Cob feather problems

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Sid these days!
Apr 30, 2010
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Sid had his legs clipped today so that Carol and I could get a good look at his mallenders.

He was a good boy although it clearly hurt him to have them done. Without the feathers he looks (a) fat,

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(b) slim legged, a lightweight rather than a heavyweight cob,

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and (c) scabby. Poor poor boy, no wonder he itches!

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I have treated the scabs for now with cocoa butter and Hedgewitch orange and peppermint oil. Although he doesn't like having the sore places touched, he LOVES having the oil rubbed in and stood making happy faces while I did it.

The vet said he thought this was mallenders, wet eczema. He said he could give me some pink lotion (with steroids) for the scabs. Can I ask your views? Will natural remedies help, or should I jump straight to the steroid lotion?

ETA I am angry that a seller and a dealer just let his feathers grow and did nothing at all to address a condition that clearly bothers him. I have seborrheic dermatitis, the human equivalent, on my scalp, and it drives me demented. How could they leave him like that? Ooo it makes me mad!
 
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Oo bet that is sore. I’ve got no experience with mellanders but I thought that was specifically over keritinised tissue at the back of the knee?
 
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@Jessey, now I feel dumb! The definition I found was wet eczema on backs of legs and heels, but I've changed the title of the thread as perhaps more people will weigh in.
 
There all on the same basis so not sure it matters what you call it. That certainly needs something to calm it. Even sudocrem would probably help as its got zinc. Also some purple/blue antibac spray on first.
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
@Jessey, now I feel dumb! The definition I found was wet eczema on backs of legs and heels, but I've changed the title of the thread as perhaps more people will weigh in.
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Sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel like that, I’ve very little experience with it as don’t really do hairy’s so was asking for my learning.
I think I’d give it a bit of time before going to steroids, as with any lesion, now you’ve got it open to the air and are able to get stuff on it effectively there’s a good chance it will improve quickly.
 
I would try the non steroid route first, and simply getting the hair off and some air to them should help a lot. If you're really worried why not send some photos to the vet to see what he thinks?

To be fair to the seller and dealer it's a very common problem and difficult to treat with the feather in place - as you've no doubt already found out getting through that hair is hard - but people often want to see the feather if they're buying, indeed you'll see the amount of feather advertised as a selling point. I'd be a bit cross the vet didn't pick up on it in the vetting, particularly if you had a 5 stage, and while it wouldn't have been a fail I would have expected it to be mentioned.

This is the main reason, alongside the work of keeping feathers clean, why if I end up buying something with much feather the legs will be kept clipped. With the best will in the world you can't be certain what is going on under it and if there is problem it's very hard to treat.
 
carthorse said:
I would try the non steroid route first, and simply getting the hair off and some air to them should help a lot. If you're really worried why not send some photos to the vet to see what he thinks?

To be fair to the seller and dealer it's a very common problem and difficult to treat with the feather in place - as you've no doubt already found out getting through that hair is hard - but people often want to see the feather if they're buying, indeed you'll see the amount of feather advertised as a selling point. I'd be a bit cross the vet didn't pick up on it in the vetting, particularly if you had a 5 stage, and while it wouldn't have been a fail I would have expected it to be mentioned.

This is the main reason, alongside the work of keeping feathers clean, why if I end up buying something with much feather the legs will be kept clipped. With the best will in the world you can't be certain what is going on under it and if there is problem it's very hard to treat.
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Well @carthorse much as I admire the feather-legged look I think I agree with you. I am certainly going to keep the legs trimmed until I have got on top of those horrible scabs, and potentially permanently. I'll grow his mane and tail if they will grow, though!
 
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Jane&Ziggy said:
Sid had his legs clipped today so that Carol and I could get a good look at his mallenders.

He was a good boy although it clearly hurt him to have them done. Without the feathers he looks (a) fat,

View attachment 106280

(b) slim legged, a lightweight rather than a heavyweight cob,

View attachment 106279

and (c) scabby. Poor poor boy, no wonder he itches!

View attachment 106281

I have treated the scabs for now with cocoa butter and Hedgewitch orange and peppermint oil. Although he doesn't like having the sore places touched, he LOVES having the oil rubbed in and stood making happy faces while I did it.

The vet said he thought this was mallenders, wet eczema. He said he could give me some pink lotion (with steroids) for the scabs. Can I ask your views? Will natural remedies help, or should I jump straight to the steroid lotion?

ETA I am angry that a seller and a dealer just let his feathers grow and did nothing at all to address a condition that clearly bothers him. I have seborrheic dermatitis, the human equivalent, on my scalp, and it drives me demented. How could they leave him like that? Ooo it makes me mad!
Click to expand...
Barrier H Hoof to Heal very oily, takes scabs off, promotes healing, excellent for mud fever scabs works in a couple of days full of natural ingredients easy to use and clears it up quickly i used it on cob legs all the time
 
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I've tried lots of things in the past, the vet gave us some Flamazine cream which worked well for Chloe. Getting the hair off definitely helps. Though I suspect Chloe's is also made worse due to her Cushings. Chloe had to be sedated hers were so sore which isn't ideal. It's a case of keeping on top of them and as already suggested keeping feather free certainly helps. Sudocreme is soothing and I often pop some of that on her. Though it depends on the healing and if they start to itch, like human scabs do when they're getting better. In that case our vet gives me Fuciderm (it's changed name but is really for dogs but works on horses too). That breaks the itch scratch cycle when the scabs are getting better - though it doesn't go a long way.
I would be half tempted to go with what your vet suggested with the steroids to begin with - then it blasts it straight away. Thing is, you don't want it getting out of hand which it can do. With all the best will in the world once it sets in (and I'm not sure that they are all the same thing but I mean the scabs / sores) it's hard to shift.
@carthorse what puts you off the steroids? Just curious.
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
@Jessey do you know I think that what he has on the backs of his knees might be mallanders - it looks as if the skin itself has thickened, probably because this has gone on and on. So I understand the definition now!
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Yep that sounds like what I’d know as mellanders. Your scabs look like straight up mud fever to me 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
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Trewsers said:
@carthorse what puts you off the steroids? Just curious.
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Steroids are pretty serious stuff, they suppress the immune system to reduce the immune response to let symptoms subside and topicals cause things like thinning of the skin. They really ought be a last resort, and always were, but vets seem to dish them out Willy nilly now days.
 
@Trewsers it's as @Jessey says above. Unless the legs are dreadful, and those aren't. I've found the seem to work well to begin with but then often leave you with more problems which can be harder to deal with. I've seen good results with almost anything that softens the scabs gently, though I'd be wary of anything grease or oil based now the weather is warming up as you don't want to add burns to the problem. I've used Hoof to Heal (and yes @Jane&Ziggy , that is the right one) many times in the past but would avoid it this time of year, instead just stick to a gentle moisturiser and use it regularly - soft scabs also itch less.
 
Thanks both. I've never had any bother with them, but that's just in my experience. They really were the only thing that seemed to get to the heart of it in the beginning. I wonder why vets are keen to give them out? Surely they wouldn't give stuff that could cause more trouble? What happens when they do cause thinning of the skin? Does it stop it from healing? If it does then that's weird isn't it, because surely the healing is what they are given for in the first place? Lol just thinking out loud here as I type...................🤔
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
Is this the stuff @diplomaticandtactful ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Barrier-Unisexs-BAR0051-Soothing-Cream/dp/B0040XPR7O/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=1277632857040944&dchild=1&hvadid=79852139333112&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=133225&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-79852256520665:loc-188&keywords=hoof+to+heal&qid=1618824634&sr=8-5
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yes, it all natural, yellow in colour, smells lovely, and softens the skin and makes it heal very quickly. Molly and Rose cobs had white legs and i found it excellent if they got scabs as it makes them fall off if you massage it in and leave it and stops them being sore and not letting you touch the legs. If you put a lot on the scabs and leave they just fall off next day
 
Trewsers said:
Thanks both. I've never had any bother with them, but that's just in my experience. They really were the only thing that seemed to get to the heart of it in the beginning. I wonder why vets are keen to give them out? Surely they wouldn't give stuff that could cause more trouble? What happens when they do cause thinning of the skin? Does it stop it from healing? If it does then that's weird isn't it, because surely the healing is what they are given for in the first place? Lol just thinking out loud here as I type...................🤔
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A couple of days application wouldn't cause problems, but then if that short a course worked then they weren't needed in the first place and anything to clean them up, such as hibiscrub, followed by something to soften the scabs for a few days would have worked. Then, as someone else said, it's a case of keeping on top of it.

Why do vets hand them out so readily? I can only assume it's because in many cases they work quickly and are relatively cheap - two things owners like. Also it may be like antibiotics in people, they used to be seen as the miracle drug and were handed out for everything, now doctors are more careful with them.
 
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carthorse said:
A couple of days application wouldn't cause problems, but then if that short a course worked then they weren't needed in the first place and anything to clean them up, such as hibiscrub, followed by something to soften the scabs for a few days would have worked. Then, as someone else said, it's a case of keeping on top of it.

Why do vets hand them out so readily? I can only assume it's because in many cases they work quickly and are relatively cheap - two things owners like. Also it may be like antibiotics in people, they used to be seen as the miracle drug and were handed out for everything, now doctors are more careful with them.
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I think I've had steroid cream for Chloe usually about two weeks worth. I know I ended up having it for J too - but that's a long time ago and I can't remember how long it took to work. I know the vets used to poo-poo my use of Sudocreme. I don't know why they just didn't seem to like the idea?!
 
If Sudocreme does the job and doesn't do any damage (Jim used to react to it, his skin would peel like he had bad sunburn) then I don't see why you wouldn't use it.
 
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