CYROMAZINE fly product

[Marsha Cassada]

I visited a stud today and noticed that not a single horse had flies on it.  There were flies biting me, but no flies on the horses.  The owner showed me the feed they use, and said the fly inhibitor was in the feed.  So I went to the feed source to ask about the ingredients.  He told me they were no longer putting the ingredient in the feed as it "there was something wrong with the tag".  So I looked up "insect growth inhibitor" and saw this product, cyromazine.  It is widely available and I could not find anything negative.  It works by the horse ingesting the chemical and it goes through the horse.  When the fly breeds on the manure, it cannot mature and reproduce. 

So, I saw a lot of flies around the barn, but not a single fly on the horses.  I had dropped my little hrose off for training and the flies were on him.  And they were biting me.    Does the horse's body emit something detectable to the fly to keep it from biting the horse? 

I have a call in to our local county agent about the product.

 

[PintoPalLover]

I'm curious to hear what you find out on this subject Marsha.  It would kind of make sense , when you think about all the chemicals in fly spray, it seems like feeding them something (the right something) wouldn't be too bad. I've been just doing fly masks some here so far.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I'd also be interested to hear about your findings Marsha . Currently , I use fly veils and I rub a clear ointment lightly on my horses legs which helps , but doesn't completely rid the problem . 

I had hardly any fly bots last summer on any of my horses. We did however have a lot more wasps . 

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I was at the vet's today and mentioned it.  She is going to research it a little.  The company that mixes the feed for the stud is no longer adding that fly hormone to the feed.  I stopped at their facility on the way home yesterday to find out more.  The vet said a new directive has come out and the hormone can't be added to animals for slaughter without a vet's order.  Since that feed company can't control what animals go to slaughter, it must have decided to leave out the fly thing altogether.  So, the stud will have a bad surprise when they get their next 1/2 ton of horse feed.

The vet had no idea why the horses had no flies on them, even though there were plenty around the barns.  She said she will see what she can find out.  My sister has her horses at a common facility.  The flies are not too bad, but her mule is really tortured.  She keeps fly socks on him and spray, and the flies are not deterred.  She  is really interested in the product for her mule.

 

[candycar]

I am interested to know also.  My mini mule gets flies bad even with consistent fly spray. I want a fly spray that kills them on contact  when they land!    

 

[Mona]

I was reading up on this, and found this statement interesting, and quite possibly, the reason they had to stop putting it into feed. 

"While cyromazine has a low mammalian toxicity, it may cause adverse effects on reproduction and development if ingested."

http://pesticides.news/2017-12-07-cyromazine-toxicity-side-effects-diseases-and-environmental-impacts.html

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I was reading up on this, and found this statement interesting, and quite possibly, the reason they had to stop putting it into feed. 

"While cyromazine has a low mammalian toxicity, it may cause adverse effects on reproduction and development if ingested."

http://pesticides.news/2017-12-07-cyromazine-toxicity-side-effects-diseases-and-environmental-impacts.html

Interesting that is doesn't affect mites and ticks much.  The horses I saw were all quarter horses.  Their body mass may account for low toxicity.  I don't know what effect it would have on a miniature horse. 

If my mule was being driven crazy by flies, I would give it a try.