mud fever or feather mites?

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gable

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How can you tell?

My horse has a few scabs on the back of his front legs. I haven't seen him itching though.

My old boy used to have mites and I definately saw him stamping his foot and have a good old scratch so he was treated for mites - which I kept on top of and never had the problem again.

I'm not sure what mud fever looks like.

Any pointers to tell the difference between mud fever and scabs caused by mites please.

Thanks in advance
 
HI

Feather mites usually have a spot area ie deep pin point area in the feathers (but with about 0.5cm margin with scabby (more like scurf) rolled of bits of scab..bit wet.

I havent seen mud fever for years but I remember it being more in the fetlock/heel area and hair loss with wetness and cracking larger areas(looked sore). The obvious cause was a wet muddy field, cold etc. But according to this article looks like further up the leg..I do remember it being a much more extensive area that was sore in comparison to field mites.

Good article

http://www.farmersguardian.com/mud-fever-recognise-treat-and-prevent-it/6096.article
 
You can get mud fever anywhere on the lower leg, especially if skin is sensitive [pink/white], scabs sound like MF not mites [itchy], I tend to manage by stabling rather than exposing to mud, which is sensible if you think about it, but there are remedies, I would avoid daily scrubbing with Hibiscrub which will kill off good bacteria, I have tried Keratex powder before turning out, has to be rubbed in to dry clean hair.
If the legs are washed you need to dry with a towel and put on stable bandages, use gauze bandages if bad, and get the vet if infected.
 
I dont know if this is correct either I thought if the bacteria was in a field this would continue to be picked up when the muddy wet conditions existed ie some fields were causes of mud fever??

I do agree with Mrs D123 that obvious remedy is to keep legs dry and not allow them to be stood in mud anyway(ie stable).
 
Pig oil and sulphur would help with either mites or mud fever. Shouldn't be put on to sore broken skin though so you would need to clear that up first.
 
My pony had really nasty mud fever in the summer, which started in a similar way to lyou are describing.
vet prescribed an aqueous type cream with antibiotic and steroid in which worked a treat. The key thing the vet told me to do was get the scabs off. I donned some latex gloves and twice a day pulled the scabs off, I found a little baby oil helped. He also told me to wash his legs every other day or when the got dirty with weak hibiscrub then dry thoroughly. I bought a load of cheap 19p towels in ikea! Used these to towel dry his legs then binned them. Rubbing with the towel really helped lift the scabs. Within 5 days if this combo of treatment he was 100 times better.
Good luck!
 
Thank you for you replies.

I have got the scabs off, and there is a small crack there so I'm going to treat it as mud fever. Its not bad, but I realise if I don't nip it in the bud it will be.

Have hibi scubbed and dried and applied sudocrem while he is out in the field (the field isn't muddy so I'm still unsure how he has got it) Any ideas?

Thanks again
 
Last edited:
Vet said our pony probably got it from the wet dewy grass as we had a warm damp summer where we are. Our field wasn't remotely muddy either so I was at a loss as to how he got it too!
 
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