mud fever remedies that really work

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tantallon

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Can anyone who has a horse that gets mud fever every year tell me what they have found that actually does work to prevent it.
Creams or feed supplements am open to suggestions
thanks
also posted in new lounge
 
Try to keep as little hair on the legs as possible - I clip mine. Mud fever is actually caused by water not mud so I don't wash my horses legs until necessary, i.e. the night before hunting and, obviously, after. I dry the legs with a towel (the vet suggested using a hairdryer, but scaredy cat horse didn't appreciate that!) and apply unscented talcum powder which absorbs any residue moisture. The scabs carry the bacteria so if you are having to pick them off collect them, don't let them drop on the floor. Sudocreme works well on any mud fever. My vets make a good mud fever ointment too. Hope this helps.
 
Use FiltaBac (advertised on here - pops up on the right column every now and then) - cover the legs in it and rub it in through the hair then cover the legs in clingfilm overnight, next morning peel all the scabs off and then just keep the FiltaBac covering the entire area for a few days. We had a horse come in lame with serious cracked up & weepy mud fever and he was fixed in 72hrs and never had it since.
 
Linseed meal and brewer's yeast can help the condition of the skin and my mud fevery lad has not had a relapse on that diet. (and no grains, sugars or mollasses either)

I found the Keratex Mud Guard powder very good indeed and better than creams or messy ointments.

Just don't get it on a concrete floor.:eek:
 
Oil and sulphur. You can buy it pre mixed or the sepertately. Personally I buy it pre mixed from ebay!

We have tired everything over the years. Keratex mud guard did work well - but the legs have to be 100% dry which isn't always possible. He is on Naff Mudguard - I honestly don't know if it works but I'm not risking stopping it in case!

But you put the oil / sulphur mix on every week or so and it stops the water getting anywhere near the skin. The sulphur kills any bacteria that gets through.

But - it stings a little if they have cuts so this is a preventative rather than a cure. Plus - don't put it on just before your farrier is due. He won't like the slippy legs!
 
I read recently to not pick scabs off and to not share stable as can infect other horses and bacteria stays in stable bedding but cant remember how long it said for.

Udder cream for cows is sworen by but harder to get now.........
 
This is a really old fashioned remedy that I got from someone on here, but it's the only thing that worked for my horse (my mum had tried creams, vets injections, everything didn't work until I tried this). Plus it's very cheap.

Mix udder cream with sulphur powder (from the garden centre). I think I made a mixture of 1 part sulphur to 4 or 5 parts udder cream and tested it on the back of my hand to make sure it didn't affect me (in which case I figured the horse would be ok!) - the recipe I was given just said mix them together, so I did.

Don't pick the scabs, don't cut the hair, don't wash the area. Just slather it on the affected areas every 2 or 3 days and turn the horse out. I tried this because it costs next to nothing and I always figure it's best to try the really cheap things first before you go spending £££s on other things. Within a week or two it was gone and so far has not returned!! (massive touch wood). And it's pretty low maintentance compared to many cures.
 
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I have Thermatex leg wraps. I don't wash Jacks legs at all, I just put the wraps on over the mud and brush it out the next day before he goes out. Since I got the leg wraps and stoppped washing his legs every night he hasn't had mud fever at all.
 
Atheletes foot spray My mare had massive scabs this week i sprayed it every day and now.. its gone healed and dried and gone!
 
Different things seem to work for some horses and not others. I usually always wash my horses legs when i bring him in and remove any small scabs if there are any. The 1 year i didn't hose his legs or remove scabs and brushed the mud off when it dried he ended up with infected mud fever. One vet says don't touch scabs or wash legs, another says the opposite. Since going back to hosing his legs there hasn't been anymore mud fever so that seems to work for us. Sudocreme is good as a barrier cream and to help clear up any exsisting mud fever.
 
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