Proper care of heavy feathering

I use tea tree oil to treat anything wrong with the skin under the feather (or mane and tail) as well as other problems.
It knocks out the start of scratches in a couple of days.
For just treatment of the hair I just keep the dirt combed out on an as needed basis and while tea tree oil is also good for the hair I use coconut oil 3 or 4 times a year (it cost even less than the tea tree oil and does a lovely job with the hair, but won't help with skin issues)

We've never bought equine products to treat problems. Over priced and don't do any better job than the things we could pick up at the drug or grocery store. I can remember in my youth during warm/hot weather if an animal suffered an open wound injury my grandfather would clean it out, treat the severity of the injury and then coat it with burnt oil that had been drained out of a crank case. Kept the flies and bugs out of it and didn't need to badage it. It's amazing how people managed to keep healthy horses and mules that lived 30+ years without all the "equine" items that the market is flooded with today.

Off the topic.
One lady who knows me told me that for fun money when I retire I should package the vinegar solution I use to prevent thrush and sell it as a "Thrush Preventative" (it's nothing but 2 parts vinegar to 1 part water) and make a mixture with primarily tea tree oil and using different packaging so I can sell it for different things (thrush treatment, scratches treatment, etc....) I could even claim it may improve hair growth (it doesn't, but it will make combing easier so that fewer hairs are pulled out or broken and will treat most skin coditions that might be present). As she put it "just sell something as a 'horse treatment' product and people will buy it and pay more for it".

If you shaved those feathers off, do those problems cease?

Any horse can have a mites or develope scratches. It's not something unique to feathering. I've seen non feathered horses with a major case of scratches.
With feathering all the extra hair can make it less noticable in the beginning which is why it's a good idea to check the legs when you clean their feet. Just takes a minute to run you fingers into the hair and check the skin. You'll notice the beginning of scratches or the effect of mites on the skin. It tends to be easier to spot on horses without feathering since the hair isn't long enough to covery up the problem.

Taffy, do you do this as routine maintenance or only if you notice her starting to scratch or the skin looking problematic?

Makes you wonder if that is why you.C. Davis does so much CPL research.

This was my protacol for Sam, He had the worst case of scratches ever.
About every 18 months he would have a full blown attack with temps around 105 +. Swollen legs and one miserable horse.

This was his med regimine to get him back under control, never cured it. He was a nightmare, I finally shaved his feathers after he retired, didn't really help, just made on easier in me.

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Good Evening Taffy,

The most recent blood work on your clyde shows a significant decrease in
The fibrinogen. As long as the leg has continued to go down, we should be
Able to start the program as soon as you assemble all the materials if you
Have done so yet.

Day 1
We start with Gentocin 40 ccs IV for three days in a row.
We give 30 ccs of dexamethasone IV on Day one as well
We give the legs a bath and after slight towel drying, soak the legs
With the fipronil, I.e frontline spray. One bottle will do one treatment
We also give 20 ccs of Ivermectin liquid orally.
We begin him on 2 grams of bute a day

Day 2
We give the second day's dose of Gentocin 40 ccs IV
We give 2 grams of bute orally

Day 3
We give the third days dose of Gentocin 40 ccs. IV
We give 2 grams of bute orally
We begin the prednisolone with 40 tablets in his feed before 8 am

Day 4 through day 10
He is switched to 20 sulfa/trimethoprim tablets twice a day
We give him 2 grams of bute orally
We continue prednisolone at 40 tablets a day

At the end of this first ten days we will begin to taper and withdraw some
Meds depending on his progress. It is at the end of the ten days that I
Need to hear from you on his progress and we will go from that point.


Note: The dexamethasone is reported to cause laminitis in horses. I
Haven't had any problems with this in clydes but it is important to be aware
Of this.

Note: When he is switched to sulfa drugs, it is important to watch his
Stools very closely. Any change toward cowpie or diarrhea is important.
Let me know if you see any such changes.

Note: It would be a good idea to put him on fast track for the length this
Treatment in an effort to keep his gut happy. Fast track is a probiotic
That you can add to the feed.

Remember the goal is to get the infection and the mites under control.
Our aim is to get this done and then find a regimen that will control the
Problem and keep the daily care needed to a minimum. Eventually we will get
Him to a week on pred and then a week off all meds and at this schedule the
Legs are easy to care for.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to call and ask. If he is
Resistant to our efforts, there are other meds that I add, but I only do so
When or if it is needed. This program works for 80% of these guys.


Dr. Ellis


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This was the vet for the Anheuser-Busch Clyde hitch and the breeding farm,
That gave me this remedy, He was on prednisolone for his entire life.
I am sure this contributed to his early demise.


.

Unfortunately BGH, UC Davis, stopped their research on CPL, a few years back. They say for lack of funding. It is incredibly sad that they chose to do this, because it affects ALL feathered breeds, across the world.

Anyone reading this, please be aware of the difference between common scratches and CPL. You MUST be knowledgeable about CPL, if you own any feathered breed or feathered crossbred. You can read about it on our website here.

Chronic Progressive Lymphedema

And please read through all the links.

Lizzie

I use it when there is a flare up and as a preventative, if there hasn't been a flare up lately. He always had problems so every 5 months or so I would give him the spray treatment.

THIS. My clean-legged TB gets really bad mud fever on ONE foot (the one with the white sock). I am continually on his case about it, so I don't ever let it get beyond a cm or so of scabbiness at a time before I strip it. However with feathers.... I cringe to think about keeping that clear. I always heard it was horses with white socks/stockings that got mud fever more readily, due to the more sensitive pink skin, but only have anecdotal evidence for this.

I,ve always used pig oil with sulphur in ,I notice now you can buy it on eBay.i think it's about £20 for five litres