Animal Health Information

Battling Bots I remember being so intrigued by bot eggs on my little gymkhana horse: plainly evident on the darkened, wet hair during grooming and bathing. I would gaze at them and search for more, thinking about how amazing and adaptive parasites can be. The contrast between the black hair and the creamy nits made them easy to find; they would stand out like coconut on a chocolate cupcake. Yuck. No, thank you. Lovely, yet disappointing and unacceptable. Even back in the early 1980’s it was common knowledge that washing the nits with warm soapy water would trick them into hatching, only to be swept away, never to enter my horse’s mouth. My diligent and vigorous scrubbing was certainly a benefit to create this early hatch coupled with mechanical removal of the little eggs. But we now know that this practice isn’t nearly enough. What about all of the bots that were licked off in the wee hours of the morning before the warm scrub down? What about the bot eggs that were not far enough along and were too immature to hatch?

Managing a Chicken Brooder An effective chicken brooder simulates the warm and protective environment provided by a hen to her young brood. The successful brooder has many safeguards to take into account to keep the chicks happy, healthy, and safe. The mother hen provides a safe haven from predators, warmth against her body, sleep in the quiet darkness under her wing, and nutrition by showing them to food and water sources. To create and manage a successful brooder, it is important to consider all of these levels of care that a broody hen would provide with ample space for the chicks to grow.

I developed goosebumps as I listened to an equine owner on the other end of an emergency phone call as she described her horse’s neck as if it was “being devoured by flesh-eating bacteria.” I hustled out to Barb’s barn to find her description strangely accurate as 40% of her mare’s neck was sloughing skin and muscle on her right side. Questions began swirling around in my head. It did not seem likely that Mary had an injury to the affected area as she is a demure and quiet mare. “Has Mary had any antibiotics or vaccines injected on this side recently?” The answer was, “Yes, we just vaccinated about 10 days ago with the usual upper respiratory vaccine and tetanus. “Was a strangles vaccine also given at the same time?” Barb nodded yes. “But it was not injected there; it was given intranasally.”