old mare BugCheck without my knowledge. Horse was already on anti-inflammatories. Horse got hurt, was bleeding badly, and we had a terrible time stopping the bleeding.
I know the Smartpak brand of feed through cautions against use in horses already on anti-inflammatories…or at least it used to…because of the garlic.
You have to be really careful with the feed throughs if you have a horse on other meds.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
