4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[clueless chick]

Two days ago I was bitten on the shoulder by a horsefly and boy did it sting but other than a red patch and irritation and now a hard lump not too bad. Yesterday helping hubby collect the hedge cutting stung on the ankle which I sprayed as soon as poss with sting relief but is now my ankle is soo swollen and itches like mad. I have just returned home from work and put some washing out and I think the same female is waiting for me because I have just been stung on the knee and again large lump just sprayed with Jungle Formula bite and sting relief but its anything but its driving me mad. IS THIS FLY DELIBERATELY WAITING FOR ME?

I have another load just ready to go out and i'm terrified.

Has anyone any other remedies against these things. Im alergic to antibiotics and checking on google thats the only way to deal with the bite.HELP

[WarrensWorld]

Bitten on the back of my hand some years ago, Hand swelled up to the size of a grapefruit and turned red. I'm allergic to Penicillin, but Tetracycline cleared it up.

Horsefly bites, very painful aren't they, I sympathize, with you..

[Cinnamon]

They are really nasty,Horsefly bites.

Apparantly they have proper 'teeth' so when they bite you,they actually take a bit out of you,which is why it hurts so much.

 

Do you have any Piriton or other hayfever/antihistime in the house, as that will help a bit.

 

Also cold will help. I had a corker on my ankle last summer & wore one of those fetching silver wine chillers that you put in the freezer on my ankle.

It made me look a bit like I had been tagged by the authorities, but it did help with the itch

[WarrensWorld]

Their mouth parts are filthy, which is why my bite became infected. I still have a small scar on the back of my hand, that's after nearly 40 years.

Incidentally, only the female horse fly bites. The male just eats nectar.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Nasty things

 

 

You don't feel them alight.

If you watch them bite they raise their tail end up to get a good drive with those mouthparts

 

Don't swat them as they will just continue to chase you.

Swat and squash

 

I respond with a nasty weal that itches for days

Hubby has no reaction whatsover but then he usually feels them catching in his body hair before he gets eaten.

 

One of those battery powered insect-bite zapper things helps me, followed by antihistamine cream frequently whenever the itch takes me.

Worse in bed.

[Alis girls]

Talking about things that bite etc, we have a huge pampas grass positioned by rabbit hutch and it scratched my upper arm badly on monday. Then the same evening was in shower and accidently rubbed it with loofah felt sick it hurt so much. It looks like I've self harming - very unsightly. hate things which bite and sting.

[Guest]

They are really bad at the moment I had one trying to bite me yesterday..I sprayed myself with deet based spray(jungle formula) probably too late sorry but my poor horse is covered and has Naff Off spray but the jungle formula has more Deet than the horse one?

 

indie

[Sunshine]

I've just been on a ride in a local forrest and all 3 horses were really bothered by the flies. We sprayed them before we went. Luckily my sister was on a calm horse as she was waving her whip trying to get them away. When we got back to the fields it was horrible to see blood on one of the horses(its grey so the blood shows up) Makes you realise how horrible they are. None of them got us as we were all in coats thinking we were in for a thunderstorm but in the end it just blew over.

[Egg Lou]

They are really bad this year I've got both my horses covered from head to toe in fly masks and full fly rugs... also use very strong fly repellent but not sure it is ok for humans.. you could try tea tree instead as a very good repellent and good on the bites too..

[jlo]

One of the little £%^&("*% got me on the calf when I was playing golf yesterday and it is so hard and painful now that I could weep! You do feel as though they are really out to get you don't you?

[Alis girls]

I had a huge bite on my calf last week. drew up outside my friends house and was absent mindedly scratching when i felt a huge tender lump - aah I thought - being a week post op - i was convinced I had DVT till I spotted huge welt on calf and found another later on my buttock - I mean how do they get under ones knickers for goodness sake. I always thought they went for blood rich areas like arms and legs - the only thing rich on my butt is fat dont need bum implants here girls

[The Dogmother]

Nasty things!

 

Rosie is succulent and always gets bitten, much to her disgust. Boots homepathic bite and sting spray is excellent

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Nasty things!

 

Rosie is succulent and always gets bitten, much to her disgust. Boots homepathic bite and sting spray is excellent

 

DD has a bite on her arm and one on her leg from indeterminate jaws, and they've both blown up...I may have to pop to Boots & get some of this Claret, thanks. She's on Piriton to keep the itch under control & I've covered the arm one loosely with a piece of Melolin & micropore to stop her scratching it & setting up a secondary infection....been there, done that, was border line being sent to hospital with it & had horse tablets to clear it up...wouldn't wish it on anyone!! DS is also susceptible...what a tasty bunch we all are !!

 

Sha x

[The Dogmother]

It works really well Sha

 

Try ice on them too.

[chickencam]

I was bitten once by one when i was younger and it really swelled up so I'd better watch out.

 

I was bitten by a small thing no idea what at the allotment the other day i watched it do it and have had a blister on my arm ever since

[Alis girls]

Wouldnt mind but you never see them bite you, I mean I thought I'd feel something nipping up inside my drawers for a nibble unless of course it nipped in when my smalls were on the washing line and lay in wait. I will be checking much more carefully in future before putting undies on You have been warned............

[Guest]

I got bitten by one once, swelled up really big and itched like heck! Nasty things they are

 

We always used to swear by camomile lotion but that was after the event

[Guest]

sorry, I meant calomine!!!!

[Cinnamon]

Would that be Calamine lotion Poet, the pale pink stuff?

Thats a blast from the past - wonder if they still make it?

 

When I was about 5 & my baby sister was newborn I apparanlty saw a spot of some sort on her,stripped her naked & slathered her from head to toe in Calamine.

Gave my mum a bit of a shock when she found a pink powdery baby

 

edit - cross posted!

[The Dogmother]

MMmm, I love the smell of calamine lotion - you certainly can still get it.

[Valkyrie]

OH was bitten once while we were walking - as usual he is a few paces in front, when I saw it land on his calf. I warned him and he knocked it off, but it took a chunk out of him. The bite was huge and swollen. Nasty things. Fortunately (touch wood and whistle) we have been free of them since. I haven't been bitten at all by them - just mozzies. I have seen a couple in the greenhouse though, and hoped the big spiders got them before they got me!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

It works really well Sha

 

Try ice on them too.

 

I sent DH into Boots this afternoon as he was wasting an hour in town waiting for some photos to be developed, & they didn't have any . Fortunately it seems to be going down a bit this evening , having it covered so she couldn't scratch it & Piriton "on tap" at school will have helped too!

 

I think the hour in the pool helped to take her core temperature down & that can only have been a good thing after a cycling afterschool club, though they did cycle in the woods today, so at least they were in the shade!

 

Sha x

[Guest]

didn't you used to be able to get calamine sweets or am I dreaming that!?

[Lesley]

I was bitten on the bum whilst out walking on Edgehill about 10 years ago - we'd stopped to talk to a man who lives at the bottom of Edgehill and who waits to talk to walkers. One really sharp bite and I had no choice but to leap about holding my buttock

 

I still have a raised mark

[Valkyrie]

Sorry Lesley, I know it must have been painful - but reading that did make me laugh!