# HELP! Can my fleeces be saved?



## goatladie (Oct 1, 2005)

UGGHHHH! My DH was out shearing the first of the goats today and we found a BIGGG case of lice with them! Are my fleeces completely ruined? SOOO disappointed! I was looking forward to spinning this summer with them! What can be done or should we do next? Any ideas on what to use on them? Do I use it before or after shearing them? We have 4-5 other goats in fleece....


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

So sorry to hear about your event, yuck! I think I would itch for days.

As to if the fleeces can be saved? Well I suppose it depends on whether or not the actual fleece/fiber structure is damaged. You can test a lock by tugging or snapping it between your hands and seeing if it breaks any place. If the fibers are weak then I would toss it. Either way I certainly would treat the fleeces first and make sure the poor goaties get their doses of Ivomectin (sp) or whatever you give them for lice. If the fiber structure is compromised burn them so you can be sure all the creepy crawlies are dead. 

Hopefully others with more experience in this can help out.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Check over the fleece really well. Do a strength test like Marchwind suggests to make sure the fiber is strong enough for processing. If you have little beasties or eggs or larva in the fleece it is nearly impossible to get those out, and commercial mills will give them back to you without touching them. If you DO have critters in the fleece, you might give a try processing them by hand. This will also let you know how much work it is to process this way, too. And if you felt the fleece, at least it's not a prime one and you won't feel quite so bad? 
As you have these critters, you may want to make sure you keep on top of it with your animals, too. Make sure they have a good pour-on and rub it in to their top line (wear gloves!!). The beasties will survive quite a while on the ground and then reinfest if you don't keep it up. One dose was never enough with ours.
Good luck! -Catherine


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## goatladie (Oct 1, 2005)

Thanks for your suggestions ladies - I will look at the fibers in the morning and test them - there are lots of them (lice) - should we just shear them and treat to get them feeling better? Would that be a better use of the pour on if there is less fiber there for the lice? Recommendations on the best pour-ons? I will run out tomorrow morning and get them once I find out which one.. TIA!~ 

And felting the fleece - if it is damaged by lice, are you saying I could "felt away" and use it that way so that I wouldn't have to throw it out, once I wash the buggies out, even if it is really affected?


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I'm not sure washing will get the nits and eggs out, you may end up reinfesting the herd. As for what pour on to use? I'm not sure what all is available. But I sure would think that getting the fleeces off the animals and then treating them would help a lot, at least that is what seems logical to me. You may want to ask on the goat forum too. I know Ivomectin makes a pour on but I think you will have to treat them more than once.


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## littlesheeps (Jan 1, 2010)

goatladie, your fleeces are not ruined. The lice you see will die once they're off the goat and in a few days you'll see a little pile of yellow bodies in the bottom of the plastic bag. DO dust your goats once you've sheared them!!! They will thank you for that; and maybe do it again in a week or so if they are heavily infested. Also, if you worm with Ivomec for Cattle & Swine (not approved for goats but safe for them), it will kill the burrowing lice that you cannot see. Depending on when they were last wormed, you may want to do that again in 2 weeks. I give the Ivomec ORALLY... the dosage on the bottle is 1cc/100#, but I double that since goats have 4 stomachs. I haven't killed one yet! It is an injectable wormer, but draw it up in a syringe, disengage the needle and squirt it in their mouths. Tastes awful (so I'm told), so I give them a graham cracker chaser after that! 

Your fleeces should be fine unless they're too matted to work with, so don't worry! littlesheeps in NM (the other 'goatgirl')


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## jerzeygurl (Jan 21, 2005)

you can also freeze the fleeces for immediate death....


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Would the lice actually damage the fibers? I can see that the nits might be attached, but lice dont eat hair, I dont think.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Not necessarily GAM, but any stress the animal is under can effect the the fibers. You can tell a lot about an animals health the previous year by looking at their fibers. Kind of like tree rings.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I did know that severe fevers can affect the fibers, I suppose a parasite load could do the same thing. More from how the hair grows, and not from the bugs eating it.


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## goatladie (Oct 1, 2005)

Thanks for your help ladies - we are treating them this morning and will try to save those fleeces - this wording JG, cracked me up - ...just how I feel about bugs  


jerzeygurl said:


> you can also freeze the fleeces for immediate death....


Should I use the Ivermectin AND dust them at the same time or will that be overdosing?


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

goatladie - I feel your pain! I just opened a bag of fleece from sheep we sheared Friday, and found those creepy-crawlies on the fleece at the top   

I have the fleece in black plastic bags, and I'm going to tie them up and put them in the sun for a few days... I hope that doesn't damage the fleece, but those things have to DIE!!! The freezer might be another option too... UGH - I'm itchy all over 

Off to the feed store


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Dunno if goat lice are like sheep lice, but they are indeed disgusting. Sheep lice are like little red spiders, and they don't damage the fleece except if you zing 'em with the shears, you can get a spot of blood.

The keds (sheep lice) will die in 4 days off the sheep - so I just put the fibre bags outside for the first few days, then bring them in after that. You find the odd carcass, but it's not so bad once you get used to the idea. 

All our sheep have a few lice - nobody is bothered much by them (no itching or scratching, all in good condition) so I leave them be ... I try not to use the chemicals unless I really have to (and I would, if I found more than about 10 or 15 on a single sheep!).

But you can bet I always take off my outside clothes and shower after shearing! Ewww those things make my skin crawl, even though I know they won't bite me!


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

frazzle - there were definitely more than 15 UGH! DH has been making "lousy" jokes all day - he's killing me haha! I got concentrated permethrin so we'll apply that tomorrow. 

It's really good to know they die off the sheep in 4 days - I'm going to freeze them anyway, just in case lol! I figured I'd have to freeze them again in 2 weeks after the nits hatched...


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