[QUOTE=LLee;7871233]
Hey, RH20,  and the mites went by-by and did not come back. It did, however, result in a stinky :dead: barn for a few days… One treatment lasted about a month, and it bleached out the stains in their feathers. Once gone, the mites didn’t come back but I also did a treatment every three months after that… Have you got a better solution for mites?
Is it true that you Brits actually put baby powder on your draft horses feathers for shows?[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about feather mites.
I’ve had Shires and a Clyde for almost 20 years. I, also, had the support of quite a few old-time Shire men, and, luckily, a few more contemporary horse owners/breeders/exhibitors. Coupled with that, I am a voracious reader of reference works specific to my interests.
For years I have been encouraged to apply sulphur and oil to my horses’ feather to keep them mite-free. For years I’ve been disappointed in the results.
My herd is winter-housed in a massive pole barn. [IMG]http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h426/RutlandH2O/DSC_1541_zps6103afdb.jpg)It is 45’ x 90’ split into 3 sections of 30’ x 45’ each. The apex of the roof is approximately 18’ - 20’ high. The floor of the barn is extremely compacted earth (for over 60 years before we adapted it for the horses, it held the previous farmer’s hay and straw, and the occasional tractor). We’ve added 6’ long wooden Yorkshire slats to the eaves, a 4’ high perimeter wall around 2/3 of the building (it has tons of ventilation), with 15’ wide windbreak walls in each section to provide sheltered, bedded areas. The back wall of the building is wood-panelled to the roof, as are 15’ of the short sides of the perimeter wall. We have 4’ x 8’ polycarbonate windows in the solid walls for optimum light.
I’m giving you all this information for a reason. For years I fed the horses their hay in huge haynets. The hay would accumulate on the floor under the nets, and several of my guys would sleep on it. Early on, I bedded the horses on wheat straw. I had ongoing mite problems for YEARS. I used every concoction, oils, creams, ointments, salves, to no avail. Then, 5 years ago, I decided to switch the bedding to 1" cardboard squares. I found the straw too voluminous for our muck trailer. I, also, thought the straw could harbor mites. I stopped using haynets and purchased 5’ diameter ring feeders, ostensibly to encourage the dropped hay to fall in the feeders, not the floor. I was ascribing the hay with harboring mites, as well.
The horses were receiving biannual courses of injections of Dectomax to control the mites. They would experience about 5 weeks of relief before the stamping, rubbing, and bleeding ensued. I told my vet I was convinced the Dectomax was making the horses more sensitized to the mites as the drug wore off.
This past year was the worst. We started bathing their legs with an anti-microbial shampoo while they were out for the summer. There was an initial positive result. Within a couple of weeks we were back to square one.
I started thinking outside the box. We have 5 laying hens. One of the products I always use in the girls’ house is Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth to control mites. It is a substance that is mined in oceans and lakes. It is the skeletal remains of billions upon billions of prehistoric diatoms, which are microscopic, mostly single-celled, marine phytoplankton containing silica cell walls. When the substance is mined, it is then pulverized into the finest, smoothest powder. A microscope reveals the sharp angles of the diatom skeletons. When a mite, spider, flea, etc. walks through the powder, their exoskeletons are pierced and the DE, being an excellent desiccant, causes them to dry out and die. The whole process is mechanical, NOT chemical.
An equine dermatologist had been contacted when the situation became acute. She wanted me to use a sulphur shampoo that would have permanently stained the horses’ feather. When I told her I had used sulphur in the past to no avail, I suggested to her the idea of using DE. She agreed it was worth a try.
So, I ordered five 50lb sacks of FOOD GRADE (I can’t emphasize that enough) DE. The horses were out for the summer. I took apart the pole barn: removed all bedding, hay, water troughs. I vacuumed every bit of floor, every nook and cranny, the walls, most of the beams I could reach with an extended hose, joists, gates, even some panelling. Then, suitably masked and gloved, my handyman and I spread two 50lb sacks of DE over every floor surface and corner of the barn. I knew the horses wouldn’t be coming in for quite some time, so we left it to settle. I completely covered the floors of the horses’ field shelters with DE, as well.
Then, I filled half a dozen, large ketchup squeeze-bottles with DE and, having shampooed the horses’ feather a few days before, puffered the DE into their feather daily for a week (that’s 16 legs!) I followed up with the application every other day, and then, once every 5 days.
The horses are now in because the ground outside is beyond sodden. I puffer DE lightly around the two ring feeders after removing any loose hay on the floor. One of my mares had one tiny itchy wound, which I nipped in the bud with triple antibiotic ointment (my DH brings back 10 tubes when he has a business trip to the States…it’s not available here).
In another thread I related our recent cull of over 48 feral pigeons in the barn, which the dermatologist recommended above everything else.
I still apply DE to the horses’ feather every week. I will keep you posted as to its efficacy throughout this winter. Fingers crossed! Hope this helps.
Re: talcum powder on draft feather. Most, if not all, exhibitors of feathered horses use wood flour (yes, ever-so-finely ground soft wood) to dry the hair after the horses are shampooed. The flour is off-white in color and is packed into the hair. As it dries, it falls out. Some, but by far not all, exhibitors use white talc on the feather when it is dry. However, the horses should not be producing clouds of white powder as they walk or trot in the ring.
It’s just not economical for most people, unfortunately.
It’s not common where I am, at least I never hear anyone around me talking about it. I just feed whole flax. Many others feed either whole or ground.
Sometimes dealing with rescues means rescuing them every day from the same problem they presented when they arrived. But we loved them, and we miss them very much. They were like puppy dogs, really big puppy dogs, followed us around and made getting anything done a bit hard unless we put them in their stalls while we worked.
They never, ever chewed a pooped tree or post. Painted once in fall and again in late spring. Got that little hint from a Canadian farmer. Works on goats too. I never tried it on horses…
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