In the warm season, the fight against blood-sucking insects is very important. However, in order to competently apply existing tools in this area, you need to know their strengths and weaknesses. This article discusses the various methods that can be used to protect cattle. It will tell you how to treat a cow from gadflies and horseflies at home.

Cow care at home

It makes sense to start preparing for the summer period already in mid-March. To protect from insects, you need to process not only cattle, but also their stalls.

On a note. An important tool in the fight against blood-sucking insects can be simple observance of hygiene standards for keeping animals.

It is recommended that the barns be cleaned and disinfected every morning and every evening.

Some cattle breeds have natural remedies to combat or at least reduce the damage from blood-sucking insects. These include:

  1. Thick skin that insects cannot bite through.
  2. Having a tail that can be fanned and, to some extent, repel insects.

Of course, such methods of control can be only partial and do not allow you to completely get rid of insects. In this case, some parts of the body still remain defenseless. The udder is practically unprotected from bites. Here the tail cannot get rid of problems.

Cow care at home

About flies, gadflies, horseflies, ticks

When they say that insects irritate cows, this is only one of the problems they bring. Many diseases can be spread through them.

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Several examples can be given:

  • Even ordinary flies that bite cows are very dangerous as carriers of helminths, thelaziosis, and various infectious diseases.
  • Horseflies not only leave painful bites on the cow's body, but also carry out the transfer of filariasis and anthrax.
  • Burning flies, the flowering of which begins in mid-July and which are known for their painful bites, carry brucellosis and gabronematosis.
  • An insect such as a tick is a great danger. It not only sucks blood from a cow, but also spreads scabies. Usually they bite the udder, external genitals, and the place under the tail.
  • Midges are especially dangerous not only by the bites themselves, but also by their numbers. Udder seals from their bites can cause mastitis.

Important!The time when the cow recovers after calving is especially dangerous from the point of view of the possibility of infection by insects.

  • Subcutaneous gadflies spread hypodermatosis. When they bite, they make an incision in the cow's skin, then they lay the larvae inside. They gradually penetrate inside, infecting the circulatory and digestive systems. When spreading, they concentrate at certain points, forming a colony. A furuncle usually occurs at this place. When adults emerge from them, they leave the cow's body. At the same time, they gnaw the way out and crawl out through it. The wounds do not heal for a long time and begin to rot.

Thelaziosis is a helminth infection in the eyes of cattle.The larvae mature under the eyelid and then penetrate the mucous membrane of the eye. The disease can result in animal blindness.

How to treat a cow from gadflies and horseflies

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Means for such a fight can be divided into several varieties:

  1. The use of repellents helps keep insects away. As a result, they should stop approaching the cattle.
  2. The action of insecticides is organized in a different way. They are designed to kill blood-sucking insects.

On a note!Such a need arises along with the onset of a warm period. If this is not taken care of in time, it is never too late to carry out the necessary measures.

In addition to these, you can consider drugs that help fight itching after a bite. Some of the funds are indirect. These include the need to comply with appropriate hygiene rules for cattle.

In this area, folk remedies can also be used, but their effectiveness is less than that of repellents from a veterinary pharmacy.

How to treat a cow from gadflies and horseflies

In this capacity, the following can be used:

  1. Diesel fuel.
  2. Working off with machine oil.
  3. Birch tar.
  4. Some other products that, if spread on, have a strong odor that repels insects.

Their duration is such that they can only be used as long as they retain a strong and pungent odor.

Interesting!Here's how to treat cattle from gadflies: tar can be purchased at the pharmacy, you can also contact a specialized store for this. Usually, an oil or water solution is used to control insects. A spray bottle is used for its application.

There is another form of its use. Bathing animals with tar soap can also help fight blood-sucking insects. It can be a fly repellent for cows.

However, this option has an unpleasant side effect: if tar was used, it can affect the formation of the corresponding taste in milk.

In addition, this horsefly remedy for cows works for a very limited time. As a rule, no later than four hours later, the effect of using tar disappears.

Some farmers use diesel fuel to control insects. This remedy is effective due to its strong and unpleasant odor. Unfortunately, if smeared, the smell affects not only the flying bloodsuckers, but also the cow itself. Due to this circumstance, it is not recommended to use diesel fuel too often for this purpose.

On a note!Typically, various areas of the skin of cattle are coated with this substance. It is believed that only the part of the body should be treated where the cow cannot fan its tail. Here's how you can treat cows from gadflies.

The listed folk remedies have an important drawback: they are not recommended to smear the udder. Here is an example of a folk remedy that can help in this case: for this purpose, it is recommended to mix one part of the shampoo with two parts of vegetable oil. At the same time, you can take any shampoo and oil that is in the house. Instead of shampoo, if it is more convenient, it is permissible to use bubble bath.

Important!Stir thoroughly. It is necessary to obtain a homogeneous mass with which the cows will be processed. This mixture can be used to lubricate the entire animal and in particular the udder. After the cow comes from the pasture, you need to wash off the composition with warm water.

The efficiency of the considered method is approximately 80-90%. The composition scares off gray horseflies, yellow flies, mosquitoes, midges and other insects. It is ineffective against gadflies, but they bite during the hottest period of the day, and during the morning and evening they usually do not fly. This solution should be smeared on the udder, on the face, behind the ears, “under the armpits” of the cow. Some add vinegar to this composition, which increases the effect of this remedy.

Sometimes there is a need to mitigate the effects of a bite, to remove itching. In this case, the following procedure can help:

  1. The bite site is smeared with honey.
  2. Cover with a cabbage leaf.
  3. Wrap with cellophane.

On a note!This product not only softens the effects of bites, but also helps soften the skin of the udder with mastitis.

How to scare away pests (cattle repellents)

There are tools on sale that allow such prevention. You can choose from the following options.

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You can buy Byoflay pur-on. It has an effective repellent and antiisecticidal effect. It has the greatest effect in the fight against diptera insects, including midges, horseflies, gadflies and other varieties of insects.

Interesting!This is an effective remedy for gadflies and horseflies for cows. The action of the drug in question is based on the use of the active substance cyfluthrin. The principle of its action is based on interrupting the passage of nerve impulses in insects. Initially, this creates a lack of coordination of movements. Paralysis gradually begins, which leads to the death of the insect.

Cattle repellents

The way of using this tool is simple:

  1. One animal requires no more than 10 ml of the product. It is applied to the skin: from the mane to the tail of the cow.
  2. The validity period ranges from four to six weeks. All this time there is no need to re-process.
  3. It is recommended for a new treatment not to wait for the full expiration of the period, but to repeat the procedure about two or three weeks after the previous one.

On a note!This drug is not the only one that can be effectively used to protect cows from insects. In practice, Neostomazan, Aversect, Butox, Sebacil, Deltox, Entomozan, and also some others are used for this purpose.

They are commercially available as a concentrate. Dissolve them in water before use. To do this, it will be enough to take 1 ml of the concentrate and dissolve it in a liter of water. The specified amount will be enough for a complete and high-quality processing of one cow. It is carried out using a spray bottle. The effectiveness of these funds falls within two or three days after the treatment.

Let's talk about Sebacil in more detail. The product is applied only to clean cow skin. Effective against gadflies and horseflies. Foxim is used as an active substance. It is an insecticide that has a contact effect.

When using Aversect, you must strictly follow the safety rules. Under this condition, it will not be dangerous to people and animals. The main substance of the drug is aversectin C-complex. It is effectively able to protect against subcutaneous gadfly. It is also effective against various types of blood-sucking flying insects.

On a note!Aversect is also a drug of a similar type. It is an insecticide that infects insects by direct contract.

Ziflunite has the following characteristics:

  1. It can be viewed as a dual-use agent: it can be both a deterrent and a way to kill bloodsucking insects.
  2. The active ingredient of the drug in question is cyfluthrin. It belongs to a group of substances such as synthetic pyrethroids. It can be effectively used to protect cows from mosquitoes, midges, horseflies or gadflies. As an insecticide, it has a contact effect. Also shown to be effective as a repellent.
  3. The drug is effective, it is recommended to entrust the processing of cattle to a specialist.
  4. It retains its strength for a month, in some cases for 40 days.

Ziflunite

You can use special aerosols to protect the cattle. In this capacity, Extrasol, Centaur, Alezan, Oksarep and some other similar means will be effective. Although they are quite effective, their effect occurs within a short period of time.

One of the most suitable for this is Sanofit.It acts on the basis of the use of oils of eucalyptus, laurel, menthol. It also contains camphor. This drug can be used to protect the entire body. Its action can be seen as double. It not only repels insects, but also treats already made insect bites.

Important!Special requirements are imposed for preparations that need to lubricate the udder, the least protected part of the cow's body from insects. Not all of them can be used for this purpose.

Tips from experienced breeders

A good folk way to combat blood-sucking insects is to use herbal infusions. This method has the advantage that it has no negative impact on the cow and cannot affect the quality of the milk.

For the preparation of infusions, you can use mint, tansy, laurel or wormwood. You can take these plants in arbitrary combinations. They can not only repel insects, but also treat bites.

Various methods can be used to help protect pets when selecting suitable options for controlling bloodsuckers. They all have their own characteristics that you need to know in order to make the right choice.