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Bot flies...

3K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  G and K's Mom 
#1 ·
I was wondering if anyone has anything they use to rid their horses of bot flies. I am almost positive that is what it is. I have wormed with an Ivermectin paste this time and it seems to not be helping. Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
You need to get them off their legs or body. There are several items for sale to remove them, such as bot blocks or scrapers. You can also clip them off. You need to be able to dispose of what you have scraped off so that they don't become re-infected.

Worming will not get them off the body but it will stop the cycle inside the horse.

Here in Canada once we get hit with a hard frost we worm with Ivermectin and then again in the spring to ensure you break the cycle.

Have you considered doing a fecal count? What is making you believe there's a problem?
 
#3 ·
Couple of reasons...

We have 4 horses. They get brushed down at least every other day. I use a bot knife on them when I brush them to make sure they don't have any eggs. I previously owned two mini horses and they got down in weight. I was told by the vet that it was bot flies. My fillie is losing weight. She is 8 months old and on grain and hay. Same as my other horses. I know she eats good, but you can barley see her ribs. So that is the only thing I can come up with.
 
#4 ·
Get a fecal count done. It's cheap insurance, there about 15-35 dollars depending where your located.

When you say the 8 month old is on the same food as the other horse's are they young ones as well? Young horse's have different nutritional needs. What type of grain and how much? How may pounds of hay per day.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they go through growth spurts and that can make them look ungainly. Can you post a picture?
 
#10 ·
Get a fecal count done. It's cheap insurance, there about 15-35 dollars depending where your located.
If you do want to do a fecal count, check with your state vet/agg department. Here in NC, you can send them to the state lab and have it done for free.
 
#5 ·
I am feeding Strategy, which is the best feed they offer here in east texas. She is being fed 2 pounds of that a day and free choice tipton hay. She is my youngest horse, however she is taken out of the pasture to feed, so that my older ones don't run her off. I will take a picture of her this evening and upload it tomorrow. I don't have any of her as she looks right now.
 
#9 ·
Yep, it's not really likely that bot fly larva are causing weight loss. A fecal exam would be a very good idea, though getting one done right after using ivermectin is likely to just give you a negative result because of the dewormer and not tell you what kind of parasites your horse is picking up from the pasture.

How old is this horse and what breed? Is the hay you are feeding really good quality? And you say it's free-choice--available 24/7?

Besides the last deworming with ivermectin, what is her deworming history like? What kind of pasture situation is there---other horses, feces picked up, etc? Being that you are in Texas, you are seeing the time of year with the highest parasite reinfection rates. Depending on your pasture maintenance, that could be really high or it could be pretty low for your specific situation, but you need to assess the risk factors and get some basic info on the kind of parasite loads your horses typically carry by having fecal egg counts done on them at least 9-10 weeks after dosing with ivermectin.
 
#11 ·
De-worming your horse will most likely not help with getting rid of external bots. Iodine baths will get rid of it quite well. It may not smell the best, but it works great for getting rid of bots. The only way a de-wormer would help with bots is if the horse licked itself and ingested them, in which case a de-worming would kill them internally.
 
#12 ·
She is an 8 month old quarter horse. We have 2 other horses in with her. We worm every 3 months alternating wormers. Hay is available to them 24/7. It is fertilized Tipton...so very good hay..no weeds at all. I will check with the department of agriculture and see what they have to say. Thank you for all of your advice. It has really opened my mind.
 
#13 ·
Is she just on hay and strategy? Is there any grass or is the paddock dirt?

Deworming every 3 months with a horse under 1 year of age is simply not enough. You are talking about an age when the horse is much more susceptible to parasites than they are when they are adults. Deworming foals must done much more frequently due to this increased susceptibility and it's often recommended that you deworm monthly because of the life cycle of ascarids which are a big concern in horses under 1 year of age.

You would do well to reassess your deworming program by assessing risk factors---pasture contamination, horse's resistance to parasites, weather conditions that change the risk of reinfection, whether the drugs you are using are still effective. Simple rotational deworming programs are no longer the recommended way to manage parasites in horses---strategic deworming by assessing the situation and designing a deworming program to fit the situation is a much better option. You should run a few fecal egg counts on your horses, both 9-10 weeks after this last dosing with ivermectin to see what kind of load your horses carry and again about 2 weeks after using fenbendazole and pyrantel to see if you are dealing with resistant parasites.

Go to www.thehorse.com and search deworming and you will find lots of information. There is even a webinar (online lecture) that you can watch on Strategic Deworming.



Even for your adult horses, depending on the condition of the paddock/pasture that they are in and their own resistance to parasites deworming every 3 months (especially rotating deworms and doing it every 3 months) may not be doing a good job of managing parasites. 2 of the 3 commonly used drugs in a rotation may not really be doing much for adult horses who's biggest parasite problem is strongyles. In more than 90% of areas tested world-wide, fenbendazole (panacur, safeguard) is no longer effective at killing strongyles because the parasites are resistant to it. And in about 40% of areas tested in the US the same is true with pyrantel (strongid). This means that if you are deworming every 3 months and using these two drugs in your rotation for at least 6 months of the year you are likely really not doing much in the way of getting rid of strongyles in your horses and therefore they are still shedding eggs into your pasture to reinfect themselves.
 
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