horses, bugs and beetles fact sheet 6
TRANSCRIPT
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses, Bugs & BeetlesFact Sheet 6. Pests of horses: an integrated management approach
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
No 1: Integrating horse care
No 2: Managing small horse properties
No 3: Dung beetles and their benefits
No 4: Gut parasites of horses
No 5: Pests of horse pastures
No 6: Reducing external parasites of horses
No 7: Management of horse manure
No 8: Threats to dung beetles
The Horses: Bugs & Beetles project has produced eight fact sheets for horse owners
This presentation is based on Fact Sheet 6Pests of horses: an integrated management approach
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Does my horse have lice?
Lice are large enough to see with the naked eye
When lifting the forelock or parting hair, lice will be seen scurrying away from the light
Lice eggs can be seen on the ends of hair
Horses may be itchy, perhaps losing weight or showing signs of anemia
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Regularly give horses a full inspection for external pests
In Australia, sucking lice and biting lice can infect horsesEggs are laid on the ends of hair
Adult lice can only live a few days away from the horse, eggs can live much longerNew horses should be isolated until known to be clear of pests & parasites
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Treatment for lice
Follow instructions for use of a commercial lice treatment product to thoroughly wash the horse, after using a fine comb to remove eggs
Any eggs groomed from a horse need to be collected and burnt or sealed in a bag and thoughtfully discarded
All living areas, equipment, tack, feed utensils, fences etc. should be treated
The horse and all equipment will need a second treatment two weeks later
If the infected horse has contact with other horses, all will need to be treated.
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Flies
There are five different types of flies that bother horses in Australia
• Stable flies
• March flies
• Mosquitoes
• Midges
• Buffalo flies
Midges and Buffalo flies do not bother horses in Southern Australia.
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Stable flies & March flies
Stable flies bite horses and suck bloodFemale flies lay eggs in damp organic matter such as manure heapsStable flies are the vector of the Stomach worm in horsesBreak the life-cycle of the stable fly and stomach worms in horses are reduced
March flies also suck blood from horsesFemale flies lay eggs in damp soil or rotting logs where the larvae are predators of small invertebrates
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Mosquitoes
Thirty two species of mosquitoes are common in South Australia. Only 6 are a pest to stock and people.
Mosquitoes can transmit viruses to horses, including Kunjin and Ross River
Mosquitoes breed in stagnant or brackish water in warmer seasons
Protect horses through appropriate rugs and coverings, maintaining stable yard & trough hygiene and removal of potential breeding sites
Photo: Steff Wilson
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Bot flies
The bot is the larvae of the bot fly
The adult fly lays eggs on the hairs of the horse or around the face and eyes
Larvae ends up in the horse’s mouth through licking or migrates through the skin to the mouth tissues
Eventually larvae migrate to the stomach before eventually passing out through the horse’s dung
The larvae burrows into the ground and forms into pupae
Adults emerge from the pupae in the warmer months completing the life cycle
Bot fly egg laid on the end of horse hair
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Manage stable yard pests
Regularly inspect horses
Promote biodiversity. Birds, lizards, small bats and fish etc. eat larvae or flies
Maintain stable yard hygiene including manure & stagnant water management
Use fly traps (remember to site away from your horse as they contain fly attractants)
Use repellants
Use chemicals sparingly to avoid resistance, contamination of water courses and killing off “good” bugs and beetles.
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Introduce and maintain your dung beetle population
Dung beetles are an effective biological control for the infective stages of horse gut worms and dung-breeding flies (by breaking the life- cycles)
De-worm horses with mectin based drugs e.g. moxidectin, and at times when dung beetles are not active on your property
Check manure is not containing dung beetle activity before removing it
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
How to find out more to help you manage a horse property
Contact your local Natural Resources Management (NRM) office who will be able to assist with free advice
Many NRM groups conduct field days, educational courses or will come out to your property for a free visit
Horses: Bugs & BeetlesSustainable ways to keep your horse www.horsesa.asn.au
Horses, Bugs & Beetles Fact Sheets 1 – 8 download from www.horsesa.asn.au