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Wood ticks

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Big Muddy rancher

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It's still winter up here but we were working with a 2 year old filly that hurt her neck last year so ran her in the S alley to halter her and handle her a bit. As we were rubbing her we started to find little wood ticks, about 20. I Ivomec dewormed the others yesterday but couldn't get her done but will have to quick like. we usually find the ticks in the spring but were sure surprised to find them now. :cowboy:
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
It's still winter up here but we were working with a 2 year old filly that hurt her neck last year so ran her in the S alley to halter her and handle her a bit. As we were rubbing her we started to find little wood ticks, about 20. I Ivomec dewormed the others yesterday but couldn't get her done but will have to quick like. we usually find the ticks in the spring but were sure surprised to find them now. :cowboy:

BMR, do you think that some of these recent warm spells would have got the buggers going? Even here we had some bugs during the last warm spell a few days ago. Damn Japanese Beetles are all over in the house again.
 
Tom S we have had some nice weather but i didn't think quite that nice.


Faster Horses, These horses have been getting hay daily and not to bad of condition but this one was younger and might have missed deworming last spring. We are going to check some others tomorrow to see it it was a fluke but then i was able to get the others dewormed.


:cowboy:
 
Not getting dewormed could sure play a big part in the immune system. Young animals on a whole just don't have the immune system older animals do. And of course, neither do the older animals. Parasites attack the weaker animals and carrying a worm load could sure make this horse more suspectible to parasites.

Parasites are worms, ticks, lice, fleas, etc. as I am sure you know. If you really look at your cattle, say in the summer, the ones that are not totally shed off are the ones that most likely will have the heaviest fly load. I didn't realize this until it was shown to me. The cattle that don't shed completely off seem to not have the immune system as one that has shed totally. It is very interesting what you find when you are taught to really look.

We had a two-year old in 1994 who was in good shape but was carrying quite a fly load compared to the rest of the cows. The Vigortone area manager was here and he and I were going through the cows. He asked what was wrong with her. "Nothing", I said. He said, "sure there is, look at her hair coat." She hadn't really slicked off, but she was fat. "I said look at her body condition." He came back with, "look at her hair coat." So when we got to the house I looked her up. She had had twins at calving time. I told him this and he said she got hurt a bit when calving. That fall she was open.

It is just things like this I have learned to pay attention to. I enjoy looking at cattle but know I will never get as good as he on observing cattle. He quizes me all the time and I am better at it, but still miss some things. It is fun to learn what the cattle tell me by how they look and act. I always paid attention to the horses and I like cattle a lot. Just didn't know to look for certain tell-tale signs.
 
In late November I pulled over 200 wood ticks off my 2 year old mare. She got pretty ouchy after about ten, but then she decided I was just helping. They were mostly on her rump and lower chest. I hope we don't run into that again.

Those Chinese Beetles really suck. We get them in the house by the hundreds. Especially when it gets nice. It seems they just come out of hiding, then die. I hate Iowa.
 
koj said:
In late November I pulled over 200 wood ticks off my 2 year old mare. She got pretty ouchy after about ten, but then she decided I was just helping. They were mostly on her rump and lower chest. I hope we don't run into that again.

Those Chinese Beetles really suck. We get them in the house by the hundreds. Especially when it gets nice. It seems they just come out of hiding, then die. I hate Iowa.


What do these beetles look like? We have bugs up here that are called Maple bugs or Box Elder bugs, and they swarm into my house in the fall when it gets cold. Some years worse than others, two years ago my husband threatened to have me committed because I was starting to lose it because of how many there were!
 
What do these beetles look like? We have bugs up here that are called Maple bugs or Box Elder bugs, and they swarm into my house in the fall when it gets cold. Some years worse than others, two years ago my husband threatened to have me committed because I was starting to lose it because of how many there were![/quotet.


Shelly mix dish soap and water in a windex bottle and spray those boxelder bugs that will do them in...
 
Tried that, it didn't even faze them! Last fall wasn't too bad, maybe because it was a cooler wetter summer. But that one year, oh my God! They were in here by the hundreds!
 
With this drought, the ticks seem to come earlier and earlier. We also have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who is such a "low rider" that he picks up all the ticks in the county! Actually, when we see ticks on the horses we treat them with a pour-on; we choose to use something different every year as to not cause immunity. I hope I was helpful on some level....
 
I noticed last year, our dog in failing health had NO ticks. Usually we'd find dog or deer ticks on her. I was wondering if it was because she was in really frail health, losing weight and perhaps giving off some chemical that ticks lost interest in her. She was outside as much as she ever was so had ample opportunity to pick up ticks.
 
The lot where I feed just went through and hit everything wih pour on, lice out early and lots of rubbing.

I hesitate to use pour on on my saddle horses as my understanding is it burns the skin. There's oral Ivomec and some other products. Was thinking dusts, but when it comes down to it, I really hate any dust horses can breath in
 
yes PPRM I was wondering what pour on was registered for horse as well. I use the hosre version of Ivomec squirted in the mouth just that this 2yrold hurt her neck and wasn't handled much and is real touchy about the head so am having trouble getting her dosed but and getting her settled with lots of rubbing and sweet talk. she may get her ivomec here in a couple of days. She is in quite good condition and I am surprised at the number of ticks she is carrying. :cowboy:
 
In the US we have a good pour-on specificially for horses. It is called Pour-I-Don and you get it from the vet. Just pour it from the poll to the tail. It doesn't burn them at all.

That might not be the proper spelling, however. Might be Pour-ID-On.??

Works good, but we don't make a habit of using it. Once in the spring for the horses with ticks. Makes the ticks really turn loose.
 
Hi All:

We just made a trip to the vet this past weekend to get our pup, Holly, her final puppy shots. The vet recommended as soon as the tick season comes to treat her with Frontline. He said as far as he knows it is the only product currently on the market that keeps the ticks totally off dogs (and I imagine cats as there is a Frontline for felines too). Plus he has a poster in the exam room that said something about a rebate or coupon to use the stuff-didn't want to ask how much it is--I'm sure it's pricey! I hope Big Muddy keeps his ticks well north so we don't have to worry about our "lowrider" Corgi Holly for another couple of months!

Hope this helpful on the dog-front!

Cheers for a great day! Sounds like it'll be around 40 here today-perfect weather!

TTB
 

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