Homemade Fly Spray Recipe | Essential Homestead

Why waste money on chemical sprays? Try this homemade fly spray.

If you are a homesteader like me, you look at the ingredients on the back of the store bought fly sprays and wonder what you are spraying on your animal.  I tried recipe after recipe until I settled on this homemade fly spray.  It can be used on cows, goats or horses.  Maybe other livestock but I haven’t researched any others.  I usually spray my cattle once a day.  It’s especially helpful if you are milking.   Who wants to deal with flies when they are milking an animal?  This homemade fly spray is super easy and quick to mix up and lasts a good while.

 Ingredients:

• 4 c water
• 2 c Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Liquid soap
• 20 drops Terrashield essential oil blend
• 10 drops Peppermint essential oil
• 10 drops Geranium essential oil

Directions:  Combine all ingredients into a spray bottle.  Shake and spray as needed. Avoid eyes and ears.
Terrashield provides outdoor protection for people, pets and livestock.  This blend includes Ylang Ylang, Cedarwood, Catnip, Lemon Eucalyptus, Litsea, Arborvitae, Nootka, and Vanilla Bean Absolute—all of which possess specific chemical compounds known to protect against environmental annoyances.
The minty aroma of peppermint will also repel flies and insects.  Just like marigolds, geraniums will repel insects and flies as well.
These supplies are more cost effective, last just as long and are non toxic compared to store bought.  If I only used these supplies to make a fly spray and sprayed a herd of 6 cattle everyday throughout the summer months they would last me 2 summers maybe 3. The only exception maybe the vinegar.  You might need 2 bottles of vinegar.
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If you are interested in looking for more recipes, then make sure to check out the recipe section on Amazon. There are a ton of recipe books that are sure to catch your eye.