Frankie is loosing his hair!!
 

I was brushing Frankie and all of a sudden I had gobs of hair coming out! It left a bald spot. I rubbed some MTG on it and even more hair came off. :eek: This spot was really flaky earlier and last year he did have a bald spot in that location about the size of 1/2 dollar. I also noticed that he is loosing hair on his snout too! He is fed a bit of BOSS every day, alfalfa pellets, grass hay and forage. Right Now Onyx Minerals. Copper Bolused last month. I treat their pen and them with DE. Last worming Jan with Ivermectin which still works in this area.
:help:

The area looks greasy from the MTG

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

:help:

If the skin underneath looks healthy, I wouldn't worry too much. ;) I've had goats shed out in clumps before. One Saanen would rub up against the fence and it looked like I'd taken the clippers to her in one long strip. It grew back in normally.

Just the way some of them shed. :baby04:

That would worry me though I have no idea what it may mean. It just doesn't look healthy. Without a good goat vet, though, I have no idea what I would do.

I would suspect some type of mineral deficiency and would probably start there. I would also give him a good bath and probably a Bo-Se shot. If these didn't work, I have no idea what I would do.

My buck, Bob, did that. I sprinkled DE on him and it is all growing back.

Do you have lights on at night? With the light hours expanding it can really mess up with their coats.

I have the stuff I need to take a skin scraping in on Monday. No lights on in the barn at night. I'm worried...but he is acting fine. It's just such a large area and it looks a little red to me :(

Poor Frankie, I hope the skin scraping tell's you what's going on. Maybe after the scraping put some DE on him just in case.

I did put DE on all them last night. Today Frankie lost another big glob on the other side! :(

Poor thing, I hope it's something that's easily fixed. Try not to worry till you get the skin scraping back, I know it's hard because I'd be worried too. Just 1 more day. At least he's acting good & eating, etc.

Looks like a patch of mites or lice to me. The DE should clear it up. Also if you use Ivomec for your wormer it kills them too. This seems to be the time of year they crop up too.

As they are "fluffy", I'm assuming (which may be wrong) that they are getting too much to eat. As they are minis, do they need alfalfa pellets at all?

How much is "a bit" of BOSS?

Maybe it's too much protein in their diets?

I give them alfalfa pellets because I thought I needed that for calcium for Frankie so there is a balance to prevent UC.
They get 1/2 cup total for all three of BOSS. I do measure it.
They get 1 treat a day...a dosage ball of AC for Frankie, and Gretta and Flossie get 1 frosted mini wheat each.
I would happily cut out the alfalfa pellets...I thought Frankie needed the extra calcium. :shrug:

They need calcium if they are breeding/milking goats. Yours are pets, correct?

Yes...no milking here. They are pets :)

As they are so chubby, and minis, and now you have hair issues..... this is a wild guess, but ....
too much protein? kidney issues?

I think non-breeding minis only need hay.

Well I will stop the alfalfa pellets then. I wonder why I had it stuck in my head that he needed calcium to ward off UC...:shrug:
I can feed what I have left to the horses...they will love it.
I was only feeding them the alfalfa in the am and pm...about 3/4 of a 16oz cup each time. Not free choice. I also take them for walks daily weather permitting.

I just had a thought...maybe he is not eating the minerals?? How can I get him to eat minerals...I use Right now Onyx

I always worry about UC in male goats too, wethers & bucks alike since I had a buck with UC once. I think it was Vicki McGaugh & Susanne that both at that time told me it was calcium to phophorus ratio that was off that caused the UC. So I always make sure my boys get Alfafa/grass mixed hay along with browse(wether permitting). I don't give them alfafa pellets but they do get alfafa in their hay & we also have about 11 acres of alfafa growing here that they get to browse in a little while morning & evening on there way to & from their pasture area since it's not attached to their barn area.

UC can also be caused from too much iron in the water. Alot of different things I think can make a male goat more prone to UC.

Well...Skin scraping negative. Fecal also nothing. My vet said from the pictures and description he doesn't think it's mites but I should treat with Ivomec anyway. He said it would need to be injected and suggested a dose of .07 cc for 80 lb goat.
He said with skin scrapping you really need to go deep to where it's just about bleeding. I didn't do that..I tried to go deep but I felt so bad because of the sunburn that I probably didn't. He said it seems that it would be something in his diet or the result of a very high fever in the last few months. He is baffled because the other 2 are fine.
I do have the Ivomec on hand but I would like to hear from the experts here what the dose would be when injected.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I am so bummed :( about this. My poor little guy.

It isn't unusual for only one goat in a herd to get mites or lice. I have one who gets it and she just gets everything that comes along. She will be a cull this Fall sadly even though she has a great personality. The Ivomec will clear it up if it is mites.

Do you know the dosage?

We do 1 cc per 35 lbs subcutaneously. Since it is off label for goats there is a wide range of dosages recommended. I have seen everything from 1 cc per 70 lbs to the 1 per 35.

When I use Ivermectin "Plus", I use 3cc per 100 lbs injected just under skin.

I'm using the regular not the "Plus" Its Ivomec 1% injection for cattle & swine

That's what I use too, 1 cc per 35 lbs should take care of it. :)

When I have had a problem with mites it has always been just 1 goat & usually only 1 in the year.

http://www.goatbiology.com/mites.html

Here is a link someone gave me when 1 of my bucks had mites this winter. He had crusty stuff on him though. not like Frankie.
I'll see if I can find the dosage someone told me in my thread at the time.
I used Ivermectin Plus injectable & did it SQ, 2 shots at 3 weeks intervals like the site recommended.

I looked up the thread & Mygoat had told me to use 1 cc per 50 pounds per goat. My little Buck is between 75 & 80 pounds & if I remember correctly I gave him 2ml & again 3 weeks later.
Cleared him right up, all the hairs grown back & he's fine.

Did you inject it Katie? If you did, did it sting really bad?

ETA: Nevermind...I see you said you injected it thanks! :)

Thank you Patt! :)

I think it did sting, hubby held him & thank goodness it was only 2ml so that goes quick.
He was a real trooper & didn't even act upset when I was done.

Well I did it..He took it better than I thought although the needle got bent. :( I just feel so awful bout this. My poor little guy...he looks just awful. The sunburn is pretty bad. He is acting fine though...I'm sure it's all affecting me worse than him. I'm going to bed.

can you use some mtg on him overnight? because it can cause sunburn I know you have to be careful, but it will help grow hair back fast and help with any mites as you probably already know.

Yes, I'm going to use the mtg but going to wait until the sunburn calms down a bit. Mtg has a warning on it about sunburn I just read tonight. That is probably why he is so burned...form me using it the first time and letting him be out in the sun. :(
ok now I'm really going to bed