Goat disease

I have raised sheep for decades but goats are a fairly new addition to our little farm, so I am not very familiar with their issues. I have 3 pregnant does and I just noticed one with a serious skin condition. All four legs from top of the hoof to the hock looks horrible. It is missing most of the hair, scabby and in places, bloodied. The rest of her body is in good shape, she is the proper weight and she is eating fine. I did see her biting at her legs. She is one year old and 3 months pregnant. The other two does and all the sheep show no similar signs.

Inside of their shed is clean with straw bedding and they come and go as they please. Their pasture is dry.

I'm thinking lice or mange but would appreciate any thoughts on this. I do have the vet coming out this week.

Greetings, I haven't the answer to your question but we do have goats and hope you post what you find and what solves the problem. Good luck and a quick fix.

It could be an allergy.

I had a cat that was allergic to fish and she lost all the hair on her back legs, it got red, raw and weepy with scab patches. Treatment was removing all fish products from her diet and treating flare ups with a topical cortisone spray.

I realize it's apples and oranges animal-wise, but it could be an allergy... would explain why the other critters haven't shown similar symptoms.

The vet diagnosed blood-sucking lice. <yuck>

Glad you found the cause! We got a couple chickens from the feed store ,a couple years ago, that had mites. We dusted the chickens and their area a couple times and never saw another mite. Good luck and thanks for getting back with what you found.


Richard

Straw bedding is notorious for harboring lice. Dust the straw AND your goats with diatomaceous earth once a week or so, and you should not see the little creepers again.
If your goats DO happen to get lice, check their inner eyelids to make sure they're pink. Otherwise some injectable iron is a good idea.
Anything that sucks blood, whether its an internal or an external parasite can cause anemia, which can be fatal.

Go to the following link and you will find everything related to raising goats.

http://www.roysfarm.com