I just noticed that one of my does has nearly lost all the hair on her front legs from the knee down. She also has very white, scaly skin there. She is a blond goat, and young. None of my other goats have any signs of getting into the same state she is. There are also some small open sores on her legs there. I'm worried, because she is one of my bred does, although I'm not sure she settled. She has been in great health on all other fronts. It's been REALLY wet outside, and their yard has become a myre of YUCK... but their barn is dry. I don't have time to get a photo today, but I might try tomorrow... any thoughts?
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Oh, got it! I have no idea how my goats got whatever they had. There was a creek between the bucks and the dry does!
Rachel Whetzel said:
I just meant that I don't think that if it's mites, they came in on my hay. I do think I need to treat her for parasites.
Actually, in the case of mites (and lice too), only one goat may be affected. The long story about what happened to a few of my goats last year is that with the dry does, I first treated with ivomec, and the next day everyone was worse, so I then started treating with an antibacterial cream. They were better within a few days, and after a week or so, I could see that hair was starting to grow back. So, when a buck came down with the same thing, I started with the antibacterial cream first, and two weeks he was not better, then I treated with the ivomec and did nothing else, and he started healing up within a few days. In the case of the dry does, only three does were affected in a pen of about 10. The buck was only one in a pen of six. Based upon how they all responded to treatment, it was parasitic, not bacterial.
When you have a very small number of goats in a herd get something parasitic, and no one else has it, typically, it's goats with weaker immune systems who are infected. Of the dry does that got it, two of them were also the ones that got infected with meningeal worm, and also a retired doe that was 10 years old. The buck that was infected was my oldest buck who also proved himself to be sterile around the same time.
If that were the case, my whole herd should show signs, and no one is. While I haven't counted out mites, I don't think they are cause by anything environmental.
My vet said he had a client that had mites and they finally figured out it came in w/ straw he used.
I'm not sure what "getting better" looks like... because other than the open sores (which do seem to be healing) and dry skin (which I *think* looks better... but she doesn't stand very still when I try to look at her) I don't know what to look for... her fur is obviously (or maybe not?) not going to be growing back just yet... and she isn't favoring her feet.
None of my other goats have any hair loss signs ANYWHERE... so I am still hoping this is a wet weather thing for her. It's still really wet, so IDK if that is making things go more slowly or not.
Well, it should be getting better within a few days, if it's just some type of infection. Forelegs is a very odd place for mites, but it's not impossible. And you can only see mites with a skin scraping under a microscope. This past summer four goats had what I think was mites for the very first time ever. It was two dry yearlings and a retired doe. They started losing hair on their neck, head, and shoulders. And a couple weeks later an old buck started losing hair on his back near his tail. Long story ... I treated them all very differently, and bottom line is that it responded to ivomec pour-on. Having a closed herd, I can't imagine where they got mites, but based on response to various treatments, it was a parasite. Weirdest thing is that the buck was several hundred yards away from the dry does!
Deb, what do I look for to see "improvement" before I treat with more than iodine? I checked her over, and see no signs of ANY parasites... and I *think* things are at the very least not getting worse...
Thank you, deb! I definitely have the meds to try both those. I really feel like it came on pretty fast... so I'm hoping that it's the wet.