Help - horrific tick infestation on goat's head

Well at least you don't have to worry about withdrawl for milking purposes....

As I understand it(could be wrong) premethrin is just a synthetic pyrethrum amd about the same strength. And actually the bitten animal really doesn't feel the bite..it is when you try to pull it out/off they feel it because the mouthparts of the embedded tick try to pull a chunk of the hide with it..literally ripping the tick plus hide with it. I would look into ivermectin.

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Pour on? Injectable? (injected or drench?)

Ivermectin will not work on ticks. If banamine has calmed in in the past I would use it. 1cc per 100 lbs is what it says on the Fias site

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Clear nail polish will suffocate them Get some guineas

How many guineas would you need to cover 10 acres of ticks? Just wondering.

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No amount of guineas, chickens or ducks are going to take care of the amount of ticks on this property...I don't think.

Maybe the answer is to treat the deer!
http://www.shelter-island.org/deeran..._brochure.html

That's what I'm thinking too...I'm afraid I would need 100 of them at least to cover the property and all the ticks...I have had anywhere from 10-20 chickens at a time and never noticed any decline in the bug population around here.

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I'm with Alice! Ticks freak me out! I like to think our chickens eat lots of the bugs. I do seem to notice that when I coop them up there are more bugs especially during the spring hatching stages. I don't know how many ticks they eat though.

I should not have looked at the picture!!!!!

Imagine the real thing! Can't get the visual out of my head.

Poor thing.

Going to try again - see if he'll let me near him

Let us know how you do with him Valsey...Maybe just do a bit at a time and then give him a break. But keep him close quarters so you don't have to keep on trying to catch him. Ugh...I really feel for you

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chickens dont really do well on keeping ticks down, the guineas will do a number on them though. my neighbor has a small flock of about 8 and they come over here and keep the yard and goat area pretty clear of ticks. between me, the guy next door and the guy behind me the guineas are clearing about 10 acres.

the guineas also wont dig up your gardens like the chickens do, they just eat the above ground bugs while the chickens will dig for theirs.

that and i love the sound all those birds make, quite the ruckus.

My dogs were getting ticks almost as bad as the pic until I gave them copper. A few days later, no ticks and I didn't pull them off. I've never seen ticks on my goats either.

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Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

I looked at the pic. I then proceeded to do my "OMG AAAAAAAGH!" dance all over the living room.

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Knights and Dreams Farm

If he busted his scur off he's probably in pain and that's why he won't let you near him. I've got one with a split scur right now and he's avoiding contact with everything.

I don't think I'd be putting any insecticides near an open wound like where he broke his scur off.

Vaseline will suffocate the ticks if you cover their breathing holes. That will cause them to pull out and drop off.

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Do you give them a copper supplement? Surely not COWP...?

Nah - he broke off the scur AFTER the first day's treatment.

Vaseline may suffocate them, but I'm pretty sure that won't kill them, and it takes a long time. Anyway - too late - saw this post after going out

Thanks, Minelson

It went surprisingly well - thanks to the Banamine! I don't think it would've been possible without it. He struggled about half as much as yesterday.

I quietly snuck up behind him and got his collar and lead him to a post with a lead. Gave him a shot of Banamine and he screamed bloody murder. Maybe this guy is just super sensitive to pain. After about a half an hour he was calmer. With my readers on and a magnifying glass I looked closely. His head looks like a Pompei victim. The combination of dried blood and blue-kote makes for a hard, crusty, black matte.

I could see quite a few ticks still embedded but they weren't moving. There were a few that were dead looking like they were on their way outta there - still in his hair. From what I could tell there are only two left alive at this point. However - I can't see behind one clump of hair. Still the majority seems to be dead.

Squirted those last two with more pyrethrin. Gave him 10cc of Eprinex down his back. More blue kote on the exposed bloody scur 'stump'.

But the Banamine was really amazing. I don't advocate overuse of drugs, but I can say by the time we were done he was lying beside me, letting me brush him and scrap all the dried blood stuff off his face...and even seemed to enjoy it. Maybe he won't hate me completely.

Whew - what a nightmare!

I recall last year that I saw a few ticks in that same spot - size of raisins. I didn't mess with it though. Again - he wouldn't let me. Why do you think they go to that spot? Lack of hair? Any ideas on what I could put there preventatively?

Anyone else notice lack of ticks with copper supplementation? How does that worK?

Thanks, all

Even in bad tick years where our dogs were struggling with them, I haven't ever picked an embedded tick off of any of my goats. I've only ever seen one tick crawling on the coat of one of my goats. I've copper bolused the past couple years but before that I had goats for many years before I knew anything about copper bolusing. I now give copper boluses and BoSe every 4 months (3x per year).

I would suggest dusting them with Sevin as a preventative. Maybe getting frontline spray to keep on hand for issues like this. I'm betting there are some good horse quality tick preventatives that you may want to look into.

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Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

Oh good..I am so glad it went better with the Banamine. I have been thinking about you all day because I just know how difficult it would be for me to do anything to Frankie's head cuz he is such a freak about it. Good for you!!!!! I don't think he will hate you at all, he has to be relieved to get those creepy crawlies off of him!

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