Hi everyone,
I have three ND's and yesterday and today, two of them are stamping their feet as if being bitten or have sudden itching and both run frantically into their barn enclosure to get away, or at least that is how it appears. They will also jump into the old doghouse out in their yard for relief, as well. They are in a dry lot which is pretty wet at the moment. This happened a few weeks ago when the weather warmed as well, and then subsided when the cold returned. I cannot see anything flying at them and it is mostly their legs that seem to be being bothered, or at least that is what I am assuming because of the stamping. They are also rubbing against the fencing somewhat more than usual, though I had been attributing that to their losing their winter coats.
Today I raked up all the old leaves and hay that had accumulated over winter and treated the part of the lot where they spend the most time and are bothered the most with a mixture of diatomaceous earth, sulfur powder and citric acid, since I use all of them for the chickens for parasites. I treated the two goats legs with the powered sulfur and went ahead and used the pour-on Ivermectin on both of them as well, in case it is a parasite that I am not seeing.
Does anyone else have experience with this kind of behavior and symptoms in the early spring (or any oter time) and if so, any ideas of what to do other than what I've done? Thanks so much. I don't know what I am dealing with. I am not seeing any bare patches or anything moving when I look at their backs. I haven't been able to take close look at their legs yet, but don't see anything unusual from a couple of feet away.
Replies
Hi Ann
I was actually doing mite research today and one of the symptoms for Chorioptic mites in particular is stomping the feet as the mites are fond of the lower limbs, abdomen and hind quarters of goats. You may want to get a skin scrape done to rule out or confirm.
When mine had lice last year, I actually found them during a routine check, not because they were exhibiting any symptoms. Honestly I really don’t think that I even checked them again until a week or so later and the crawling boogers were gone by then.
Tammy
Hi again, Tammy.
I'm not sure what to do here and so am asking for your thoughts. I treated all three last Wed with the pour-on Ivermectin, but I forgot about using an eyedropper and used the applicator that came with the Ivemectin. It wouldn't have been as effective at getting down under the hair as the eye dropper so I don't know for sure how much made it down to their skin. I was mindful of the need for that skin contact but I just can't say for sure.
They are all still itching and stamping their legs and have some itching on their faces it seems now. None are losing hair that I can see, as in in patches. The one who is most bothered is losing a lot of undercoat right now and the other two not so much. It has just been since Wednesday and I can't remember how long it took before the goats were itch free last year. I'm wondering whether to wait longer to see if the itching will stop or to does them again with the eyedropper tomorrow. Do you remember at all last year when you needed to treat your herd for lice how many days it was until you started seeing them being more comfortable?
Thanks, Tammy.
Your Welcome!
I think the only thing I used was the Ivermectin pour on so I'll be interested in seeing if that takes care of it again. It is really something how insidiously such a situation crops up, unless of course, one knows what to look for, which I hope I will next year. I'll try and remember to let you know how it goes. Last year, after two days after application, I was asking how long it takes the Ivermectin to kill off the lice and you had tried to look that up and hadn't found anything. Apparently, some time after that it took effect because the problem didn't persist. Maybe I'll think to write it down somewhere this year! Thanks Tammy.
Hi Ann
what ended up working for you last year? I seem to remember this, but then again, this time of year we answer a lot of these type of questions across different platforms. Spending more time indoors during the winter, instead of out in the nice dry sunny pasture makes them much more susceptible to external parasites. I had an epic outbreak of lice last year after our Texas Winterpocalypse hit :/
tammy
Before posting a question, I should really go back and read my and other people's questions that cover the same topic. I wrote in last early April asking the same question that I asked above....You'd think I'd remember having gone through this before! Though they were babies and we'd just brought them home then. I'll know soon whether the Ivermectin pour on is making a difference. Hopefully, next year I will remember and be on top of watching for symptoms!