Goat hair falls out: causes and what to do, treatment and prevention

Owners of farm animals, including goats, are faced with the fact that pets have problems with wool. If the animal is he althy, then twice a year it undergoes a process of molting. Not everyone is ready for the fact that a domestic goat loses wool outside the season of natural change of coat. In some cases, this may be a sign of a severe and unpleasant contagious illness.

Shedding season

Shedding in goats can be both seasonal and age related. In the first case, all adult animals molt, and in the second, goats change their hair.

Seasonal molt

Normally, the coat is changed twice a year - in spring and autumn. Seasonal shedding is a normal process, during this period the entire coat is changed to a new one. At the end of winter, the beginning of spring, when not only the temperature rises, but also the length of the daylight hours, spring molting begins. Its beginning depends on the region, climate and weather conditions. In most areas with a temperate climate, it begins in the second half of March, early April. In warm areas with mild winters, spring molt in goats can begin at the end of February.

Wool changes first on the croup, lower back and back, and then on the neck, chest, limbs. With good nutrition, the change of coat takes 15-20 days. Return frosts can slow down the molting process.

Autumn molt can start in September. It goes pretty unnoticed. Summer thin hair falls out and is replaced by thick, dense winter hair.

Age molting

Newborn kids are covered with baby hair. When they turn six months old, they begin to change their coat. Such a molt is called juvenile.

Diseases in goats leading to hair loss

Sometimes an animal loses hair regardless of the season. In this case, it can be assumed that the cause is an infectious or non-infectious skin disease, internal or external parasites, organ pathologies caused by them, errors in feeding and maintenance.

Non-contagious

A goat loses hair and even goes bald in the following cases:

1. Permanent molting. This is due to the loss of hairs that have outlived their own. The process is not related to the time of year or the age of the animal. No treatment required.
2. Stressful situation. A change of place and a sharp change in conditions of detention, spontaneous abortion can cause hair loss. It is enough to identify the cause of stress and take measures to eliminate it.
3. Lack of vitamins. With a lack of vitamin A, groups B, C, E, not only hair falls out, but the skin also flakes off. Low-value products such as cake, old hay, straw are eliminated from the diet and complete feeds are added.

For non-contagious causes of hair loss, no special treatment is required, it is enough to take measures to eliminate the factors that caused the problem.

Infectious

If the animal's coat gets wet, it becomes untidy, hair climbs in clumps, areas of bare skin are clearly visible, then we can assume an infectious infection. The most common of these is trichophytosis. It is caused by pathogenic fungi.

Pets are worried about itching, they comb sore spots, bubbles appear on the skin. When they burst, the coat gets wet and sticks together, brown crusts appear. Other pathogenic organisms are added to the main pathogen, and a deep skin lesion develops.

Sick goats are isolated. They are treated with special vaccines and salicylic ointments, Yam. In advanced cases, goats are slaughtered, carcasses are disposed of.

Invasions

Infestations, or parasitic infestations, can also cause the coat to shed heavily. Most often, goats suffer from lice, withers, itch mites:

1. Lice cause the disease syphunculosis. Animals itch a lot, wounds appear on the skin, hair falls out. Goats lose weight, and young animals in advanced cases may die. Adult lice are visible to the naked eye. They are treated with insecticidal preparations such as "Entomazan-S".
2. Vlas-eaters annoy goats no less than lice. Wool when affected by these parasites looks disheveled, tangled. Goats are worried about severe itching. Outbreaks of diseases are observed in the cold season. Injections of Ivermectin and its analogues help well.
3. Itchy mites - These parasites are the cause of itchy mange in goats. In places of damage, the skin becomes gray, scales appear on it, and the hair falls out. In advanced cases, blood oozes from the diseased skin through the crusts. Treated by spraying liquid creolin emulsion.

Important! External treatments with sprays, emulsions, powdered agents against parasites are carried out at least twice, with an interval of 8-9 days.

The danger of infection with external parasites lies in the fact that they are carriers of various diseases and helminths. To eliminate internal parasites, kids from three months old and adult animals are given "Alben" or "Albendazole" twice a year. Goats are given a medicine for helminthic invasions a month after giving birth or a month before they come to hunt. Treatment is carried out according to the instructions for the drugs.

Mistakes in feeding

The wool of animals is one of the indicators of their grooming and he alth. If the goat is bald on both sides, then most likely it is fed according to the residual principle. Her diet is based on poor hay, straw dust and other low-quality feed.

An improperly formulated diet can cause not only hair loss, but also visual impairment, skin ulcers, and thyroid problems.

In the diet of animals must be:

• quality hay;
• compound feed;
• grain;
• vegetables and juicy tubers.

Goats should definitely be given s alt. A good result is the inclusion of the Felucen complex supplement in the diet.

Poisoning

If a goat suddenly molts without any visible prerequisites, then the cause may be poisoning. In acute poisoning, the animal often dies in the first hours after ingestion of poisonous herbs or chemicals.

However, when the poison enters the body regularly, but in small quantities, the poisoning becomes chronic and is accompanied by symptoms:

• hair falling out in clumps;
• skin peeling;
• spontaneous abortions;
• sluggish behavior;
• bad appetite;
• decrease in productivity.

To treat chronic poisoning, it is necessary to identify and eliminate its source, provide the animal with high-quality feed and clean water.

Prevention measures

Not all goat owners know what to do to prevent hair loss in pets. First of all, extreme crowding of animals must be avoided. In a goat room, one head should have from 2.5 to 4.0 square meters. m area. The room should not be excessively damp.Optimal humidity levels are 60%.

To prevent infection with internal and external parasites, animals must be given antiparasitic drugs. A good result is dusting the wool with wood ash.

During the period of seasonal molting, the process can be accelerated and facilitated by regular combing of animals. One of the most reliable preventive measures is high-quality and complete feeding. The diet must include vitamin supplements and premixes.

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