Neem oil- the BEST thing for keeping those bugs away!

[mellsmom]

Been using it for a while myself

NeemAura sells it on the web. Add one dropper full to each sprayer of natural fly spray. I use CLAC. I also add 15 - 20 drops of Pennyroyal to this. Yes, neem smells, do NOT get it on you…gack! Think of burnt garlic and faint skunk spray. … at the same time.
I also have mizxed up the CLAC and FLicks and added Neem to it this year and that seems to do a really nice job.
Neem Aura makes a good human spray that works really well on trail rides to keep those gnats at bay. I sometimes use it on the horse’s crochet hats when the no see ums are particularly bad…after I spray my helmet with it.

I also have the metered sprayers and use the breethease spray which is a menthol eucalyptus spray and it rocks on the gnats. My draftie will go stand under the sprayer when it’s really bad.

You can also use neem oil to repel garden pests (not so sucessful for me) and it is used for a whole array of things… do a web search… my favorite is that it’s used for birth control in some countries… Well, sure I see how the smell might just be a buzz kill

[goeslikestink]

[QUOTE=ASB Stars;4171828]
Yes, Thomas, and all for a great cause.

But what is the secret ingredient…since you decided to wander on to my thread?

Neem is great stuff.[/QUOTE]

make a donation to the cause then you will find out but dont tell anyone when you have otherwise it kinda defeats the object for raising money to healp research and to help those in need

[ASB_Stars]

The question was rhetorical, after a fashion.

[mellsmom]

Other good oils

You can always mix your own herbals from concentrate and add in a few drops of your favorite essential oils. Can be found at health food stores. I used to do mine completely from scratch.
Tea tree… I am allergic to this and Citronella, so I try to stay away as much as i can from these. Also Citronella can attract bees, so I really don’t like that about it. Mix your oils and water with either witchhazel or white vinegar so the carrier oils dispurse in the water.
Lavender- has antifungal and anti bacterial properties.
Eucalyptus (and menthol) are good for repelling the no see ems.
Red Cedar Oil…also good (if you can, grow a few of them in your pasture, they make excellent shade/shelter trees… and they smell pretty good too).
Thyme is a good one, but horses and people can be sensitive, so be careful not to use too much.
Pennyroyal. Not something they should eat, but good in repellants.
Neem- very good.
Mint- ok, so I don’t know if it helps, but adding a couple of drops of lavender and peppermint to your mix makes it smell pretty good
Marigold and Geranium are also good.
On a side note, I have one of those mosquito repellant geraniums and I put it on my garden this year. Low bugs so far, but who knows???

[ASB_Stars]

Lemon grass oil, euchalyptus, and a bit of dish soap, are all great additions to any natural mix!

[_3OTTB]

what does it smell like? I’ve heard of it but what is it? (what’s a neem?) What seems to cut it the best?

[Thomas_1]

[QUOTE=ASB Stars;4171828]
Yes, Thomas, and all for a great cause.

But what is the secret ingredient…since you decided to wander on to my thread?

Neem is great stuff.[/QUOTE]

It’s a secret. I can’t tell you and if I did, I’d then have to kill you. :winkgrin:

All I can say here is instead of pontificating and wondering and speculating and giving away hints and tips, just get your hand in your pocket and take out your credit card and donate to Leukaemia Research.

Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better afterwards having donated to this fantastic cause.

Furthermore, you get to find out the secret recipe.

Follow the instructions here and join the fabulously generous crowd who have raised $21,000 for Leukaemia Research AND alleviated their horses’ misery.
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=104176

[ASB_Stars]

Thomas…listen (or read) very carefully. I do not want your recipe. If I did, I’d have gotten it long ago. If everyone here on COTH wanted it, your total would be higher, wouldn’t it? I laud what you are doing- we all have what is important to us. I lost a friend to leukemia in grade school. She was a special human being. However, we have all lost friends- two and four legged to all kinds of tragedies. Hooray for you and your program!

I started this thread as a PSA- Neem oil is fabulous, amazing stuff, and you do not have to mix everything from scratch in order to take advantage of its wonderful properties. Others have added different ingredients to the list of things they have used.

This isn’t about you, Thomas. Not everything is, you know. :lol:

[Thomas_1]

So why ask what was in it then! I’m terribly sorry I bumped into your cage and irked you. (NOT!!)

Let’s play horse. I’ll be the front end and you be yourself.

[ASB_Stars]

[QUOTE=ASB Stars;4174211]
The question was rhetorical, after a fashion.[/QUOTE]

Did you read this? As you seem to want me to share, I was aware that neem oil was in your recipe- and, perhaps, could be referred to as the “special” ingredient.

Perhaps it is time for you to go back, and mind the still, as opposed to just consuming the contents.

[Thomas_1]

[QUOTE=ASB Stars;4176186]
Did you read this? [/QUOTE] No I didn’t. But now I have I’m thinking you don’t have a clue what rhetorical means!

As you seem to want me to share, I was aware that neem oil was in your recipe- and, perhaps, could be referred to as the “special” ingredient.
I never said it was and I never said it wasn’t

Perhaps it is time for you to go back, and mind the still, as opposed to just consuming the contents.
I’ll get round to that at the same time you get your head from up your backside and the lemon from out of your sourpus face!

[sid]

Note: Pennyroyal should not handled by pregnant women and presumably, not used on pregnant mares.

[ASB_Stars]

[QUOTE=Thomas_1;4176197]
No I didn’t. But now I have I’m thinking you don’t have a clue what rhetorical means!

I never said it was and I never said it wasn’t

I’ll get round to that at the same time you get your head from up your backside and the lemon from out of your sourpus face![/QUOTE]

Thomas, I said after a fashion. At that time, I was unwilling to give up what the ingredients- or at least one of them- might be. The question did, inpoint of fact, allude to the answer. It is not as great a secret, apparently, as you’d like to believe, but I have been using neem for along while- long before I knew of you, or your “secret”.

And as for rectal cranial inversions, with a twist, I’ll leave that to you, after a bit of gin. Perhaps your arrogance will be better for the experience.

[goeslikestink]

are we – marketing i have a feeling your maketing a product and looking for extra avenues to sell

[ASB_Stars]

Very funny. I have no connection, whatsoever, to any company that sells neem- other than I buy it from whomever has the best price, when I need it. You are confusing me with Thomas. He IS marketing products.

Thomas- you seem to be under the impression that every opinion that you have- on any subject- is unassailable- and, more to the point, that you should be able to inflict it on all and sundry. If they do not roll over, and cry, you continue- amping up your arrogance, epithets, and erudition. But the end result is the same, for those of us who are not cowed, or impressed. You are a jerk. A jerk of the realm, but a jerk, by any other name…would still stink.

[Mamamia]

Can I use the Neem Extract/Vinegar/Water mixture to control flies that are gathering in the shavings? I have a new foal (1 week old) and I need to do something about the flies in the stall.

[ASB_Stars]

@Mamamia

Can I use the Neem Extract/Vinegar/Water mixture to control flies that are gathering in the shavings? I have a new foal (1 week old) and I need to do something about the flies in the stall.

Neem is used in the agriculture industry to protect plants. I do not know whether there could be any issues for the foal, however, I would be inclined to use that mixture over a chemical spray. Just my .02.