I was looking around about Hoof Trimming and keep coming up with stuff about Proper Trimming for Show Goats...Since I do not intend to show my goats how often do I need to trim my goats hooves?...They are in soft pasture all the time and have no access at this time to rocks or cement.
Also while petting my boy Boots I noticed he has these little bugs on him...I assume they are lice...Is there any recommendation of treatment for these...Is there any natural remedies like for humans (EG: Tea-tree oil...though concerned this would not be safe to use on my goats incase they lick it)
Thank you for any help or advice you might have.
Kelsie
Replies
I got some Permethrin.10 From Tractor Supply...It is a spray for lifestock (including goats)...So we will see how it works as it says it is a spray...We plan to move their night time pen today, so will be changing out all the bedding etc as well...Seem like a good time to treat them for the lice too.
I am still trying to track down some sheers to trim the hooves...If I can't find them today I guess I will have to order online...You would think in a rural farming area you could find what you need for life stock easier.
Thank you for all the imput
Kelsie
I have never treated for lice more than once, and it has never been a problem.
Melissa Johnson said:
Our family had a bout of headlice (ugh!) this past summer. They did have a body type similar to your pic. We killed the head lice with listerine mouth wash used twice 10 days apart. Sounds crazy, but we sprayed it into our hair until it was saturated to the scalp and all the hair was coated, left it for an hour and then washed it out. It worked great. No more lice! :)
Learned something! once again. ^^ So, then you would have to remedicate again in 10 days with pour on?
If you only saw three of them, I doubt that was lice. You usually have dozens of them. Can't say I've ever seen one that up-close to say if I recognize it. I love the photo though! It's excellent!
For lice, you should use a pour-on. It works better than injectable or oral for external parasites. Also, I learned at the ADGA conference a couple months ago that the milk withdrawal for using an injectable dewormer on a goat is 100 days. That's why it is no longer recommended by the Southern Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control. Internal parasites also develop resistance to a dewormer faster if it is used as an injectable because it stays in the system for so long in such a small amount. You wind up with repeated generations of parasites surviving with a small amount of the dewormer, so they are resistant to it. Basically you're inoculating them to survive the dewormer.
yep, I would say lice. I use the Ivermectin pour on also - but I really believe the injectable is probably the best bet.
The Ivermectin pour-on doesnt kill the eggs - so I think in 10 days you have a new group. I bought a 50 lb. of Diamateous Earth (probably misspelled) it is a natural product to sprinkle around their area - did it do anything? I dont really know. I would treat them - clean out the straw if you can and put fresh bedding.
I have a couple of hay bales for my girls to lay/sleep on and when I had lice going I pulled those out and put new ones in. However, I actually never saw anything bug like but once. But if they are scratching - I assumed it was lice - especially when they spent a substantial amount of time doing it! If I had Ivermectin pour on - I would use it.
btw - it is absorbed through the skin - you pour it on (I use a syringe) along the top of their spine - neck to tailhead. They cant reach to lick. ^^
You should inspect their hooves about every 8 weeks. They need to be trimmed when the hoof wall starts to grow under the hoof itself. You should also trim off any extra toe. Dont know what your bugs are. The lice that I have seen have been light in color, not brown like that. I use Ivermectin pour-on to get rid of any coat critters. You have to space the applications a few weeks apart to kill future generations. Dont know of any natural remedies that have actually worked for me, sorry.