Natural Fly Control on Jersey Calf

[hollycow]

Hi there,

Great forum! Glad I found it.

I recently purchased a one-month old female Jersey calf from a local farm. She seems very healthy. She is my first cow and will be a house cow later on. I have her in a small pen with a makeshift hutch that she loves.

Is there anything I can put on her for fly control that is natural? Flies are zooming straight towards her and they even annoy me when I give her the bottle. I put a natural spray on my dogs with essential oils. Can I try that on her? I use commercial fly spray on my goat and my minis (horse and donkey) but I want to be more organic with the cow.

Thanks!

 

[Goatherd]

She is my first cow and will be a house cow later on.

I don't have cows so I can't offer you any advice on the fly issue. What I would like to know...what does "house cow" mean? I have an image, but surely it can't be right!

 

[hollycow]

Ha sorry! I meant family cow: milk and butter and cheese just for us.

 

[elevan]

I would try the essential oil blend you already use on your dogs. Just watch for skin irritations...but I'm betting you'll be just fine.

 

[hollycow]

I tried it and so far so good.

 

[Lothiriel]

We make our own fly spray. Here's the recipe, all in a 32 oz spray bottle...

3/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
squirt of dish soap
40 drops citronella EO
30 dr lemongrass
20 dr camphor
20 dr cedarwood
15 dr clove

It works great. We put it on both our cow and the calf. It smells really good too.

 

[5Jerseygirls]

I use whup a bug and fly masks for cows from Jeffers. It makes 3 gallons. Just put it in a spray bottle and put it on 2-3 times a day. I even use it on myself.

The fly masks are awesome and the cows absolutely love them. They don't have calf sizes this year so that wont help you. The calf will need to be around 300 lbs before the cow mask will fit. Hope that helps

 

[Lothiriel]

We just found out that neem oil works really good too. The only problem is that is smells like garlic and peanut butter...

 

[saplin]

Jeffers Livestock has great cow fly masks at $7.95, $6.95 if you buy 6 or more....

Great instructions on how to fit a calf.