Hairy Bears - brushing out feathers

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Rosehip

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As title really!
How often do you brush your hairy's legs out?
Now Mels is living out, Im keeping a closer eye on her feathers so that if there is any sign of the dreaded MF I can get on it straight away. Im currently brushing them out about once a week, but Im getting tons and tons of dead hair out, and beginning to wonder if I should be doing it more often?
I'll be washing her legs out and pig oil and sulphering them up soon, but wanted to get as much of the dead hair out before that.... any thoughts?
 
I tend to brush the backs of my hairy boys' knees every other day to check for scabs. Legs get a full brush about once a week but I do a 'finger massage' search two or three times a week. Just found lots of what look like bites around his heels, hidden by hair, very similar to greasy heel, but luckily able to treat it before it becomes a problem.
Once he's healed, he'll get oiled ready for winter. Summertime he just gets Avon SSS to deter midges biting his legs.
 
I only comb with a detangler comb, after they have been washed and had plenty of survivor detangler placed on them as Stinky and Farra have very fine and silky feather and I don't want to have the hair thinned out more than necessary as I show them. I never use a brush on them. I do go through them weekly with my fingers to check for any lumps or bumps.

In winter, I leave them to dry out and again will go through them with my fingers checking for any signs of trouble and if they have a lot of mud on them, will crumble anything that does not slip off the oil with my fingers.

In summer, I wet the legs and rub a handful or two of sulphur into the hair right down to the skin to prevent mites, or you can spray them with Frontline. I use the sulphur method every three weeks, but at at this time of year do it every other week as this is when the mites get very active.
 
Cheers both! Theresa, thats what we did with the shires as they were a show team and woe betide anyone who touched the feathers! To be honest Mels feathers really arent that great, her fronts are beautiful and thick, but she has bone spavin and brushes slightly behind and her hind feathers always look really poor quality. She is also really greasy behind...she hasnt got 'grease' (that slimey sort of redness and soreness) but her feathers (she is white behind and black in front) have always got a sort of brownish clog of grease, almost like the lanolin in a sheeps fleece. I have previously clipped her legs out, and dont know if I should go down that route again? She has also got quite scurfy coronet bands on all 4 feet...
 
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