FAO Owners of Hairies! Feather Mites

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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Now I have a "Hairy" I have been warned by a few people to watch for feather mites.
What are they exactly and what should I be looking for?
And if found what's best to do to treat them?

Thanks
x
 
Will be watching this post with interest as I've just bought a hairy with a potential mite problem pointed out at the vetting.

We've clippped her heels out completely (not an option if you like your hairies to be hairy) - she was hogged and trimmed already - and have wormed with an ivermectin based wormer as advised by the vet (as this kills the mites when they bite). I know someone else posted about this recently and said that you must repeat the worming to get any newly hatched mites - but I can't remember the timeframe given.

We've treated few scabs she had with sudocrem and they are healing well.
 
Plaster the legs in pig oil and sulpher every couple of weeks! I used this method for mud fever but apparently its good for mites as well.
 
Hi there my cob has real problems with mites and the one thing that seems to work for her is the foot stamp from global herbs, I used it all last year and her legs are now the best they have ever been. I have never been able to get rid of them completely and I have tried the wormers but they don't work for her. Her feathers are fully clipped off as the hair is very thick and coarse. At one point the vet gave her a cattle! injection that got rid of them but within a couple of months they were back. My understanding is they live their whole life cycle on the horses leg so you have to keep breaking the cycle. I am going to apply baby oil today after clipping as i have been told that they do not like oil (this is probably why the pig oil is effective)
 
I have had my cob for 6 years and he is rarely free of mites. When they are at their most prevalent he stamps his feet in the field and often bites them. Althought i clip his feathers off which he hates, he still has them. I use frontline spray which I get from my vet. It does kill them but they come back. She suggested that i could have some sort of course of injections, but sounds too pricey for a problem that he has just grown used to. The foot stamping will probably be the first sign that your horse has mites. Also there is sometimes crusty bits of skin behind the knee and on the hocks. Frontline is the best stuff, then I use a mite repellent to keep them at bay for as long as poss, but like I said before they come back. It wouldn't put me off getting a feathered horse again as its something that is manageable.
 
Hi
I used footstamp or (pestoban) I think its called now from Global herbs too and it made no difference. Just shows that what works on one doesn't necessaily work on another.
 
i used frontline when i 1st got my mare,who used to stamp her back feet and rub them on the water container.
i used it 2 weeks apart(this was about 9 or 10 years ago) and have never needed to treat it since.it worked instantly.
i also use pig-oil about once a fortnight to keep them tangle free.
 
If you PM theresa f she with send you a lovely long pm on how to treat them.I have a very hairy beast and it seems to be helping him already.
 
Hi. Your horse will possibly stamp irritably when mites are active and could even get open sores on his legs as the mite activity progresses. He / she may also get defensive about you handling the affected legs. I have a shire mare who occasionally gets leg mites and it's unmistakable when they are present due to the above signs. I have her injected with Dectomax by my vet. She has 2 doses about 10 days apart and this stops the mites completely. 1 dose will give some relief but the follow up dose is important for longer term protection. Hope this helps - but you may not get the problem in the first place and you should really get vet diagnosis before you assume anything!
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you PM theresa f she with send you a lovely long pm on how to treat them.I have a very hairy beast and it seems to be helping him already.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will do, thanks!
 
My horse has huge feathers and you will see them stamping and mine even started bititng his till they bled. We tried front line spray, shampoos, and the vet gave him a cow wormer which did kill them until the next lot hatched out. He has thick skin up the back of his legs and when we clipped them off his fetlocks were really swollen a lot goes in under them feathers the vet reckoned by the time i had him it was too late to do anything and now he has to have them cipped all the time. Its like putting racing stripes on him cause he can pick his legs up better so goes twice as fast lol
 
She has the injections whenever she shows symptoms - usually around twice a year, average of once in autumn / winter, once in spring / summer. Your vet may want to do tests to ensure it's leg mites before injecting - but it does work for our horse. It also saves clipping / trimming lots of feather away to do topical applications, e.g. Frontline etc, although I believe this also gives good results (our horse is shire and would need gallons of F'line!). I believe mites can thrive and reinfest from bedding, e.g. straw, and sometimes if horse is kept in problem can be worse - ours is out 24/7
 
I've had her for just over a week now and she was kept out at first, as we had no stable but now she has been in overnight (on straw) since sunday, and I just noticed her stamping her feet this morning when I turned out, which got me thinking of mites.
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Now, I'm very concerned.
Would shavings (although I hate them and they're much more expensive) help, or am I best just leaving out, as that is what she is used to, just that YO is concerned about the grass (or lack of) at the moment, so wants them in overnight! Arrgghh!
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Don't know whether anyone else has already suggested this but my vet recommended cattle wormer (Ivermectin) He came and out gave her one does (£12.50) as you would a normal equine wormer. That was three years ago and my mare hasn't had them since.

Only issue is that if ponio has adverse reaction your equine insurance won't cover you for using cattle wormer!

Hope that helps
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Hi. Just to say, the Ivermectin based cattle wormer mentioned here is probably Dectomax. It probably wouldn't be covered by insurance as it isn't licenced for use in horses (but then, neither is Frontline). However, it's so inexpensive, I doubt if a claim would be viable anyway because of the insurance excess. I can only reiterate that it works for our mare, and gives such huge relief, that the licencing / insurance issues seem minor in comparison to the effectiveness of the product. Also, usage can be kept to a mimimum, simply because it is so effective.
 
The vet at vetting advised me that any ivermectin based horse wormer can be used so we tried the new equimax tablets which contain ivermectin and praziquantel. This means that she was wormed for pretty much everything except encysted red worm. As she is new we needed to worm her anyway. Hopefully this and the clip will clear things up.

I had a look at the Global Herbs solution but was a bit put off by the instruction to wear gloves and collect any run off water...
 
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