[gerpsych]

Hi, Has anyone any experience with head fly ? One of my ewes seems to have this. She is a welsh mountain, brown faced (unlike the others) and is kept in fields bordered by woodland. She seems to develop it in September, across her forehead between her eyes. A shot of Crovect seemed to clear it (or coincidentally it went away) but it has come back after only three weeks or so. The papules and lesions seem characteristic and, other then some itch, she seems well. There are no maggots and this doesn't look like fly strike. I have tried the crovect again today but wondered if other had any experience of this (and perhaps more long lasting solutions)

Cheers

Alan

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[Foobar]

Yes, my black sheep get it on their ears and around their eyes and on the top of their heads.  It's a real pain in the butt.  I've yet to find a decent solution other than re-applying crovect which is annoying.  Also you need really to apply the crovect before the flies start biting, I believe once they have made a start it's harder to deter them.


Not all my sheep suffer though, it seems to be the same few each year.  We too are surrounded by trees, mixed species, some deciduous some conifer, and my sheep get it from July until October about now.


I've tried spot-on too, which works for head fly on cattle, but it didn't seem to make much difference on the sheep.


I did read somewhere about black sheep also having an allergic reaction to some midges or head fly ... I can't remember the details or where I read that .... hmm ...