# Chorioptic Mange?



## Patt (May 18, 2003)

I have one goat out of my whole herd who has this: 









We normally get 50 inches of rain here yearly and we received 75 last year. It has been really hard keeping things dry. sigh...

Most all of the places I have looked at online have descriptions but no pictures. If anyone can tell me what this is and the best treatment I would appreciate it. It looks like scaly leg mite to me but that is a chicken problem.


----------



## dm9960 (Nov 26, 2009)

wish I could help, does look like mange tho


----------



## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I don't know much about mange in goats, never had it, but I would look into copper bolusing your herd. I've used DE on mange on a squirrel and it worked beautifully. It wasn't as bad looking as that though. Also feeding of garlic can't hurt!


----------



## shiandpete.1 (Aug 13, 2008)

I had a doe that used to get this in the spring, every year went through every treatment in the book and finally figured out that it was a mineral imbalance. I owuld agree to the copper bolous and maybe selenium too.


----------



## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

Dermatitis, most likely. Think "rain rot" in horses, or "grease heels". I have one doe who gets it every fall - right before show season! It's probably due to the wet weather and mud.

Trim off as much hair as you can, give it a good wash with iodine soap, then use Hibitane ointment (clorhexidine). Zinc oxide ointment is good too, to soften up the scaly stuff. I buy the generic diaper rash cream - it's cheaper and it seems to go on more easily than Penaten, which is very thick.


----------



## Patt (May 18, 2003)

They get a mineral that has copper in it and she is the only goat with it so I would be surprised if it is a copper deficiency.


----------



## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Mine get copper in their mineral as well, a lot of it, but were still copper deficient. Also, goats don't all show it. I have 3 goats I can see it on in my herd of 8 does. Most people wouldn't know a thing, not knowing what to look for. But their coats weren't good. I need to get some comparison pictures. Goats should have nice uniform coats, my lamancha looks shaved with the bolus. Her hair was never cut!


----------



## jil101ca (Jul 2, 2007)

It looks like rain rot to me too. As pookshollow said, wash with iodine soap then put something on it. A lotion of some kind will keep it soft or spray the entire area with iodine spray. It is a fungus that lives in moist conditions. one of my pony mares gets it every spring from being out in the rain. I think her rolling in the wet poopy corner doesn't help any.


----------



## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

It's very hard without a skin scraping to identify these uglies. Could be a contact dermatitis, mites, or lice. I would try a synergized pour on and a topical antibacterial ointment.


----------



## Patt (May 18, 2003)

southerngurl said:


> Mine get copper in their mineral as well, a lot of it, but were still copper deficient. Also, goats don't all show it. I have 3 goats I can see it on in my herd of 8 does. Most people wouldn't know a thing, not knowing what to look for. But their coats weren't good. I need to get some comparison pictures. Goats should have nice uniform coats, my lamancha looks shaved with the bolus. Her hair was never cut!


Black cows and goats with copper deficiency turn reddish brown. I have seen pictures of it before. If you notice this is a black and white goat and she is a nice shiny deep black.  It's just her 2 back ankles that are affected.


----------



## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

I often wonder about mineral deficiencies and how they show up in different goats. We had one goat (with black in her coat that stayed sleek black) that had all these weird symptoms - always got lice when no one else had it, her milk tasted awful, kept losing weight, didn't eat all that well. Another goat later showed signs of fishtail and bronzing so we bolused. All the weird symptoms disappeared and - thank goodness - her milk is nice and sweet again!

Anyway, I have no experience with skin issues like that. Do you have a microscope? I wonder if you could do a diagnostic test yourself.

Good luck!


----------



## Patt (May 18, 2003)

Good point madness. I haven't seen signs in any of them but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try the copper. I just hate to do the shotgun type treatment and do 5 different things because then I never know what really worked.


----------



## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

Patt said:


> I just hate to do the shotgun type treatment and do 5 different things because then I never know what really worked.


Ha! Boy, I couldn't agree more. I'm a scientist and one of the biggest things in experimentation is changing one variable at a time so you know which one caused what result. I've tried it around the farm but sometimes it just isn't going to work that way with animals when you have a limited window for treatment!


----------



## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

> I just hate to do the shotgun type treatment and do 5 different things because then I never know what really worked.


Then I suggest that you stop wittering about what it could possibly be and start with treating the symptoms. Scrub the legs, get some antibiotic cream on them. That's why it's called _first_ aid. Worry about what caused it later. 

Sorry if that sounds harsh.


----------



## Patt (May 18, 2003)

pookshollow said:


> Then I suggest that you stop wittering about what it could possibly be and start with treating the symptoms. Scrub the legs, get some antibiotic cream on them. That's why it's called _first_ aid. Worry about what caused it later.
> 
> Sorry if that sounds harsh.


You are assuming, wrongly I might add, that I have not already done something thank you. I am trying to decide whether or not to give her a copper suppliment not whether or not to treat her legs locally. Hope you feel better now.


----------



## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

Patt said:


> You are assuming, wrongly I might add, that I have not already done something thank you. I am trying to decide whether or not to give her a copper suppliment not whether or not to treat her legs locally. Hope you feel better now.


Then you might have said "ok, I've treated her legs topically - now do you think it would be a good idea to --------?" It did appear from your lack of response that you had _not_ done anything, and I can't see your operation through my computer screen.  My concern was for the goat.


----------



## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

I would scrub those legs with mild soap like a betadine solution, dry thoroughly and apply ivermectin pour-on every 21 days until it clears up.
My girls get plenty copper in their minerals & we live in a wet area & still get a case or two chorioptic mange evey spring.
At the first sign they get the pour on & it usually clears up by the 2nd or third application.


----------



## Briza (Aug 11, 2009)

Mange of any type is a mite infestation. If you think this is mites you need to inject Ivermectin sub Q or put a topical insecticide on the area. This is not something antibiotics will help unless you can note a secondary infection. 

You will have to treat in cycles to kill the hatching eggs. If this is your diagnosis then treat for mange not for the loss of hair or skin irritation. Take a skin scraping to your vet if you don't have a scope at home.

Most loose mineral mixes for ruminants have copper in the sulfate form. They need oxides to break down more slowly. If your minerals do not have oxides then you need to bolus.
B~


----------

