Feather mites

[Blondiecopper]

Please give me your experiences of the above and how to treat them.
I think they are in the early stages. Initially I though it may be mud fever but sadly not. Looks like FM and he's had a chew on the hind legs so in Adamant it is. Looked online and I've read about the injection given by the vet. Ideally I don't want to clip feathers off as they are lovely.
Your experiences please

 

[meleeka]

I found sulphur dip really worked, but it stinks! I think the key is to get it sorted quickly, before it’s in the surroundings. A friends field seems to be rife for them, and my horse got them from there, but i treated quickly. They never came back. Her horse still gets them every year despite treating the same.

 

[Blondiecopper]

I found sulphur dip really worked, but it stinks! I think the key is to get it sorted quickly, before it’s in the surroundings. A friends field seems to be rife for them, and my horse got them from there, but i treated quickly. They never came back. Her horse still gets them every year despite treating the same.

Interesting you should say that as he's recently moved yards. I wonder if he's picked them up from the new yard? I read about the Sulphur ? and that it stains your clothing if you spill it. I'm getting the vet this week. Today I've washed his legs with Hibiscrub and left on then rinsed and dried. He's on shavings too but I read they can live in those too. Little buggers ?

 

[nagblagger]

I have the injection by the vet as mare is not the best with her back legs so wouldn't be able to treat.
Frontline (or equivalent) also worked for her when i first had her.

 

[Blondiecopper]

I have the injection by the vet as mare is not the best with her back legs so wouldn't be able to treat.
Frontline (or equivalent) also worked for her when i first had her.

Yes I'm going down that rd. he's only young so I don't want to make messing with his hind legs a 'thing' if you know what I mean.
so far he's been really good with me messing with them. Did the injection clear them up?

 

[nagblagger]

She has stopped scratching and 'foot banging' in the field. (don't know how else to describe it) so much better. I will probably have to have them every year now though.

 

[Ceriann]

Head and shoulders selenium sulfide shampoo and frontline - with the frontline repeated a couple of weeks later. Manages it but doesn’t get rid of it - it’s a continuous battle! I sometimes sedate to wash her legs too.

 

[pistolpete]

Lovely guy at adventure Clydesdales said they use ivermectin wash made up for them by the vet.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

If you live near enough to a beach you can ride on, ride through the sea water up to their knees. If they actually have mites repeat for a few days.

if you show and want lovely soft flowing feathers it also keeps them snow white, mite free, mud fever free and even prevents mallenders and sallenders if you go deep enough to completely cover the back of the knees and above.

Since moving away from the coast I tried washing regularly with salt water and it just didn't work like real sea water did. No idea why it works but was a tip given to me many years ago by a canny old traditional cob breeder.?

 

[SEL]

Lovely guy at adventure Clydesdales said they use ivermectin wash made up for them by the vet.

I've made my own up with cattle ivermectin solution. It's the only thing that works for mine

 

[olop]

My boy suffers really bad from mites this time of year, I use frontline (the spray not the spot on). But you need to make sure the hair is short enough for it to get to the skin.

 

[planete]

Ivermectin syringes from the vet, just part the hair and apply to the skin. And do not use straw bedding. Probably a good idea to blizz the stable with
something that kills parasites and disinfect the grooming kit too so there is no reinfection. I have even heard of using a clean field.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Farrier mite spray and shampoo are effective and non-toxic.
They contain an active ingredient that paralyses the mites within 24 hours.
The injections from the vet aren't targeted after Equine mites and as such often don't work.
The Farrier stuff is 100% effective

 

[spotty_pony]

I’ve just bought some Equi-mins mite spray today so I’ll let you know how it works - seems to be a bad year for them this year.

 

[Blondiecopper]

Farrier mite spray and shampoo are effective and non-toxic.
They contain an active ingredient that paralyses the mites within 24 hours.
The injections from the vet aren't targeted after Equine mites and as such often don't work.
The Farrier stuff is 100% effective

Could you provide a link pls?

 

[Blondiecopper]

If you live near enough to a beach you can ride on, ride through the sea water up to their knees. If they actually have mites repeat for a few days.

if you show and want lovely soft flowing feathers it also keeps them snow white, mite free, mud fever free and even prevents mallenders and sallenders if you go deep enough to completely cover the back of the knees and above.

Since moving away from the coast I tried washing regularly with salt water and it just didn't work like real sea water did. No idea why it works but was a tip given to me many years ago by a canny old traditional cob breeder.?

Landlocked! ?

 

[Sossigpoker]

Could you provide a link pls?

https://www.farriersequinecare.com/feather-mite-treatments/39-feather-mite-shampoo-500ml.html


The shampoo is easier to use than the spray if your horse has feather. It also cleans the feather nicely.
You will need to repeat the treatment every 10 days until there are no symptoms, to break the mites' life cycle.
I saw the itching and stamping go away pretty much straight away.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Selsun 2.5% shampoo. This is a selenium shampoo for clearing dandruff. Initially bath the entire horse from ear tips to soles of feet, then scrub the legs every fifth day for three washes to catch any newly hatched mites. The injection from the vet will not work well, as mites are not blood feeders. They live on dead skin and removing the dead skin removes the food source. Ivermectin washes will kill the adult population, but will allow re-infestation as new eggs hatch. There are lots of good reports on here about the farrier spray, but I haven't used it. The shampoo is a bit labour intensive, but you can keep the lovely feathers and comb out the scabs and crusty skin scales after a couple of days post wash.