# cattle fly tags on horses?



## Firehorse (16 May 2010)

i read in a horse magazine that you could use cattle fly tags for horses.  by plaiting them into the mane or tail.  has anyone ever used them?  do they work and are they better/more cost efficient than fly sprays?


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## Django Pony (16 May 2010)

I read that too, I'm intrigued to see if it works......


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## VioletStripe (16 May 2010)

I've heard a few people on here talking about using them.. xx


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## Spyda (16 May 2010)

I read that article too and bought a box of 10 Flectron tags. My filly is on box rest until tomorrow evening, but I'm going to plait one into her forelock and another onto her tail. I might even attach a couple to the d'rings inside the back of the rug where the legs straps attach. She's kept on a dairy farm and a stream runs at the bottom of her paddock so the flies and mozzies are absolutely horrendous. Last year she developed oedema along her mid belly line from the constant midge bites and that was dispite wearing a wrap around fly rug and being bathed in Deosect all summer. 

I'm hoping the tags might help this year. I'll keep you posted!


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## Firehorse (16 May 2010)

thx spyda, it wud be good to hear what u think of them.


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## mon (16 May 2010)

tried them last year and no harm done so prob try them this year.


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## Firehorse (16 May 2010)

and did they work mon?


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## mon (16 May 2010)

believe so we have lots of flies /midges as fields surrounded by woodland, but lots of fly repellants are not much good,


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## Moggie (16 May 2010)

I fly tag all of mine (riding school) - around 30 in total, and I don't use a drop of fly spray all summer. 

Invaluable as can you imagine catching the whole lot in every day and spraying them all - would cost a fortune ... a £3 tag lasts about 5 months 

I make a small plait in the underside of the mane, thread the tag through one of the strands, carry on plaiting and sew up. They need to touch the skin to get into the skin grease and around the body.


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## flowerlady (16 May 2010)

Where do you get the tags from?


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## mon (16 May 2010)

most agricultre stores will stock them, just keep quiet about usg on horses as not licenced for them, around £3 tag. where are you.


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## pastie2 (16 May 2010)

You can get them from any farm supply shop. I wouldnt use them as cattle have a differant metabolism to horses as I would not use Pour On that is used on sheep. Cattle and sheep are farm stock and their life expectancy is not the same as a horse, these products have not been tested on equines, and the long term damage is unknown.


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (16 May 2010)

Yes, I'd like to know where you get them too coz I've had them recommended for mine with sweet itch.

I tried to get some from Mole Valley, but they said they couldn't/wouldn't let me have them because they weren't "licensed" for horses, only cows. So unless you're prepared to utter a little white lie then I don't know how you can obtain them.

Ideas anyone?


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## jessicabeau1 (16 May 2010)

I have used them in past but tied them onto fly rug - they are quite good imo. x


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## pastie2 (16 May 2010)

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:



			Yes, I'd like to know where you get them too coz I've had them recommended for mine with sweet itch.

I tried to get some from Mole Valley, but they said they couldn't/wouldn't let me have them because they weren't "licensed" for horses, only cows. So unless you're prepared to utter a little white lie then I don't know how you can obtain them.

Ideas anyone?
		
Click to expand...

Yes my idea is not to use them, they are not licenced for horses for a reason!


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## mon (16 May 2010)

most reasons is the costs of getting them licenced as someone said in a previous thread about vet giving horse unlicenced medication, licencing isn;t cheap.


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## pastie2 (16 May 2010)

Oh well carry on then!


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## cphillipsball (16 May 2010)

My vet gave me tags for my horse and seemed to do the trick.  I sewed them into her fly sheet.


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## Eaglestone (16 May 2010)

I tried to get some years ago and failed, so will be off to Scats in the week to try again


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## Firehorse (16 May 2010)

i'd be slightly concerned about using them as they're not licenced for horses. what is the active ingredient?  i assumed it was infused with citronella or something.  is it a bit like the flea meds for cats and dogs that goes into their blood system?   has anyone ever asked their vet's opinion about them?


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## Moggie (16 May 2010)

Well they come in sealed packets and recommend not handling them too much, but of course in the course of plaiting 30 tags in I handle them an awful lot. I have sensitive skin and am allergic to biological detergents and bizarrely, horse shampoo - yet handling these has no ill effects on me so I doubt they will affect horses unduly.
I did hear from my supplier that they haven't been horse licencesed as the market isn't really there - horse people have one or two horses they are happy to spray every day, cattle people have hundreds and its not feasible!
I've been using them for years, my two vets practices know about it and never raise an eyebrow and we've never had any ill effects or skin complaints.


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## ester (16 May 2010)

they contain cypermethrin which is a pyrethroid, a synthetic insecticide (similar to the natural pyrethrums). they are more skin/eye irritant than the natural version though 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypermethrin


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## DiggerandWill (16 May 2010)

Back around 1988 ish, I was given Flectron tags by my vet to use on my horse and I used them for about 3 summers. He suffered from inflamed fly bites around his sheath area so I plaited one into the back of his tail and another in his mane about 6 inches from his ears. Worked well when he was kept in a field with large, rather swampy, pond and lots of midges.   No known adverse effects. Would use again in similar circumstances.


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## Moggie (16 May 2010)

ester said:



			they contain cypermethrin which is a pyrethroid, a synthetic insecticide (similar to the natural pyrethrums). they are more skin/eye irritant than the natural version though 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypermethrin

Click to expand...

I wouldnt get them near eyes, nose, dock, etc - I have all mine at the wither/neck. 

Word of warning for the one horse owner - part of their efficacity is in tagging a whole herd, not one animal - so don't be suprised if they don't work so well if just doing one horse!


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## Sayra (17 May 2010)

After reading this I went and had a wee look. You can buy the tags online from hyperdrug. They ask what animals its for and I put horses (wondered if they were then going to stop me but they didnt) You have to get a box of 20 though. Works out at £2.23 each tag.

Thought this might help those of you that couldnt buy cause you said they were for horses.


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## Spyda (17 May 2010)

I bought mine in shop, at Mole Valley Farmers. Went in, went up to the aminal pharmacy counter and simply asked for a box of 20 Flectron tags. No one asked me what they were for. If they'd asked, I'd have said cows!

As others have said, licencing products is expensive and often not deemed financially viable (or the manufacturers simply aren't interested in the 'equine' market) for all products that may otherwise be quite suitable for horses. 

Let's face it, there are products we've been using for years on horses but which when suddenly not relicenced for financial reasons, are abruptly  withdrawn from being available for use on them. It's nothing to do with safety in _many_ cases, more due to £'s....

That said, _anything_ used on your horse (licenced or unlicenced) should be carefully considered. Particularly in pregnant, lactating, young, elderly or sick animals. If at all concerned, ask your vet. Many will give you their 'off the record' opinion on such items.


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## Indy (17 May 2010)

Whoever you are buying them off should be asking you for a herd number.  If they aren't they're not doing their job properly.  Alternatively speak to your vet and see if he can supply them.


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## ester (17 May 2010)

I havent been involved since it changed from PML to POM-VPS but think they are equivalent, in which case there was certainly never a requirement to record herd numbers, name, address, batch number and authorised by and SQP but not herd number. Though this may have changed.


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## bouncebackability (17 May 2010)

Bumpety-bump  
Anyone else? I'm also very interested in using these as we have water, cows, sheep and other fly attracting stuff sharing our yard!
Isn't the active ingredient the same as those in the 'stronger' (ie come with warnings for handling) horsey fly sprays? I'm not sure whether it was Deosect or Coopers? I stand to be corrected!?


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## Spyda (17 May 2010)

bouncebackability said:



			Isn't the active ingredient the same as those in the 'stronger' (ie come with warnings for handling) horsey fly sprays? I'm not sure whether it was Deosect or Coopers? I stand to be corrected!? 

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You may stand correct! 

Deosect contains the active ingredient, cypermethrin, and is licensed to control flies and lice in horses. Cypermethrin is a synthetically produced pyrethroid, which means it has extra stability and high biological activity.

Goodness knows what's in Coopers though. Can't say without looking at my bottle but it's at the yard. Nowhere on line seems to say what the active ingredient of Coopers is. Is it a secret or something???!! LOL.


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## ester (17 May 2010)

coopers in permethrin (which I guess is chemically similar) and citronella.


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## Sayra (17 May 2010)

So far online if you try to buy these and choose "horses" it doesnt ask anything however if you choose "cattle" or "sheep" it asks for a herd number etc.

Also Mole valley Farmers are cheaper than hyperdrug £48.43 for box of 20 (£2.42) 

PS earlier I wrote Hyperdrug was £2.23/tag...I obviously cant count! Its £65.07 for box of 20 so £3.25 for each tag!


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## soulfull (13 March 2014)

Resurrecting this as I just bought 2 singles from wynstay. Had I give my address but that's all

However they came loose, not in a packet at all. So I wonder how effective they will be if they are old stock and not sealed ??


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## Suechoccy (13 March 2014)

I thought the tags worked in similar way to stuff like FrontLine fleaspray for dogs/cats so it has to be in direct contact with the skin (hence the ear tag on a cow) in order for the stuff to become ingested via the skin into the dog's system.   I thought it works from inside the animal out (systemic) rather than it sits on the outside (eg flysheet as a couple of people have said) and gives off a whiff which detracts midges?  So plaiting it into a mane or tail would work best if it was plaited tight enough to top of plait that it rested on a patch of (clippered?) skin?


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## Pamfyson (13 March 2014)

I tried them on my horse.  They were useless.


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (13 March 2014)

Pamfyson said:



			I tried them on my horse.  They were useless.
		
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I THINK, I remember a thread on here a while ago........... someone said (think it may have been Alec Swann??? - where are ya Alec??) that they have got to actually TOUCH the horse's coat in order to be effective, and won't be unless they do so.

I seem to recall that they would work if they were say sewn into a headcollar where they actually touched the horse, or inside a rug say, rather than just left to "dangle", as this way the insecticide in them diffuses on to the horse's coat, which then makes them effective.


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## blitznbobs (13 March 2014)

In the 90s they marketed a version for horses that you slotted into the head collar - can't remember what they were called but they were fab - will definitely have a look at this as couldn't go to hoys this year as horse destroyed his rail boo hoo

Blitz


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