Turnout and mud fever

[Toffee_monster]

A couple of weeks ago after a full clean up of legs etc I noticed moo had some small scabs tucked in his heel. So I brought him in for a week and treated it with sudocreme until it had cleared up.

Turned him back out this week with necessary precautions and yesterday I cleaned him off fully again and the damn mud fever is back, just higher up this time on his pastern / fetlock, solid protruding scabs aswell so they have obviously been weeping

He isn't lame at all but he is obviously sensitive when I touch his sore bits.

I put wound powder on last night to dry it out and today I am of to source some flowers of sulphur to add to my treatments.

Is the best thing to keep him in? He is quite happy being in but his legs really do full up when he is in for more than 24hrs

YO has suggested I make him a small paddock in the summer field where the only mud is at the gate but not sure whether he should be best indoors ??

Argh I knew there was a reason i used to say 'never have a grey' lol

 

[diddydavies]

A friend of mine has a similar problem, once mud fever is sorted she rubs pig oil in the feathers and skin which seems to protect him for about a week, then reapplies. He seems to be able to stay out most of the time with this treatment.

good luck

 

[Shay]

Pig oil & sulphur!

The problem with mud fever is that it isn't one thing, one cause. It can be lots of differnt things. It does occur in the mud (obviously!) but can also occur in the dry.

If you have a mud fever prone ned (and I do too) then only thing you can do is keep on top of it. Otherwise the poor thing will be in all winter and possibly much of the summer too.

Different things work for different situations but I have found pig oil & sulphur a godsend. You can put it on even where there are scabs (patch test first - some horses are sensitive to it.) The oil keeps the mud off and the sulphur kills pretty much anything it comes into contact with.

Don't reapply more than 2 - 3 times a week as the sulphur is harsh. If you have to top up use plain pig oil. Persoanlly I find leaving legs well alone and brushing off loose mud in the morning to be the best strategy. The oil pretty much stops it from sticking anyway. But some people still find washing off each night better.

Oh.. and don't oil just before your farrier arrives. They don't like it! (Bitter experience....)

 

[Izzwizz]

My grey mare lives out, the first time this winter. She has had mud fever and I have had to clip her legs off, the fresh air helps dry her legs off quicker. The mud fever loves long hair to hide in and multiply. I hibiscrub (very diluted) once a week, thoroughly dry off her legs and then have used baby oil moreso of late. I did use the pig oil and sulphur but did wonder if it was irritating her skin so decided the baby oil was best. You may be best to avoid sudocrem as it can actually harbour the inection. Its better used as a barrier when mud fever hasn't taken hold. Flamazine is good too and does soothe if its sore. Bit of trial and error with some methods and remedies.