# Ugly hair loss problem



## NorthOf49 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking for some help with a hair loss issue I'm having with one doe.

About four months ago, at the year's change, I noticed she was missing a chunk of hair on her back. We keep a guardian donkey and we've had issues with her biting new goats so I just blamed the donkey since the doe was just over 4 months pregnant, fairly large, and I just thought donkey was being a b**** and the doe couldn't run as fast as usual. So I seperated her, put her in a solo pen, and kidded her end of Jan. Kept her in the kidding pen until the kids were about 2 months old, then put them all back in with the main herd.

A couple days after they were back with the main herd, I noticed the doe missing 2 chunks of hair on her back. I felt SO bad, and my first thought was that donkey attacked again. So I went over, more to go 'Oh you poor thing', and noticed something odd: the hair was gone but the skin was perfectly intact. I know the one time donkey attacked a goat, the skin was broken. So I looked closer.... and yep, the hair was falling out, and there was a third, smaller patch further front on the back that was still hidden by the hair covering it from the sides but also, hairless.

My first thought was ringworm, so I seperated her again immediately, treated her with neem oil and oregano oil for a week, and then applied Koppertox and kept her seperate. I guess the Koppertox hid things a bit but I thought the spreading bare patches were stopped, but the other day I looked closer and it's a lot worse. The bare patches are growing!

Hopefully I can get pictures up.

The skin seems to be in good condition and she doesn't seem to be scratching it: the hair is just falling out. The first and worst bare patch is surprisingly growing back hair in the original spot which is now in the middle of this huge bare patch.

None of the other goats have any bare spots. I did notice the brother to this doe has some dandruff but they are shedding too right now... most of them are shedding their underhair, not everything like this doe is.

As far as management, they got copper bolused 3 weeks ago, are on free choice minerals with 8000ppm zinc (we have low zinc levels here), straight free choice hay. Alfalfa cubes as treats but not as a rule.

Would too high zinc cause this? Could the copper bolusing be reducing the zinc availability? Could it still be ringworm? Mites? Lice?

Arg! I'm so at a loss and it's horrible! Thankfully it's just one doe.

Here's the link to the Photobucket album for pictures: http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w383/SAANEN_GOATS/

Thanks for any help!


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

I saw on the news the other night that too high selenium can cause hair loss for people. I'm not sure about your question but thought I'd mention it.


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

I haven't had a problem like this in my goats, but I have seen plenty of cases with mange. It looks like it may be mange (mites) but I'm not sure. A skin scrapping would tell you if it was mites, but unless you know how to do one and have a microscope to look under, you would have to take her to the vet. I'm not sure how you would treat it either.


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## NorthOf49 (Feb 8, 2011)

I have a microscope and I'd love to check: does anyone know how to do the scraping? I guess I'd see little bugs.... do I use a regular slide and cover slip?


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Yea, it strikes me a some kind of infection- fungus or mites or something.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

Could it be a reaction to her pregnancy and kidding? Some sort of hormonal issue? I know bitches loose their hair after whelping, I lost hair after giving birth, so why not the doe?


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

If you do a scraping and don't find anything, she could still have mites..they don't always show up. The other thing it makes me think of is a fungal or bacterial infection. Is there any unusual odor to the hair loss areas?

To do a scraping: Put a drop of mineral oil on a slide, swipe a scalpel through it-slightly dull scalpel blades work best. Scrape with the scalpel-you are not using it like you would to cut, but pulling it sideways compared to normal use. Scrape until you see a little bit of blood-some species of mites are deeper in the skin. The best place to take the scraping is from the edge of the hair loss area, and do it on each spot to increase your chance of finding something. Wipe your scrapings onto the slide in the mineral oil. No coverslip needed, just be careful not to get it on the lenses. Most mites look like little bitty spiders, but with more body than legs. One type of mite (demodex) looks like a little cigar-shaped thing, kind of clearish and it's legs and head are all on one end. Here's a good picture of that one: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...=28&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:151&biw=1399&bih=779

Most other mites look basically like this, with slightly different features depending on species: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...29,r:8,s:0,i:114&tx=57&ty=98&biw=1399&bih=779


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I am having a mite problem right now and am getting close to giving Ivermectin injectable, but one doe suddenly started losing hair in a spot or two and quickly got worse. I looked closer and she has black lice. She started itching and scratching a lot. They are little black bugs that I can see, but they are very small. I don't know where this stuff comes from. I think it had to come in on some sparrows, or rats, but I keep poison out for the rats and havn't seen evidence of them. She has been powdered for a couple days now. As far as this being an immune issue my goats get all a goat could need, zinc, A, D, you name it. They do need sunshine though. Not seeing much of that yet.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Even though it's hard to say without seeing the doe, I suspect ringworm based on your description and the fact that hair's growing back in the middle of the original spot (ringworm spreads that way when totally uncontrolled). Get a ringworm spray at your local feed store or even pet store. The one for horses works, I like the pink spray that TSC sells. It will take a while to get rid of if it's been going on that long. Ringworm is a bigger problem in goats than most people think. I see the signs in many 4H barns and at shows, so your goat could have picked it up anywhere. Cats are also a big vector in sporeading it in goats.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Laverne~Most lice are fairly species specific or only survive on a very similar host.
The lice of rodents do not live on ruminants nor do bird lice.
If you will treat in conjunction with the life cycle you will catch newly hatched eggs which is why one treatment does not normally work.

If you think it is ringworm Champho Phenique will kill it in one treatment. It is a very good antifungal.

http://www.pested.msu.edu/Resources/bulletins/pdf/2601/LPNE2601chap4.pdf


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## NorthOf49 (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I did a couple scrapings and couldn't find anything... she wasn't happy. I noticed on the edges of the skin, where there's still a bit of hair, the skin seems goosebumped and when I did the scrapings there was a clearish fluid in the lumps. But I didn't find any creepy crawlies. There was one cluster of what looked like tiny brown eggs but I have no idea what I'm looking for really. And there is no weird odor at all... My first instinct was ringworm too (k, well, after donkey... guess I owe her an apology) especially since we did adopt ---or it adopted us--- a stray cat but I just don't know. 

I'll call my feed store today and see about injectable ivermectin and possibly ringworm spray: I guess I can treat for both. For the injectable ivermectin; what is the repeat interval? I've seen everything from one week to two weeks to three weeks.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I think the black mites just happened to land on my goat, from overhead bird nests, and were there for a temporary ride, but I am finding it interesting that the only goats that are having mite symptoms are my non producing females, 3 of them. The buck, wether and two milkers have perfectly healthy skin, no sign of mites....yet.


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