Liz's Smallholding diary - donkeys and flies (From Smallholder)
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Liz's Smallholding diary - donkeys and flies
7:00am Sunday 12th August 2012 in News
Last night I noticed flies bothering the donkeys for the first time this year. Flies really do damage to donkeys, biting their legs and causing them to bleed. Flystrike where the flies lay eggs into the skin is also a possibility so flies have to be strictly controlled around donkeys. Unfortunately and I would love to be corrected on this one so do let me know if I am wrong, I have not found anything organic or particularly “green” that touches flies when they are this bad – and I am a huge fan of citronella. Question is it banned or not? But for donkeys regular doses of Deosect or Switch or Coopers fly spray seem to be the only things that work. It’s time to get plastic gloves and follow the instructions carefully on the tins as these are quite strong chemicals, or I believe them to be anyway! Being careful not to get them into the donkeys’ eyes I spray them on using, ironically, an old Ecover cleaning spray bottle for the donkeys (who are sensible) and an old gherkin jar and sponge for the ponies (who are not).
