HELP..Stomping and itching legs....

[HBBambee]

Hey, I have recently noticed my mare stomping her legs very hard and she is quite often itching her fetlock regions with her teeth. She has very little feather being a tb...could this still be mites?
We have chickens on the yard so wondering if they have a connection to this, as I often find the chickens in my stable scratching my bedding all over the place!
Would it be best to have a vet take a skin sample? and go from there?
Anyone have any experience of these things?

 

[EAST KENT]

Think I would probably wash thoroughly with Dermoline Insecticidal ,and when dry spray with Frontline as a repellent to whatever insect it is,possibly chook fleas or red mite. No need for expensive vet stuff unless this fails miserably.

 

[HBBambee]

Thankyou for that advise, I will give that a try and see if she is more comfortable.

 

[Mugsgame]

Does sound like mites, I agree that I would use an insecticide first - do you have any Deosect? General louse powder might not work (and some of the over the counter ones actually feed the mites instead!!), and like I was told when I had one with this, they don't always show up on skin scrapes as can be extremely localised!

Don't forget to do another treatment in three weeks time, in case any eggs missed by your first treatment hatch out!

You can get a secondary bacterial infection from anything from mud fever to mites in the paster area, but you're on the ball for any further changes!

 

[HBBambee]

Mugsgame- No i havent got any deosect, is this what you would recommend.
Will be out to get supplies tomorrow and get it treated right away.
Thankyou for your help, especially the three week treatment i wouldn't of known to do that.

 

[ImogenBurrows]

Think I would probably wash thoroughly with Dermoline Insecticidal ,and when dry spray with Frontline as a repellent to whatever insect it is,possibly chook fleas or red mite. No need for expensive vet stuff unless this fails miserably.

Remember to have legs dry before frontline, massage all the way through the feathers/hair coat and don't get wet for a further 48hrs.
(Can repeat weekly for three weeks)....

Ahem, best move along now before the expensive vet stuff comes to mind!!!

Imogen

 

[Theresa_F]

Sounds like mites or some insect invasion.

Apply frontline spray to clean dry legs and repeat three times every ten days.

You can also apply pig oil and sulphur or neem oil as a preventative against mites and they also work well for mud fever. Do a patch test first as some horses react to mineral oils like pig and baby oil, though yet to have heard of sulphur causing problems. You can just dust the legs with sulphur which kills mites, ticks etc and is generally excellent for skin problems.