Thursday, March 5, 2009

Treatment for Lice on Goats

This website suggests the following for treating lice on goats

In our area, cattle susceptible to lice will get them about July, especially if they aren't eating enough of the mineral lick. We haven't had lice in goats on Irrabina although we have had lice in sheep. We've had them in the cattle at times and rather than use a pour on as we have done in the past, we use a very simple and easy cure. Mostly it takes 4-5 days but can take longer depending on how bad the infestation is. We use SULPHUR. You can buy it in bulk from your produce supplier.

For goats,
use 1 TEASPOON per animal mixed with warm water. Administer orally using a drench gun or syringe at the rate of say 20ml per animal. That is, mix up enough sulphur at 1 teaspoon per animal in 20ml water times the number of goats.

For cattle,
use about 1 TABLESPOON per head per day, which works out to be about 30 grams per head per day. For 35 head (don't worry about size and weight, just number head), that's about 1kg. For 35 head, buy 5kgs of powdered sulphur (not the grains) which will last 5 days. We see a reaction (ie no licking of the body, no rubbing against trees, the coats are dry with more sheen) after 2 days but complete the 5 day treatment. Mix up and feed out as per giving treatments.

After 5 days, even if you see only one animal still licking itself or rubbing, continue the treatment for all for another 5 days. It's simple and relatively cheap.

1 comment:

April said...

I bought powdered sulphur at the nursery. Is that the type to use or did you mean sulphur dioxide - the kind that is put on dried fruit to retain the color? Thanks!