Hi, all,
One of my does, who is three years old and lactating, seems to have lice or mites. I thought she might be wormy because her eyelids were a bit light and I was afraid of barberpole (not much of anything showed up on the fecal I did this past Sunday, but then it's still sort of winter here in Upstate New York). I dosed her orally with 2.5 ml of Ivomec two weeks ago, but her eyelids still seem light, and she may have developed resistance because the vet had me inject her twice with Ivomec last year when she looked as though she had mites (before I knew better). She has had some dandruff and scaly white patches for about a month, but I thought it was just dry skin and lack of sunlight. I looked at her very closely with a flashlight, but couldn't see anything crawling anywhere on her. This morning, I noticed she was scratching, and stamping her feet and generally acting as though something is biting her. Also, she had a bare, raw patch of skin on the back of one of her front legs. I bought some Eprinex, but I'm wondering it is would be best to use that orally or as a pour-on? At what dose? Or would it be better to get some Permectrin II? Or even food grade Diatomaceous Earth? I would love to avoid using chemicals or anything that could create resistance, if possible.
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Your goats are a hoot, Juliana! Mine just push one another out of the way to get treats. The Bossy Goat, who is the one with the lice or mites, usually ends up with the treats. She doesn't care who has cooties. Maybe because she has the cooties! Thank you, Deb, for the helpful advice. I'm going to hold off on the Eprinex and clip her instead. The scaly patches seem to be nearly gone and she hasn't been scratching very much the past couple of days. I think sunshine (or lack of it) has a lot to do with it. Their barn and pen are completely shaded during the winter. In early spring, some sun starts making it to the far end of their pen. So I took some of their "lightly used" hay and built a walkway over to the sunny patch, so my little princesses wouldn't have to walk on - gasp! - snow. They trotted right out there and basked in the sun for a few days, and now their coats seem much better.
OMG! They are more ridiculous than most people! Bliss Cooties! LOL! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! But they will stick their noses right up a doe's butt, right in midstream! Crazy Goats!
Here's one for ya, just for fun. When I am hand feeding Bliss & Miyagi, if Bliss touches his lips to a pellet and then I offer it to Miyagi, forget about it!! IT has Bliss Cooties! If Bliss eats out of my hand, then I offer a new handful to Miyagi, forget about it! More Bliss cooties. I have to use the other hand for pellets that Bliss has not been near if Miyagi is going to get a treat.
LOL! Do you hear me laughing? That is freakin' hilarious, Diane! You are so right, that I swear to you sometimes I wonder if I have handled something like a chicken or whatever, are they not going to eat the hay if I touch it! But it does seem they are that picky!
Hmmmmm... I'm getting a new set of clippers Sunday. Maybe I'll clip her close rather than use the Eprinex. It's pretty chilly here now (30's at night), but it should warm up and in any case, she's in a barn at night with a deep bed of wasted hay and two buddies to snuggle with. The hay is clean, but they can't eat it because they already breathed on it. :)
Thank you so much for telling me that Deb. I would much rather not have to use the meds! I wanted to wait and shave as they kidded and take 12 hour udder shots when the kids were a couple weeks old but if that sounds good enough to you then I will just start stripping them down soon. I think it is going to rain some in the next few days and if that doesn't make it get to cool again then I will just start stripping. It is still above 80 degrees right now after 6:00 pm and has even been very overcast all day! So I am HOT! AC needs a part and all these hot school showers of the kids are making me feel like I am in a sauna! Hope we can get that part this weekend or one of you guys with snow may have a barnguest! HEHE!
They have Eprinex at my local TSC.
Shaving works great because the lice will have no place to hide. If you shave them, you don't need the meds. That's my personal favorite way to deal with lice when the weather is nice.
Thanks! I finally broke down and ran a nit comb through the hairs on my goats because like Deborah, I have to use reading glasses for those things, and I did find some tiny bugs on a couple which I have no idea exactly what they are!
So, am I safe in assuming that what every kind of bugs they are, this Eprinex will work? Do they sell that at places like TSC? or will I need to order it?
I was also thinking of starting to shave everyone down since it is getting hot here now, so what do ya'll think of that idea? Would that help keep them from having the bugs too, if I shave them as well?
And is it safe to use on pregnant does? And how old would kids need to be to use it on them?
Can I do all of them in case I don't see them on someone who really does have them or only on the ones I can find them on?
Yes, it should also work for mites, and the hair loss you're talking about could be caused by mites. The cattle dosage for Eprinex is usually doubled for goats.
Thanks, Deborah! That's a very good point about DE making dry skin even worse. I assume a pour-on would also work for mites, which I believe could case the mild anemia I'm seeing. I'll try the Eprinex and see if it works. I assume I just follow instructions on the package?
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