[Horsecrazy4ever]

have you heard of putting white vinegar in horses' water trough and it helps repel fly's? if so, what is the ratio? My cows share the trough so it needs to be cow friendly too.

And what are some homemade sprays that has worked good for you?
Anyone use Citronella EO mixed with water?

thanks

 

[TessaMay]

I've heard of putting apple cider vinegar in their waters. Not sure if white vinegar would work the same, but probably - it may taste worse too them though. I have not tried the vinegar method myself since it works best in hot, humid climates. The horse needs to sweat in order for the vinegar to come back out and repel the flies.

For homemade flyspray I used a mix of water, oil, citronella and eucalyptus EO. I've heard of people also adding Dawn dish soap. I've also been told you can use the apple cider vinegar as a fly spay, but some kinds you might need to water down.

 

[Horsecrazy4ever]

anyone else have any comment about adding vinegar to the water trough?
In June/July/August it's very humid and hot here(90's) and the flys are terrible!!
And my animals sweat like crazy so would vinegar be a good thing to try?

Would love some proven recipes that repel fly's for HOURS...is their such a thing? 8)

 

[jaydee]

I've never found vinegar to repel flies - it was used in the days before all the commercial stuff came on the market often mixed with cold tea but didn't have much effect.
You need to be careful what you put in water in case it puts the horses off drinking it
One way to deter flies is to build some sort of a canopy over the trough and hang sticky fly poles in there to attract them away from the water and trap them

 

[countrylove]

Check out the ACV thread in horse talk
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[CcMarie4864]

I haven't been able to test this yet, and can't remember the exact ratio but I read that mixing Skin So Soft lotion, the kind from Avon, with water is supposed to work. I bought a bottle so I can give it a try. The lotion is cheap and being watered down should make it last a while. If it works well I'll let ya know

 

[DanisMom]

Here's a natural fly spray recipe:
Fill a quart bottle 2/3 full with cider vinegar
Add 10 drops tea tree oil, 15 drops lavender oil, 20 drops vegetable glycerine (I use corn huskers lotion),
Fill the final 1/3 with water
Shake before using

 

[ecasey]

There's another thread on here about this. One girl takes apple cider vinegar and several bulbs (not cloves, but the whole bulb's-worth) and steams them together and then filters it. She uses it as a spray.

Also on another thread is the suggestion to put up to a cup of apple cider vinegar (organic, un-filtered with "the mother" in it which is that goop at the bottom of the bottle) in their water every day and supposedly it makes their skin taste bad for flies or repels them in some way from the inside.

Avon's skin so soft is said to work as well.