UGH!! Mites? Lice???

[CountryWannabe]

Three of my goats have patchy looking hair coats. One with an actual bare spot. Their skin looks dandruff-y. These are "the three musketeers" that are fence-jumpers and they go off into the woods when they feel like it. Has any one any ideas what this could be and what treatment I should use? One of the goats is pregnant. They have been wormed as needed and have good pink eye rims.

Thanks for any information you could give me

Mary

[LomahAcres]

You have to know what it is before you can treat correctly Look really close at the coats. Part it around the top line and see if you see any critters crawling around? If so, I would dust them with DE, once a week, three weeks in a row should do the trick. If you don't see critters, feel the skin - does it have a raised bumpy feel to it? Then it may be ringworm and I would spray it with iodine every day until it's gone and then some. Or could it just be they are roughing up there coats on tree branches? and have a bald spot from a favorite scratching place? Dandruff could be bugs, or it could be winter coats coming out? Or something lacking in nutrition? Goats will do all sorts of things to drive us nuts.

ETA: What did you worm with and when? Some wormers are good against external parasites as well as internal.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Have you found anything crawling on them? Can you post pictures of the spots your questioning? That may help alot with trying to figure out what it may be too.
Could just be dry skin though like LomahAcres said though & loosing the winter hair, that causes them to scratch alot.
If it's just dry skin BOSS will help & I've also sprayed mine with Avon's Skin So Soft mixed with water & rub it in, the oil helps there skin plus when it's fly & mosquito season it helps with those too.

[Minelson]

Katie...your goats must smell really good! I love that SSS smell. It reminds of summer from using it to keep squeeters away when I lived in WI...

[Minelson]

Oh and to comment on the original question...I have been having luck with DE. I sprinkle it on their backs and legs/feet and rub it in. I also sprinkle it on their bedding and around their inside pen. I do the same with the chickens and cats...lots of white puffing around here this time of year...and when I'm done I look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

[motdaugrnds]

Good information so far ..

A deficiency in selenium will also cause loss of hair. Might give Bo-Se (a prescription) for this.

[CountryWannabe]

Thanks for the info. I know it isn't ringworm - I was a dog groomer for years and would recognise it. I will certainly try DE. They have free access to Meat Maker minerals and Sea Kelp so a mineral deficiency is less likely - though I would certainly not rule it out.

Two are dark brown and the other is black - makes it difficult to see if anything is on the skin. Someone mentioned using scotch tape and trying to get samples from the dandruffy areas and also from the skin with the hair parted (always wanted to be a CSI!) and looking at that under a microscope (I have one!)

I use the goat pellet wormer as a rule and it seems to keep egg counts down pretty well - the other advantage is that it is REAL easy to get them to take it. I did use Ivomec Plus as a SQ injection late last year on everyone. I do fecals and use the FAMACHA scoring at least a couple to three times per year.

Thanks everyone - keep those ideas coming

Mary