Is it rain scald? And what should I do with it?

TEmily

New Member
Oct 14, 2008
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Sheffield South Yorkshire
Since the beginning of summer Del has had a really scabby rump. The scabs are like little individual blobs all over - there are are a few elsewhere on his coat but they are by far the worst on his rump. When you pick them you get a little tuft of hair with a lump of crusty gunk on the end (gross I know!)

At first, someone on the yard said they were where his winter coat hadn't come out properly an his pores were blocked. I got to work brushing them all out (with a plastic curry comb).

But they've never gone and are just as bad now as 2 months ago. They aren't causing him any discomfort or itchiness (he's indifferent to me picking/brushing) but its still isn't very nice!

Do you think this sounds like rain scald? Or something else? Any suggestions what I could do? Don't really want an expensive vet visit if avoidable.

I was thinking possibly buying some medicated shampoo and giving his coat a really good wash, though as a 2yo he's never been bathed before so not sure if this would go down very well!

Also possibly getting him a feed balancer or some other kind of coat supplement?

He's otherwise in good condition if a bit on the lean side, though only in the sense of a typical youngster mid growth spurt. He gets about 5hrs turnout on good grazing a day, plenty of haylage and one smallish feed a day with alfa a, pasture mix, sugar beet and a handful of oats.
 
Could be some kind of dermatitis. In the first instance I would treat with an antibac wash and rinse well so that it doesn't irritate the skin, do as much as you feel it needs (every day or every second day?) until it starts to clear up.

Horse at the farm has something similar and she cleared it using hibiscrub.

Are the scabs oozing? If so I would call the vet as they would know the best course of action with a course of antibiotics.
 
Thanks for your reply shockblue!

They aren't oozing, they're very dry and scurfy.

I don't think antibiotics is the thing - he's been on a course very recently for his injured leg and they made no difference at all to the scabs (though I guess he could need a different type)

Actually, went down on sat (haven't seen him since tue due to work) and they seem to have cleared up a bit as his winter coat has started growing.

Hopefully they may be going away on their own!
 
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