I've just noticed bot eggs on our 2 horses today, think I even got the bot fly that was laying them. Is there a way to get rid of the eggs, before they get into the horse? Those eggs hang on tight, can't scrape them off with my fingers. Anyone know of anything to try? Thanks!

-- Cathey (uptain@myexcel.com), August 27, 2001

Answers

Response to bot eggs on horses

Cathey - there is a special bot comb you can buy. But you can get good results with a razor blade. The bot comb that you buy is basically that (a razor blade)- just made to be handled more easily. So be careful! You can't scrape them off with your fingers, but you can pick them off one by one.

-- Dianne (willow@config.com), August 27, 2001.

Response to bot eggs on horses

Medium fine steel wool works well too, you "buff" them off.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), August 27, 2001.

Response to bot eggs on horses

I usually use a hoof knife and scrape down the coat (in the direction that the hair grows) with it close to the hide. The eggs catch on the blade and pull the hair that they are laid on loose. You have to work carefully on the lower legs due to there being no cushioning fat or muscle between hide and bone or tendons. I'd try Annie's suggestion of the steel wool down there first.

You can also stimulate the eggs to hatch and die by wiping them repeatedly with a warm wet washcloth. This simulates the horse licking and biting at them, which is what makes them hatch out, travel into the mouth and from there into the stomach or attaching to the inside of the mouth. Since you hatched them out and they aren't inside the horse, they die. The egg case remains behind and looks unsightly, however, until the hair sheds out naturally or you remove it.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), August 28, 2001.

You can also spray with warm water, wait a couple minuits and cover with mineral oil. It suffocates them.

AND (read this on a vet site) if you spray them with warm water when its under 60 degrees outside they will hatch and die within and hour.

-- Stacia n OK (OneClassyCowgirl@aol.com), August 28, 2001.

A grill brick works wonders and they are inexpensive also.

-- suzanne wilson (mtsuz@hotmail.com), August 29, 2001.

I found a few bot eggs on my horse the first year I got him. We had some cochins(chickens) that had the run of the pasture the next year and I've never seen a bot egg since. I'm 20 years old and hope to have a farm one day. These forums are great!

-- Rebekah (rebekah_swinden@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.