# Can lice cause bald spots?



## marliah (Apr 26, 2012)

When I bought one of my does I knew she had some lice, since I have battle with them before it was not a big deal to me, I put de on her and my other goat and sprinkled it in the pens and sleeping areas and redid that a couple weeks later. Well it wast til about two weeks ago that I noticed we had another outbreak on our hands cause I can see lice eggs on the baby kids. So I put de on everyone and the grounds and also for good measure topspotted everyone with neem oil too. I'm thinking ts will do the trick and I will redo in a week and then again in another week to make sure we get rid of these nasties. My question pertains to my in milk doe who birthed twins 4 weeks ago, she has multiple spots where her hair is falling out and her coat looks terrible, I'm not sure if it's lice related or maybe the de dried her skin out. Should I be concerned about any other conditions that could cause this? None of the others have bald spots. I'm at the moment down only natural remedies to strengthen the herd and help them fight off things so not interested in chemical methods right now, just wanting to make sure I didn't miss anything else that couple be causing the bald spots. 

I'm going to get them some black oil sunflower seeds when I get to the feed store next to help their skin and coat health, also I brush momma doe daily.

Thanks!


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## elevan (Apr 26, 2012)

You need to remove and burn the bedding.  Apply the DE to the ground and then rebed.  

Tea tree oil has been found to be effective against lice though I've never used it.

You need to repeat everything in 2 weeks.  Then in the case of really bad infestations, you'll have to repeat a 3rd time 2 weeks after the 2nd.

Yes, lice can cause bald spots and they make the hair brittle and the goat itches.


_(Note I do not use DE for lice any longer, as I have in the past and found it ineffective.)_


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## ksalvagno (Apr 26, 2012)

When was the last time you copper bolused? Do you have minerals out for them?


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## marliah (Apr 26, 2012)

I have minerals out, never copper bolused what's that?

Thanks for the tip on TTO I use that all the time for our family and found a good recipe for goats that I will try.


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## marliah (Apr 27, 2012)

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> When was the last time you copper bolused? Do you have minerals out for them?


Thanks for this tip, I do think momma goat may be copper deficient, makes more sense where everyone else is doing well and she seems off. I will get her some sunflower seeds to add to her feed and see if that helps


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## elevan (Apr 27, 2012)

marliah said:
			
		

> ksalvagno said:
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> 
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Sunflower seeds are not going to fix a copper situation if the goat is deficient...she just couldn't eat enough of them to make a difference.


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## marliah (Apr 27, 2012)

What else should I do? She I getting grain with copper in it, and I an out today and got a goat mineral mix, I had been giving them my leftover sheep minerals with de added for the copper, but decided I would just get the goat one in case it was te issue. Any other foods I out to give her? I don't want to risk overdose in case it's just the lice causing the problem.


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## elevan (Apr 27, 2012)

Deal with the lice issue first.  Give it a few weeks past that and then re-evaluate.



And then if you decide to pursue a copper issue then here are some links for you:

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2607-copperselenium

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2607-copasure

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=13278


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## marliah (Apr 27, 2012)

Will do, thanks for the help


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