How do you get lice off of goats?

Answer 1

Well it can be very serious. There are two types of lice, biting and sucking lice. Sucking lice, well they suck the blood, the goat gets anaemic and can die. Biting lice, they just bite but they can cause huge weight loss and lowered immune system, so yes I guess in those situations it can be very serious also.

How do you find them? The first clue is that your goats are scratching a lot, if they are fibre goats their mohair/cashmere starts to look really ugly and ratty. They might be losing weight even though you are giving them plenty of food and they arent wormy. So simply restrain the animal, and part the hair, and have a good look all over the animal. the biting type are black, the sucking type are yellowy/browny. You might see the biting type actually crawling around all over the animal. The sucking type tend to be more still. They are small, like a piece of dust/dirt, but if you look closely you can see a head and little legs.

How do you treat? There are several ways to treat lice.

Sevin dust

Permectrin (use like front line but it leaves a greasy mark)

DE - never used it but I have heard it does work

VetRx - again never used it but been told you put it on like front line. This is a great option for kids too since its all natural

you can also use ivermectin products, pour on products, spinosads, permethrins, anything to treat lice in horses, sheep or cattle (but make sure it covers both biting and sucking lice, or the type you have) and of course be careful with the milk withdrawals etc.

Stall bedding - I've never changed it actually. The lice can only live an hour or so off the animal.

Washing the animal - some treatments, especially horses and sheep, involve a wash. I have used malaban and nucidol products and both are great but you dilute it in water then wash the animal. Not that big a deal really.

Fleas - as far as I know, no.

Ticks - yes. Use a normal tick preventative product for cattle, sheep, horses, dogs etc.