pregnant doe - losing hair, etc.

[mdoerge]

My pregnant Nigi is due in about 5 weeks. When I was feeding tonight, I noticed that she has lost hair on both of her front legs. I put her in the milking stand to get a closer look. About 6 inches of her legs are completely bare! Her skin is very dry, scaly and flaky. I looked very carefully with a flashlight, but could not see any mites/lice - just lots of white flaky skin. There were however, what looked like little brown scabs - could that be bites from something? She went through something similar last winter - but mostly lost hair around her eyes, muzzle etc. I thought we had made it through this year - can't believe I hadn't noticed before now. Her winter coat was/is extremely heavy - she's shedding, so maybe that's why I missed it before:/ Can/should I use Ivermectin since she is pregnant?

 

[helmstead]

Sounds like a classic and severe selenium deficiency.

 

[mdoerge]

I just got my order from Jeffers with my selenium/vitamin E gel. Should I use that or try and get BoSe shot from vet?

 

[helmstead]

I would get her caught up with a few consecutive shots of BoSe (per vet instruction of course). It sounds like the issue is only over winter, perhaps the hay you're getting is lower in Se than the browse she gets in warm weather...so you might be able to get by with the gel once you get her up...only doing BoSe during the winter months...time will tell you what you need to do.

 

[mdoerge]

Can selenium deficiency happen in only one goat? The other two are fine.

 

[helmstead]

Yes, goats can vary within a herd. I've found some bloodlines are more sensitive, even...and I would bet your other goats, while not showing such dramatic signs, are deficient also.

 

[Roll farms]

I wouldn't rule out leg mites, if you're seeing scabs as well.

(It could be a combination of the two, low selenium and opportunistic parasites taking advantage...mites also tend to be worse in winter and can affect one or two goats in the herd and leave others alone.)

You could have a scraping done to verify (or not).....But Ivomec is 'safe' for pregnant does, so it won't hurt to go ahead and give her a dose then repeat in 2 weeks.

 

[mdoerge]

Thanks - I'll call the vet today. Hopefully I won't have to take her in. She's getting too big for me to be lifting her into the back of my Suburban anymore!