A friend just said that she will never use straw for bedding again. She is convinced her goats got lice from it since it is the first time she used straw and the first time the goats have had lice. I told her that my vet told me that goat lice are specific to goats and they come from other goats. I also told her they may have gotten them when they were bred. Three months after both of my girls were bred, I found lice on their backs, fortunately easily fixed. However, there were no lice on the third girl. *If* the lice came from straw, they would have been on all three. She insisted the lice could not be from breeding because that was four months ago and it had to get them from the straw. She also said she was told there were "straw lice."
Okay, folks, can goats get lice from straw?
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Short answer: no.
Longer answer: There are several hundred kinds of lice, and they are all species specific. Chicken lice can't live on goats, and goat lice can't live on people, etc. As Patty said, they need their host to survive. If a goat was rubbing on the straw bales just before they were loaded up and brought to your farm and then you immediately put them in your stalls, maybe the lice could get on your goats before they died. However, I totally agree with you that breeding was the more likely route of infestation. It is entirely possible that no one noticed a few lice after breeding, but they tend to reproduce on the goats like crazy over the winter.
I don't believe this would be possible, though I'm not positive. Lice really need their hosts, and indeed are host specific. There would be no warmth, and nothing for them to live on in the straw. It could take a while for the lice to build up to a level that was bothering the goats enough to be noticed (after being bred, I mean). It could be only one lice ended up on one goat, laid eggs, then they had to hatch...that might take long enough that she wouldn't notice the lice for that long. I'm not sure.
I have heard other people say that the goats could get lice, mites, etc... from the straw. I've also heard people say that goats could get diseases like johne's from the hay they eat. I'm not convinced. I'd love the official answer on that though. :)