Month Old Foal Very Itchy

[lemonrockranch]

Bandit our month old foal had a heavy coat at birth. He started rubbing his coat off in places, looked like he was molting. I asked several days about clipping him at one month, it has been very hot here. Got several responses in the positive, so I gave him his first bath this weekend, we all had a bath! :lol: I used hydrating shampoo to help his itchies. Then clipped him with a T84, which I think is comparable to a 10 blade. He has dark skin so I figure he wouldn't sunburn - he and mom can get in the shade - and they spend a lot of time there.

We had the usual rodeo, but got the job done! Came home tonight, and darn if that little stink still isn't rubbing.

: This time he brought up pink skin! Now what? I'm tempted to rub him down with something to help soothe - but frankly I don't know what. We are having horrible flies here, so I don't want to do anything that would draw more!

Looking for advice - before he is totally bald. He will resemble a little piglet then for sure!

Thanks!

 

[lemonrockranch]

Bump. Nobody has any suggestions?

 

[Marty]

Same thing here. I just had to clip up Knight Star over the weekend. He was filthy! I think that is what was causing a lot of the itching besides the heavy winter coat. I used a #10 blade on him except for on his back to help avoid sunburn. I used a #5 there. YES! They surely will burn no matter what color so I've been putting everyone back inside the barn by around noon before the heat of the day kicks in here. You'd be surprised that even when it's over cast, they can still burn. Learned that one the hard way living in Florida. You may have even accidently burned him with the clippers too which could make him itch.

Try something like baby shampoo, iodine or betadine shampoo and let it sit a little bit before rinsing. Also I love to use any AVEENO products from the drug store shampoo if they have it to relieve itching also. He also may just be getting used to his new hair coat too, but do check for any assortment of mites. Poor Timmy was loaded under his hair coat last year and was throwing himself in the fence to itch and body slamming the ground.This time of year we have all sorts of ticks and chiggers and fleas and things in the grass too. Welcome springtime.

 

[qtrrae]

We had the same problem with our little dwarf, Treasure. She rubbed and rubbed until she had the hair rubbed off in patches. As soon as it was warm enough we body clipped her. She still kept on itching, someone on the forum had at one time suggested Shapleys lotion (it is recommended for hair growth and for skin disorders) I bought it at Fleet Farm and rubbed it over her little body (completely) Well, the itching stopped but she did get a little bit sunburned - so now we keep her during the day and let her out at night.

Hope this helps, it really seemed to stop Treasure's itchiness!!

 

[minih]

There is a lotion spray used for itching you can get from your vet called SPTD lotion, and it is very good at cooling an itchy spot. Is there anything that the little one could be allergic to? New shavings that have been put down? One of our babies one time had an allergic reaction to some shavings that had cedar in them, her skin turned a bright red and she was itchy all over. Got rid of the shavings and she was fine, took us a day or two to figure that one out.

 

[kaykay]

has he had his first de worming?? that could also be the cause

 

[jlh]

Our pink-skinned little girl also rubbed out most of her chest hair down to the skin at about a month.

with no color, she was lookin more like a naked mole rat than a horse.

we bathed the skin with iodine, rinsed and coated her first with benadryl cream. then coated that with bag balm.

follow up was iodine rinses, bag balm and baby sunscreen on the more exposed areas of her nose, ears, and chest.

took about two weeks, and the hair has come in nicely.

we still haven't clipped her, because the weeks where we had 90 degree weather have been followed by much cooler weeks, so I don't want to get her too cool too quick.

my experience has been that the first couple of months when a baby gets an itch it feels so good that they can't stop until all the hair is gone, but with the changes in weather this year, the itchies are striking worse.

and the hair that normally sheds first on the head shed faster and more thouroughly than normal.

 

[Lacie's Foal of Hope]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to this forum but may be able to give some advice. Although my filly is not

a mini (she is a full size nursemare foal, now 1 year old) she also had some problems with itchy spots.

She had a bald patch on her stomach from her front legs all the way back to her udder. It really bothered her and she would itch constantly! I had even seen her out scooting around on her stomach in the pasture.

: The area was not bumpy, just looked almost like a rash. We tried iodine medicated shampoo, providine, derma cloth, cortizone ointment, MTG, neosporin, iodine powder in her feed, and nothing worked!! ( Be careful though not to over dry the area as we almost did!! ) Then, I asked the vet at the horsefarm I work at what she thought and she recommended using:

Nolvasan Antiseptic Ointment; It is a bluish cream which you can order out of a magazine like HorseHealth.

She then said to inject 6cc of Dexamethasone Solution (which you will most likely need a perscription to get) into the Nolvasan and mix it up.

We have been putting this on twice a day for over a week now and I have not seen her itch once!!

The hair is now growing back and we have weaned her to just putting it on once in the morning.

I would highly recommend this solution if the other ones I have listed have failed.

Always be sure though, to ask your veternarian before starting any medications.

Hope this helps you and your baby!!

~Carly~

 

[Minigoatgirls]

Our pink-skinned little girl also rubbed out most of her chest hair down to the skin at about a month.

with no color, she was lookin more like a naked mole rat than a horse.

we bathed the skin with iodine, rinsed and coated her first with benadryl cream. then coated that with bag balm.

follow up was iodine rinses, bag balm and baby sunscreen on the more exposed areas of her nose, ears, and chest.

took about two weeks, and the hair has come in nicely.

we still haven't clipped her, because the weeks where we had 90 degree weather have been followed by much cooler weeks, so I don't want to get her too cool too quick.

my experience has been that the first couple of months when a baby gets an itch it feels so good that they can't stop until all the hair is gone, but with the changes in weather this year, the itchies are striking worse.

and the hair that normally sheds first on the head shed faster and more thouroughly than normal.

Along with all the topical treatments mentioned here, why not treat him from the inside out? Has anyone tried Flax Seeds added to the food? I've been using it for a while for myself as well

: Look it up on line

" Flax Seeds for horses " Shiny healthy coat Omega-3, strong hooves, and top preformance. Also great alternative to pysllium husks to prevent sand colic. It's great for hair, skin, the heart. Only thing for horses it needs to be ground up just prior to use. I also feed it to my chickens for healthier eggs, and dogs & goats.

 

[sandra dittus]

You can also get Nolvasan Antiseptic Ointment from Jeffers. It's not greasy like most ointments and it does the job. I live in Fl. where it is in the 90's already, anything that is oily seems to cause more problems.

Sandy

 

[Miniv]

In addition to topical treatments and the flax seed idea, I thought I'd throw in another thing --- incase it hasn't been done yet because of the foal's age? Worming?

Sometimes, itching is a symptom of worms.

MA

 

[lemonrockranch]

Hi everybody - Thanks for the great response - I should be able to figure something out with all the helpful advice. :aktion033:

As far as worming - I worm monthly. But, as I understand it, until the babies are weaned they should not be wormed by themselves. I was told that they will take their protection from their mother when she is wormed. Is this the consensus of opinion? If not, I use Ivermectin at this time of the year, and I would ask what a suggested dosage would be.

Thanks to all! :bgrin

 

[Miniv]

Cheryl,

We tend to do a foal's first worming at approximately 2 months or during their 2nd month. And, we use either Safeguard or Panacur -- a 50 lb dose. After that, the foals are put in with the rest of the herd's schedule.

MA

 

[justjinx]

You could try a betadine bath for the youngster -- my filly last year rubbed her hair off and after a betadine bath (the vet agreed to this thought of mine) the filly quit scratching and her hair grew back quickly. The vet thought it might be a fungus that was not bad enough for us to see at that time (we caught it pretty quickly)...

jennifer :saludando:

 

[HGFarm]

I have always wormed with ivermectin- even the babies, on their own, according to weight. We were given a full sized colt one time upon weaning, as he was not doing well (his dam looked great)

I am surprized we didnt kill him. Wormed him and that poor boy passed worms for three days of ALL KINDS AND SIZES enough that it even turned MY stomache, which is pretty hard to do.

Foals do not get worm protection from their dams and if not wormed, could end up with horrible damage, or worse, by the time they are weaned.

Our horses are kept on dry lots here, that are cleaned regularly, but the adults are wormed every 90 days and the foals every 60 days. Hope this helps.

 

[kaykay]

mini i also said to de worm. we always give foals their first de worming at 30 days.

 

[Miniv]

has he had his first de worming?? that could also be the cause

Sorry Kay -- missed that!

MA