Treating mud fever in cob's feathers?

[aradiagreen]

My cob has mud fever in his back legs in his white feathers. Its orange at the roots and seeping :-( One feels a bit warm too and it must have hurt as he kept lifting his leg. He has very thick feathers. He lives out 24/7 and I do not have access to a stable or shelter. When I bought him he had massive golf-ball sized scars on each of his fetlocks (& still has) - are they from mud fever?

How do I treat it? What do you recommend? There's so many different products! Should I clip his feathers?

I was looking at turn-out boots but doubt they'd be any good 24/7 or am I wrong?

Thanks for all your help...

 

[MrsJ]

My boy has feathers and had slight mud fever, I got some antibacterial leg wash then once dry exposed the scabby bits by pulling his feathers apart and applied some barrier cream. Seemed to work a treat.

 

[aradiagreen]

I'm reading old posts on this (I think I'll refrain from clipping) and they say not to wash and to add antibacterial cream and then barrier like vaseling/baby oil/pig oil.

Do I have to wash his feathers first though before applying cream? he muds not that bad at the moment and deep in his feathers doesn't look muddy really. Could I just bung the oil on without washing his feathers?

I'm gonna take a pic of his scars as I'd really like to work out how they came about! They're huge! And cream...

 

[MrsJ]

I'm reading old posts on this (I think I'll refrain from clipping) and they say not to wash and to add antibacterial cream and then barrier like vaseling/baby oil/pig oil.

Do I have to wash his feathers first though before applying cream? he muds not that bad at the moment and deep in his feathers doesn't look muddy really. Could I just bung the oil on without washing his feathers?

I'm gonna take a pic of his scars as I'd really like to work out how they came about! They're huge! And cream...

not sure....but I washed and thoroughly dried his feathers before then applying the cream, I got some Mark Todd Barrier Cream, about £7 for a big tub, and it really did the job. The area has to be properly dry though otherwise it seals in the moisture which will make it worse.

 

[muff747]

Depends how bad it is, it sounds like it's sore and could be infected and if it's weeping, scabs will continue to form over the sores and will make the problem worse.
The best thing is to get air to the sores after you've removed as many scabs as possible without having to have a fight with your horse!
IMO heavy feathers trap moisture and wamth and that helps the organisms to live and spread so if you can bear to do it clip them so the air can get to the skin and it will be much easier to deal with. Just doing that could begin the healing process if the weather stays dry.
My horse got a really bad dose of MF years ago and I tried all the remedies in the book but the regime that started the healing was - no water anywhere near his legs. I blathered the sores with udder cream at night and the scabs had softened by morning. I would gently clear as many off as possible and keep the area softened with more udder cream.
If you can do this whilst his legs are dry all the better.

 

[Kaylum]

Might be mites not mud fever you need a vet to check as the conditions are treated in different ways.

 

[Shysmum]

pig oil and sulphur asap - will sort out both mud fever AND feather mites

 

[mynutmeg]

Generally I've found that having the feathers can help to prevent mud fever but once they have it you need to take the feathers off to be able to get in and treat the infection.
My usual treatment consits of hibiscrub and soak the scabs off and dry thoroughly afterwards. I would normally stable overnight and allow air at the legs but if thats not possible then a good barrier cream like sudacream or uddercream to keep the mud off is useful and helps to get the next lot of scabs off.
If really sore or it doesn't seem to be clearing up then he may need oral antibiotics depending on how bad he gets.
Once cleared up something like the 7-day mud away spray is really good, it acts as a good barrier without clogging the skin or hair up and only needs sprayed on every 4-7 days depending on how muddy and how hairy your area and horse are.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

If he will stand in a tubtrug I would soak his legs one at a time in something like savlon liquid (diluted of course) as hibiscrub can sometimes make matters worse (found this out the hard way ) warm water to soak at the scabs then dry with a good rub with a towel working it right into the roots to remove the scarbs then udder cream to provide barrier and to soften the scabs further.

I have to say Im an advocate for clipping off feathers to treat. they dont take that long to grow back and can half the time it takes to treat something. Good luck