Ears - Forum - Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Hello I haven't done an introduction quite yet but I have a problem first.

This is our first venture with goats. (Well livestock in general for me) We have a 6 week old doeling and an almost 4 week old doeling. The older of the two has small pieces of skin and hair that are coming out of her ears. They both lick/chew alittle and shake their heads alittle. They scratch the tops of their heads alot, but I thought it was because of their disbudding.

Searching has brought me ideas of mites or mange or lice. We took a workshop from the lady we purchased from and she said they can lose ear hair if they are copper deficient. But with other itchy symptoms I don't think that's it.

All the reading says to treat them. But I'm wanting to take a more natural approach with these guys. (I have Molly's Herbals Dewormer kit on the way {any tips on the dosage for theses guys? Same as her dose listed for goats?} as well as Immune Support.) I work in a laboratory and I see the consequences of over treating humans with antibiotics and such and don't want to participate in that with goats.

So all babbling aside. Any ideas and or suggestions?

So we are thinking it might be mites. The hairloss is getting worse and I see scabs on Lamb Chop's ears. There is brown gunk in their ears and they are chewing and licking alot more. My boyfriend says he thinks Jasmine's conjunctiva is alittle pale (I have trouble getting her to let me manipulate her face but he gets to spend more time with them since I have to work) We got our Herbal Dewormer and tried to give our first dose today, it was an amusing site. Anyhow, all the options I read say that ivermectin is the treatment. But should we really be giving ivermectin and the herbal wormer? Maybe it doesn't matter if we do both. I'm just worried, I don't want to lose our goats for rookie mistakes. Or is there a better way to treat this on goats so young?

I was unable to get a sample to work as I was running late yesterday morning and don't work til Saturday so I can't look under the microscope.

Thanks again.

Replies

Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 10, 2011 at 5:34pm

You can use ivermectin even if they've had the herbal dewormer. If they have mites or lice, the ivermectin should take care of it.
Jaci Jahn May 10, 2011 at 4:23pm

So we are thinking it might be mites. The hairloss is getting worse and I see scabs on Lamb Chop's ears. There is brown gunk in their ears and they are chewing and licking alot more. My boyfriend says he thinks Jasmine's conjunctiva is alittle pale (I have trouble getting her to let me manipulate her face but he gets to spend more time with them since I have to work) We got our Herbal Dewormer and tried to give our first dose today, it was an amusing site. Anyhow, all the options I read say that ivermectin is the treatment. But should we really be giving ivermectin and the herbal wormer? Maybe it doesn't matter if we do both. I'm just worried, I don't want to lose our goats for rookie mistakes. Or is there a better way to treat this on goats so young?

I was unable to get a sample to work as I was running late yesterday morning and don't work til Saturday so I can't look under the microscope.

Thanks again.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 8, 2011 at 8:56pm

I'd probably wait until they're 2-3 months old unless it's staying in the 50-60s overnight. We've shaved kids at that age and temp, and they didn't appear to have any adverse affects. Could one be chewing or sucking on the other's ears? I've seen that before. No, Molly's doesn't work for external parasites. You could just try bathing them with a citronella shampoo, or add citronella to the rinse water.
Jaci Jahn May 8, 2011 at 8:04pm

Ok, I got to spend alittle time with them today after work. They weren't shaking their heads so much today. There was a fair bit of chewing and licking going on. The hair is coming out right around the edges of her ears, not on the inside persay, but that round part between the inside and out. Does that make sense?

If it is mites or lice...are they too young to shave? I'm in NC and it's been alittle bit chilly in the mornings (like 40-50s) sometimes if it's quite chilly we turn on the heat lamp. I worry about them getting cold if we shave them. Would Molly's Dewormer work for this? Probably not huh? Sorry I haven't got all the treatments for all the possible parasites/diseases straight quite yet.

Goodness, this has to be worse than being an actual mother.

Thanks for all your help.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle May 7, 2011 at 9:07pm

If it looks like they're losing scabby stuff from inside the ears, that sounds like ear mites in rabbits. I've heard goats can get ear mites, but I've never seen them in real life. Molly's won't do anything for ear mites. Vet RX is supposed to work for ear mites. I think it's just menthol and camphor, but it's been ages since I've read the label. It's one of those things I bought when I was new and never needed it. Tea tree oil might also work. If you have a microscope, it would be fun to check it out.
Jaci Jahn May 7, 2011 at 6:55pm

What I forgot to say in my post above is. How do I know what to treat for? Can you tell strictly by symptoms? I have access to a microscope at work so should I try to get some scrapings and take a peek? It would have to survive an hours drive to work though. I just don't want to try something and if that doesn't work, try something else etc...

Anyone have any luck with tea tree oil like Molly suggests on her site??

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