'Idiots Guide To Feather Care' Please.

[Orca]

I have my first ever set of feathers to care for and I realise I will need some sort of routine to look after both her skin and her fur.

Firstly, she arrived a few days ago with feather mites. I'm intending to treat with Ivermectin (orally) and have started Fipronil (topically). I have read that Moxidectin might be more effective orally?

I've read so many opposing views about Dectomax that I would prefer to avoid the injection but I am interested in peoples thoughts. She is box walking at night due to the irritation so it is imperative to relieve her of this problem asap.

Because of the mites, she has chewed and rubbed some of her feathers off. Her skin is in reasonable condition considering, with one small sore which I'm treating with antiseptic/ antifungal cream. If the initial treatment plan doesn't work, I will clip her feathers but I would rather keep her feathered if at all possible.

If I am able to keep them, what would be a good routine to follow in order to keep her mite free, her skin healthy and her feathers in good condition?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My first tip is to make absolutely certain that the problem is definitely caused by mites.

My heavily feathered Draft mare has old scarring round her fetlocks and 'knees'. She had been treated with Dectomax by her previous owners and I have tried all sorts of remedies and thought more than once that I had found both the cause and the cure. Every time she started itching again and getting sores. Now I feed her on nothing but hay with carrots as treats/rewards and a salt lick, with Aloe Vera and salt with a small amount of dried grass chaff as a bucket feed, her skin is healing quickly, with the help of Leovet Silver ointment, and she is much less itchy.

Previously I treated a cob with mites very successfully with Coopers Fly Repellant Plus.

I prefer to leave feather alone if at all possible. So, I let any mud/wet dry and if necessary brush off when dry, without going through to the skin. Some people find that pig oil (liquid paraffin) helps the mud to slide off, others have found that adding sulphur is helpful but it can burn white skin, so you need to do a skin test before applying liberally. Personally I don't bother putting anything on my young cob or the Draft horse's feather, dry mud brushes out well enough, neither of them has white skin/hair.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I always leave feather well alone in the winter. If it's dry I might flick a bit of mud off with a dandy brush but otherwise I leave them. I find that the more people wash and dry and generally mess about with them the more likely they are to get mud fever and so on.

 

[Orca]

My first tip is to make absolutely certain that the problem is definitely caused by mites.

My heavily feathered Draft mare has old scarring round her fetlocks and 'knees'. She had been treated with Dectomax by her previous owners and I have tried all sorts of remedies and thought more than once that I had found both the cause and the cure. Every time she started itching again and getting sores. Now I feed her on nothing but hay with carrots as treats/rewards and a salt lick, with Aloe Vera and salt with a small amount of dried grass chaff as a bucket feed, her skin is healing quickly, with the help of Leovet Silver ointment, and she is much less itchy.

Previously I treated a cob with mites very successfully with Coopers Fly Repellant Plus.

I prefer to leave feather alone if at all possible. So, I let any mud/wet dry and if necessary brush off when dry, without going through to the skin. Some people find that pig oil (liquid paraffin) helps the mud to slide off, others have found that adding sulphur is helpful but it can burn white skin, so you need to do a skin test before applying liberally. Personally I don't bother putting anything on my young cob or the Draft horse's feather, dry mud brushes out well enough, neither of them has white skin/hair.

Thank you. She does have white feathers which do stain (probably exacerbated by her stable walking though). I'll keep the potential effects of pig oil in mind! She came to me on grass and hay only and I was thinking of using Equi-Bites as a supplement. Thank you for the Coopers tip, I'll give that a try.

I always leave feather well alone in the winter. If it's dry I might flick a bit of mud off with a dandy brush but otherwise I leave them. I find that the more people wash and dry and generally mess about with them the more likely they are to get mud fever and so on.

Thank you, that makes sense. Once her itching is under control I'll see if the staining reduces and try the hands off approach to start with.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I should add that mine lives out 24/7.
He also has white legs, as did my previous horse.
Hope it all settles down for her poor girl!!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I have to admit we were so out of our depth when coblet (purchased in August with regular looking legs!) suddenly developed banner type feather the first winter we chopped the whole lot off and have done ever since.
Mud fever *touch wood has never been an issue. I brush his legs off a bit when dry but rarely hose, in fact I only wash legs off for the farrier!

 

[fishy]

We have a traditional with lots of feather and a cob who's feather we clip. Both have had dectomax injections for mites but they need to be repeated after 10 -14days. Other than that legs are left alone. Any sores are treated with NAF wound cream. Mud is left to dry and then brushed off the next day. They are only washed for shows, and then chalk will become your best friend 😜. We have limited turnout in winter and the traditionals feather looks fab by April.

 

[Orca]

I should add that mine lives out 24/7.
He also has white legs, as did my previous horse.
Hope it all settles down for her poor girl!!

Thank you. I'm determined to resolve it for her!

I have to admit we were so out of our depth when coblet (purchased in August with regular looking legs!) suddenly developed banner type feather the first winter we chopped the whole lot off and have done ever since.
Mud fever *touch wood has never been an issue. I brush his legs off a bit when dry but rarely hose, in fact I only wash legs off for the farrier!

We have a traditional with lots of feather and a cob who's feather we clip. Both have had dectomax injections for mites but they need to be repeated after 10 -14days. Other than that legs are left alone. Any sores are treated with NAF wound cream. Mud is left to dry and then brushed off the next day. They are only washed for shows, and then chalk will become your best friend ��. We have limited turnout in winter and the traditionals feather looks fab by April.

Thanks. She is a Trad and a true heavyweight (with approximately 12" of bone!), so I'm quite keen to keep her true to type. Good to hear more successful low maintenance approaches. Now to work out what's best for her mane! Although when she's out, she's usually too busy eating to consider wasting good food time rolling ��

 

[ShadowHunter]

My vet gave me this lime solution for when mine had them. Just wash the legs, dilute the solution in water and pour on. Repeated two weeks later. It does turn the white hair yellow though, but only for a few hours. It worked for mine but you need to make sure it's massaged all the way to the skin.
Other than that i leave them alone. No hosing when she comes in, just leave to dry. I don't know what she does at night but her legs are very clean in the morning after a night on shavings..

 

[fishy]

We leave his mane too. Only brush when we absolutely have to, otherwise pick shavings out and finger comb. Sometimes when it's warm enough we will wash condition and plait for a couple of weeks. Again I think the less you mess the better. If I could figure out how to post pics I would x

 

[Orca]

My vet gave me this lime solution for when mine had them. Just wash the legs, dilute the solution in water and pour on. Repeated two weeks later. It does turn the white hair yellow though, but only for a few hours. It worked for mine but you need to make sure it's massaged all the way to the skin.
Other than that i leave them alone. No hosing when she comes in, just leave to dry. I don't know what she does at night but her legs are very clean in the morning after a night on shavings..

Thank you. We aren't able to use wood based bedding but that's worth keeping in mind! Unfortunately, until her itch-induced stable walking is under control I think the stains will continue whatever I put her on but hopefully we'll see an end to that soon.

We leave his mane too. Only brush when we absolutely have to, otherwise pick shavings out and finger comb. Sometimes when it's warm enough we will wash condition and plait for a couple of weeks. Again I think the less you mess the better. If I could figure out how to post pics I would x

Admittedly, I have put her mane in stable plaits after giving it what was probably one of its first ever combs through! Until it's been conditioned at least, I don't want to put her through de-dreading again ��

 

[LovesCobs]

I found the injections o my worked short term. I keep on top of mites with frontline flee treatment for dogs. Some people get large pippets I use the spray. It's not cheap. Probably only once or twice a year. In the mud I leave his feathers alone. If stabled at night I can brush them in the morning (on woodpellets they were usually really clean by morning!) then once a week I use a premixed oil and sulphur type solution. One from a Shire horse type company. No reactions from his white legs. I've never needed to clip his feather yet thanks fully. All the best, sounds like she's got a great home with you x

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I have a traddie cob who has white legs and pink skin; a nightmare combination.

What I do is to get some Pig Oil and mix it up with some Neem oil, and slap that mixture on with a paintbrush, all over his legs. Seems to do the trick, summer and winter. Basically, an oil will act by making the skin an undesirable place for mites to go onto - at the moment my boy is just slathered all around his legs, fetlocks etc, from the knees down basically, with Cattle Salve to protect him against mud fever! - which also will hopefully keep any mites away as well as they just won't be able to latch on because of the grease!

I keep his legs clipped out; far easier to see what's going on and get the mixture on to where its needed instead of having to push back a lot of hair! Also, if you are sure it IS mites you are dealing with, you can use Diatomaceous Earth (research how it works on Google) which is a cheap, cheerful - and natural, remedy (works for my chooks!).

As someone else has said: if you are thinking of Pig Oil and Sulphur do make sure you patch test first as you can get a very nasty reaction indeed if you don't.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Dectomax worked for mine. I put him on shavings, mites seem to prefer straw. I thoroughly oil legs with baby oil, back comb upwards to get all layers. I don't hose, just wait til legs are dry then brush. Mine stays in at weekends so I can groom, check, re-oil.

 

[Tnavas]

And to stop the farrier rasping off the feather - four size G Tubigrip bandages from the chemist - you may only need two of them as you can cut them in half. Pull on to feet dragging the hair inside the bandage - prevents them being rasped away.

 

[hairycob]

You can cut up old tights if you don't want to buy tubigrip. They are one time use though.

 

[Orca]

Thank you for the tips! It looks like she will have feathers to protect in a few months - now, a few days following her first fipronil/ frontline, her itching seems to have subsided a little (not completely) and her box walking has calmed a little too. I'm really hoping the subsequent treatments might do the trick ��

 

[MyDappledConnemara]

If your horse is a traditional cob and you are wishing to show her, I would advise you to keep the feathers on and apply some sort of topical solution. If you do not want to show, reduce irritation by clipping the feathers off, as this will be easy in the long term!