How to Make an All-Natural Fly Spray for Goats and Horses
Here’s a recipe for an all-natural fly-repelling spray that is safe to use on goats, horses, and other livestock. This homemade fly spray, made with apple cider vinegar and essential oils, will help keep your animals comfortable despite the usual summer pests. Give it a try and feel confident that what you are applying to your dairy or food animal is chemical-free.
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The flies have been bad this summer, especially in the barn!
We have both store-bought and homemade fly traps in our barn, but still, they pester our animals (and us) relentlessly! For instructions on building a DIY pop bottle fly trap, click here to read my other article.
The flies are especially bothersome during milking time. A stomping dairy goat and flies in my milk pail are two things I really dislike. The latter was an easy fix, I switched back to using my milk pail with a lid, but to stop the stomping, it took a little bit of research and trial and error to remedy.
My milk goats are otherwise calm and gentle, but when getting bit by flies, they stomp, and I can’t blame them! I didn’t want to use a chemical-based fly spray on my dairy animals or around my milking parlor, so I developed a fly spray with natural ingredients to use instead.
This all-natural fly-repelling spray actually works and is safe to use on goats, horses, and other livestock, even those intended for food.
Here’s how I make it!
Materials Needed for Making All-Natural Fly Spray
I had an empty fly spray bottle that I washed out and used for my homemade fly spray. Use a funnel to fill the bottle without a mess and measuring spoons and pipettes to add ingredients.
Ingredients for Making All-Natural Fly Spray
- 32 ounces raw apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons castile soap
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 20 drops cajeput essential oil
- 20 drops basil essential oil
- 20 drops peppermint essential oil
- 20 drops rosemary essential oil
- Distilled water
As you can see, apple cider vinegar is the main ingredient in this fly spray. I prefer raw apple cider vinegar and always have it on hand. The castile soap and olive oil help the spray adhere to the animal and give it longer substantivity. The essential oils that I chose for my fly spray are known to have insect-repelling, as well as other medicinal properties. The distilled water is used to further dilute and disperse the ingredients.
Directions for Making All-Natural Fly Spray
- Remove the lid from your empty 36-ounce spray bottle and put a funnel on the top
- Add 32 ounces of raw apple cider vinegar to the bottle
- With a measuring spoon, add 2 tablespoons of castile soap to the bottle
- With a measuring spoon, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the bottle
- Remove the funnel, and add 20 drops each of cajeput, basil, peppermint, and rosemary essential oil to the bottle using a pipette
- Add distilled water to the bottle (up until the fill line)
- Attach the spray nozzle, gently shake the bottle, and use your homemade fly spray!
Notes About All-Natural Fly Spray
- This fly spray works well, but needs to be applied at least twice daily to keep the flies at bay
- Shake each time before use to disperse the ingredients
- Store out of direct sunlight
- This spray can be used on the intact skin or hair of animals including goats and horses, it can also be used on environmental surfaces like your milking stand or stall walls and floors
- I apply fly spray to my dairy goats before cleaning the udder and beginning to milk, for my recipe for all-natural teat and udder wash, click here.
