# extremely itchy foal :(



## alfiesmum (10 June 2012)

hi all, as above, 3 week old foal is terrribly itchy,very thick coat (mum wb dad highland), no lice, have rubbed himwith coopers today.

he has a large bald patch on chest with a haematoma just to the side of it , think he must have annoyed mummy during the night 

the bald patch is hot! and so is his skin underneath.

surely cant be sweet itch can it?  

maybe its just his thick coat? mare fine and my other ones are fine in the other paddocks.

any ideas?

thanks in advance


----------



## iconique (10 June 2012)

Probably loosing his foal coat?


----------



## crabbymare (10 June 2012)

What are you feeding the mare?  Could it be the milk is too rich and he is having a reaction to it?


----------



## stimpy (10 June 2012)

alfiesmum said:



			hi all, as above, 3 week old foal is terrribly itchy,very thick coat (mum wb dad highland), no lice, have rubbed himwith coopers today.

he has a large bald patch on chest with a haematoma just to the side of it , think he must have annoyed mummy during the night 

the bald patch is hot! and so is his skin underneath.

surely cant be sweet itch can it?  

maybe its just his thick coat? mare fine and my other ones are fine in the other paddocks.

any ideas?

thanks in advance 

Click to expand...

Gosh, you have posted exactly what I was going to post... My three week old foal with v thick coat (Icelandic) is also very itchy, she now has three bald patches on her shoulders, one with broken skin, and has rubbed one side of her muzzle.

Foalie is very warm, her foal coat is much, much thicker than her Mum's coat, Mum is in her summer bikini.

I too have been worried about sweet itch 

Forgive my ignorance but do foals moult the coat they are born with?


----------



## oldywoldy (10 June 2012)

Have you wormed the foals - we worm before they are a week old with something mild like pyrantel.  Unusual for foals born now to have woolly coats all of mine have  glossy summer coats which is not good in this weather, putting Amigo foal rugs on them all!


----------



## alfiesmum (10 June 2012)

isnt it a bit early to be losing foal coat, he is only 3 weeks old 


i would doubt he would suddenly find his mum milk to rich when nothing has changed. 

any other ideas?


----------



## alfiesmum (10 June 2012)

erm maybe as he is 50% highland 

he isnt due to be wormed for another 3 weeks and mum certainly not showing signs of worms,

hi stimpy  he is rubbing shoulders and biting himself, gets in a right state which is why i rubbed him with coopers! having hairy foals is not fun ! x


----------



## domane (10 June 2012)

My boy is 8 weeks tomorrow and is also patchy from excessive rubbing ....







Whilst the fact  that he's scritchy has been FAB for us bonding with him, when we had that spell of hot weather he rubbed himself raw behind his ears - so much so that my OH had to apply Sudocreme!  (I came off one of my mares 3 weeks ago and have lotsa broken ribs )  Like you, I was worried and posted a couple of weeks ago and was told this is quite "normal".  I think I'm going to invest in some Coopers though as the midges have been awful the couple of times I've managed to gingerly accompany OH on one of the twice-daily visits he's doing for me.....


----------



## alfiesmum (10 June 2012)

aw bless, its def helped the bonding although we did this at birth due to mum not wanting him near the milk bar until sedated !

he runs backwards to get his bum scratched too! (been thru the kicking stage already and he knows this is unacceptable)

just wish i could wrap him and bring him home to scratch him all night- bet his mum would love the rest as he is truly unruly with her


----------



## Tnavas (10 June 2012)

Sounds like he may have a bit of a fungal infection. I've had this happen several times with my foals usually after heavy rain followed by sunny weather.

Buy some Nizoral and dilute with hand hot water in a small plastic drinks bottle. Screw the lid on amd pierce a few holes in it.

Sprinkle over foals back and work into the hair - being itchy he will love it. no need to rinse out. Usually has them itch free within 24hours.

One of mine would run backwards under his mums tum and then rock himself from side to side to ease the itching. Came right 24 hours after his Nizoral shower.


----------



## domane (10 June 2012)

Sorry to be dumb but what is Nizoral and where would I get it?


----------



## Tnavas (10 June 2012)

domane said:



			Sorry to be dumb but what is Nizoral and where would I get it?
		
Click to expand...

Hi Nizoral is a human anti dandruff shampoo that contains a anti fungal ingredient. You should be able to buy it from the chemist.

Dilute it using the same amount of shampoo that you would use if washing your own hair.


----------



## alfiesmum (10 June 2012)

hee hee  , i googled it very cheap lol x will see how we get on with coopers , then will give it a try! 
hoping it is just because his coat is way too thick for this time of year but its part of his breeding to be hairy lol x


----------



## stimpy (11 June 2012)

alfiesmum said:



			hi stimpy  he is rubbing shoulders and biting himself, gets in a right state which is why i rubbed him with coopers! having hairy foals is not fun ! x
		
Click to expand...

Hi Alfiesmum 

Yes having hairy foals does bring its problems but then I was glad she was so hairy when we had the most horrendous biting easterly wind the day after she was born 

Swings and roundabouts I guess.

Don't our babies know that bald patches don't look good in the endless foalie pictures?


----------



## Tnavas (12 June 2012)

oldywoldy said:



			Have you wormed the foals - we worm before they are a week old with something mild like pyrantel.  Unusual for foals born now to have woolly coats all of mine have  glossy summer coats which is not good in this weather, putting Amigo foal rugs on them all!
		
Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to worm so young if mums worming program is up to date.

Most foals are born with a wooly coat - TB & Arab foals may not be as wooly as the crosbred foals. 

Once the foal coat is gone then you have a sleek shiny coat underneath.


----------



## jj1966 (12 June 2012)

Some foals in their first week develope a wooly/curly coat this will take up to 3-6 months to remove, becareful with some the the horse treatments you wish to try on a baby, you might get a reaction with lethargy and the runs if its too toxic for them.
Wormed a mare a few years ago in her normal worming programme when foal was 12 weeks old with a wormer recommended for lactating mares, the effect on the foal was quite extreme, he was poorly and wouldnt eat/drink much for 5 days! Please be careful.


----------



## Tnavas (12 June 2012)

Have been using Nizoral on my foals for years with no adverse effects. 

Agree with you about the risk of worming so young - the digestive tract in a newborn foal is very sensitive and takes time to adapt.


----------



## angrovestud (12 June 2012)

It does sound like the foal is hot from protein in the grass its very rich at the moment try reducing the protein in mums food I have had this happen and it gets much better when you reduce the feed or restrict the grass a little


----------



## stimpy (12 June 2012)

angrovestud said:



			It does sound like the foal is hot from protein in the grass its very rich at the moment try reducing the protein in mums food I have had this happen and it gets much better when you reduce the feed or restrict the grass a little
		
Click to expand...

In my case Mum is on restricted grazing (she's laminitic) and she doesn't get any high protein feed, she just gets a handful of laminitic chaff to carry her anti-lam feed balancer.

My horses have all had clear worm counts for the last few years, they are wormed twice yearly for tape and so I would be surprised if it is worms and I am loathe to put chemicals in her so early in her life (unless I have to of course).

I think for my foal it is simply that she has a very thick coat and the weather, though often vile, is mild. I suspect that alfiesmum's foal may be in the same boat - just too hot in their winter woolies.

When should I expect her to shed her foal coat?


----------



## Tnavas (12 June 2012)

Hi Stimpy - please don't be concerned about the chemicals in the Nizoral - I've used it for years on my foals and they have all turned out well and healthy.

The fungal infection which I really believe is your foals problem is extremely itchy and the skin very tender. It makes them really miserable.

The foal coat can take up to 6 months to come out, you can shorten that by grooming. Many of the people I know who show their foals clip the coat off - clipping inline with the hair that removes the top layer making it level with the lovely coat hiding underneath.

I showed all my foals in hand and the judges to be honest expected the foals to be a bit fuzzy.

Elusive at around 6 weeks, TB/Andalusian






Serenade at about 3 months - neck has lost foal coat






Serenade at 6 months






Ruby at about 3 weeks


----------

