Comparison Review: Fly Sprays
Flies are the worst! And, keeping flies off of your horses can be difficult. We can help with this comparison review of popular fly sprays.
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It’s that time of year, the sun is shining, it’s nice and warm out, the horses have their gleaming summer coats and the bugs are out in full force.
Bugs of all shapes and sizes are beelining towards our horses in a quick and irritating fashion. At this point in the season it doesn’t matter what part of the day you’ve decided to have your horse outside, the bugs come in swarms.
With the correct product, we as horse owners have the ability to send these pests packing, or even better, drop them right in their tracks.
The key phrase is correct product, so we did a product review on five insecticides. The products reviewed are: Bronco Fly Spray, Ultra Shield Ed Fly Spray, Repel-X Wipe, Pyranha Aerosol Spray and Absorbine Flys – X Natural Fly Spray.
When doing this review we considered three variables:
- Cost Efficiency
- Insects Repelled
- Length of Effectiveness
To get a true depiction of how effective each fly spray is, I rinsed each horse before the product trial. I then used five different horses, spraying one product on each of them and letting the fly spray sit for up to two hours.
Bronco Fly Spray
Summary: Bronco Fly Spray is a product that can be used on horses, ponies and foals. It’s regular spray is comprised of 0.033% prallethrin, 0.100% permethrin, 0.500% piperonyl butoxide, technical, and 99.367% other ingredients.
Cost: Bronco Fly Spray costs $7.99 for a 32 ounce bottle.
Insects Repelled: This fly spray repels stable flies, horse flies, face flies, deer flies, house flies, horn flies, mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, fleas, chiggers and lice.
Length of Effectiveness: This fly spray lessened the amount of insects on the horse but never completely removed them from the horse’s body. After five minutes, the insects were back at their normal concentration.
To purchase this product click here.
Ultra Shield Ex Fly Spray
Summary: Ultra Shield Ex Fly Spray is sweat resistant, regular fly spray that contains sunscreen, coat conditioner, aloe and lanolin. It is safe to use on horses and dogs. Active ingredients are 0.5% permethrin, 0.1% pyrethrins, 1.0% piperonyl butoxide and 98.4% other ingredients.
Cost: Ultra Shield Ex Fly Spray costs $19.99 for a 32 ounce bottle.
Insects Repelled: This fly spray repels more than 70 insect species.
Length of Effectiveness: The label states that this fly spray will actively repel insects for up to 17 days. From the study, the insects were immediately gone after spraying the horse. After 3o minutes, the horse had minimal insects — approximately five to 10 — on her. After two hours, this horse had flies and bugs but not as many as at baseline.
To purchase this product click here.
Wipe Repel – X
Summary: Wipe Repel – X is a great option for the horses that aren’t keen on the spray bottle. Active ingredients are 0.20% pyrethrins, 0.50% piperonyl butoxide, 1.00% Di-n-propyl isocinchomeronate, 20.00% butoxypolypropylene glycol and 78.30% other ingredients.
Cost: Wipe Repel – X costs $13.25 for a 16 ounce container.
Insects Repelled: This insecticide repels horse flies, house flies, ticks, stable flies, deer flies, gnats and mosquitoes.
Length of Effectiveness: The label states that this product will repel insects for up to 24 hours. From the study, insects were immediately displaced after wiping product on the horse. After 30 minutes, the horse continued to have no insects on her body. After two hours the horse had minimal insects — five to 10 — on her body.
To purchase this product click here.
Pyranha Insecticide Aerosol Spray
Summary: Pyranha Insecticide Aerosol Spray is a citronella scented product. Unlike other sprays, this product is in an aerosol can. Active ingredients include 0.30% pyrethrins, 2.40% piperonyl butoxide, 33% butoxypolypropylene glycol and 64.30% other ingredients.
Cost: Pyrahna Insecticide Aerosol Spray costs $15.96 for a 15 ounce can.
Insects Repelled: This product repels stable flies, house flies, horse flies, horn flies, deer flies, face flies, mosquitoes, gnats, roaches, fleas, ticks, ants, and chiggers.
Length of Effectiveness: The product label states that this product will stay effective for up to 30 days. Per the study, all the insects were removed with first contact. After 30 minutes all insects remained off of the horse’s body. After two hours minimal insects, five to 10, were on the horse’s body.
To purchase this product click here.
Absorbine Flys – X Natural Fly Spray
Summary: Absorbine Flys – X Natural Fly Spray is a product that is safe for multiple species including cattle, pigs, goats, poultry, horses, foals, sheep, donkeys, llamas, and dogs. Active ingredients include 0.01% thyme oil, 0.05% cedar oil, 0.05% lemongrass oil, 0.05% rosemary oil, 0.06% citronella oil, 0.08% clove oil, 0.70% geraniol, 2.50% sodium lauryl sulfate and 96.50% other ingredients.
Cost: Absorbine Flys – X Natural Fly Spray costs $12.99 for a 32 ounce bottle.
Insects Repelled: This product repels biting flies, mosquitoes, ticks and gnats.
Length of Effectiveness: The product label states that this fly spray will repel insects for up to eight hours. The study showed that this product had no effect on insect control. There was no difference in the amount of insects on the horse before and after spraying this product.
To purchase this product click here.
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