Goat Dandruff?

[Croenan]

Ok...I've got 2 girls that look like they have terrible dry skin. Of course, I suspected lice, so I wormed them in February and than again this month and no change. (one of the girls is very itchy)

I also noticed that it looks alot like dandruff on both of them because its all different sizes and it doesn't appear to be moving and looks like flaky skin, not critters.

Never had this before...have you? (where it wasn't lice?) What can I do? Both of these girls are into raiding my chicken feed before they will eat their own grain. Think that might be something? They eat good hay so I don't think it's malnutrition, but maybe something in the chicken feed that is drying their skin.

I also would rotate wormers but they both might be preggers and I don't know of a good wormer that is safe for momma's and treats lice. (I use ivomec and have used valbrazen occassionally-not lately)

Corrie Ann

[Jen H]

There are some mites that goats can be bothered by. You can buy permethrin sprays and dusts at any feed store that you apply to the goat's hair, so no worries about wormers. The mites you'd need a good magnifying glass to see.

If it is just dry skin, you can add black oil sunflower seeds to their regular feed. You can also mix in some vitamin E oil - or just squeeze the vitamin gel things into their mouths.

I've never had wormers work on lice! Do I just have mutant lice here?

[NewlandNubians]

In my herd, profuse dandruff is caused almost always by mineral deficiecies. This is the usual time of the year for dandruff - right when they are shedding off. What kind of mineral are they getting?

Sometimes minerals your water can bind up other minerals. If this is the case, I have no suggestions for you other than to dream up some kid of way of running the water through a water softener or something like that...

I recommend feeding a good-quality goat mineral free choice with a little bit of kelp mixed in occasionally. I have some recommendations on my website along with a link to my supplier for kelp. Just go to the "care program" page.

If it were lice, they would probably have bald spots somewhere. Either over the bridge of their nose or in the middle of their head. Sometimes they'll get a bald spot on their shoulders.

The pour on cattle wormers work excellent for lice... I like to use Eprinex. And the pour on wormers will usually cause a little dandruff themselves so be forewarned.