# Insect Repellent



## simplynewt (Sep 5, 2011)

Ok, i am now supplying feed to my three girls and for some reason, the pygmyes love to stand on the feeder while eating causing some of the feed to hit the ground. Seeing this, I have visions of all kinds of bugs coming in to help themselves to the free food being offered by the goats.

Whats a good repellent that I could use that wont harm my little girls? 

My neighbor says that I could use Off-Road Diesel Fuel in a spray bottle to lightly mist around the pen to keep the pests away. This was after he seen me with some HP Demon Insecticide that I got from the feed store. I was told this Demon stuff works great, especially with spiders.

So now I am confused and I come to the goat experts to see what they have to say.

Thanks for the time.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Um not sure what bugs you want to repel - I have no issues :shrug:


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

I greatly dislike most all poison and most all poisonous insect repellent especially when it is near food. I am not completely apposed to it but we use it with extreme caution. We have a lot of blackwidows in all sorts of places and they can become a serious problem. Mostly, we sweep them out and squash them. The end of summer is the worse time for black widows and we have to clean out the barns from them. They come out at night and are easy to kill, but hide in daylight. Spraying all over the place around their food areas for spiders doesnt work as they need direct contact for the spray to kill them. As far as the bugs eating their food such as ants or others, I would recommend finding the nest of these things and spraying that. Some people use DE.. a natural product but it doesnt go away or dissolve into dirt easily and then you have this powder stuff blowing up with the wind. We have wasps, bee, hornets, ants, Blackwidows and even a 'mock' recluse spider relative that may not be as poisnous and I still think that poisons have to be used wisely.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

I dont know if I helped much. I think you have to treat the bug problem when it comes. I am not sure there is a bug deterrent to keep them out of the food areas except for the DE (Diatomaceous Earth). I dont know enough about DE but I think it does something to the exoskeleton of insects that breaks down their waxy shell and causes them to dehydrate. A lot of people use this around pens for bug control for a non toxic solution. I am still not sure about it yet. Ants were my big worry last year. We have serious problems with them around the baby pens. I keep the kidding pens checked for any ant invasions. They can cause problems for newborns and can crawl all over them. We find the nests of the ants, treat with poison or burn them and it is usually in tree stumps.


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## simplynewt (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks packhill for the insight. As of yet, I havent really experienced a bad insect problem and was just trying to get some insight before it gets to bad. I have seen a spider or two in the pen but it could have been just a passer by. 

So I take it, no one has heard of or used diesel fuel for a repellent?


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

I have heard of it being dumped on ant nests and lit on fire.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

For mosquito problems, I have tried rubbing them with the potent lavender plant. They didnt appreciate that smell but it helped.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Well...not exactly sure what type of insects you want to repel. However, there are a few brands of lice powder that will kill and repel other insects. They make some brands especially for livestock that you can dust on the goats or dust around in their pen. I've used Python brand specifically for lice in the past that worked pretty well. :thumb:

I haven't heard of using diesel fuel...I don't think i'd want to expose my goats to that even if it does repel..i'd want to go with some type of livestock dust or spray. You can also use horse fly spray on your goats if the flies or mosquitos are bugging them.


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## simplynewt (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks all for the replies. I will reconsider using the diesel fuel around the goat pen as well as any other insecticides. Winter is coming on and I doubt I will see many of the little boogers anyway. 

Good insight for next year though. 

Thanks again.


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

Personally, I would not want to use any petrochemicals around my girls, especially breeding does. My routine this summer consisted of keeping the pens really clean (daily spot checks for poop removal and weekly changeout of all bedding), and I made a spray of 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon of citronella. It worked very well for both goats and pens and kept away flies and mosquitoes. Oh, and in the high heat of summer, when flies were at their worst, I did use some DE on the wet spots in the pen when cleaning. Hope this is helpful :wink:


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## simplynewt (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks Mandara. I havent used any insecticide yet as the spider that I have seen has somewhat moved on. This is good info though for next summer. Thanks again for your reply.


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