[janeislay]

I've notices Mrs Tamworth scratching against fence posts an awful lot.  Just about to give her a course of garlic cloves again - any advice welcomed.

[Leri]

Does her skin look dry?
I've been known to put baby oil in a sprayer and squirt - but I am a bit loopy!
Mine scratch a lot anyway. Or do you mean she looks a bit demented with it?

[princesspiggy]

when mine did that, i injected them with panomec and the itching stopped. it treats internal and external parasites.

[HammysMom]

Then I must be loopy too because I keep a bottle of baby oil in the barn and rub it all over my itchy pigs whenever their skin is looking dry & flaky.  
I did have some piglets with extra itch and a rash once. Smeared the poor dears with calamine lotion, gave them benadryl then figured out, after a week or so, that it was the straw I was using for bedding.   Haven't had a problem with worms or other parasites but I also supply them with Diatomaceous Earth for eating and mud baths! Good Luck!

[little blue]

and for bonding.... give her an all over with a stiff brush (if you dont what to get too filthy, use a yard brush!)
she'll love you for it!

[Eve]

3 loopy ones, then, as I use baby oil too. 
They looooove a good brush, we use a little brush that was originally meant for shoes.

[janeislay]

I'll look into panomec - they do have straw beds, and I wondered if there might be mites in it.

Baby oil coming up !  I use a bit of lanolin-rich sheep fleece on the ponies, wonder if that would also do the trick on Mrs Pig.

Thanks guys.

[blonde]

She probably has mange and baby oil wont fix the problem.   I might for a while but mange lives and breeds in the ears of the pig.  A dose  of Ivermectin either in feed or injection will help solve the problem of pigs rubbing on everything in site to curtail their itchyness.

[sausagesandcash]

I agree, it may well be scarcopic mange. 'tactic' is also a good treatment, but it's a dip.

[Stevie G]

Pretty sure that Taktic is a spray/wash on but if using it outdoors, once you have sprayed it on your pigs they  may well go role in the dirt/mud/wallow, which means it won't be very effective after that. .
All these products have different withdrawal dates ie Ivermectin which is 21(maybe 28?) days, Panacur which is only for worms, 10 days, etc., so you will need to bare this in mind when choosing a product. Just all depends at what date they are going for sausages, if atall!

[Blonde]

Stevie Stevie, thought you would not forget  WHP days.....Ivermectin is a 28 day period.  Oh yes.... I forgot  you now drive a truck, and not a pig truck either.  So some things will have slipped your mind no doubt, with all that concentraton on the road.

[princesspiggy]

I'll look into panomec - they do have straw beds, and I wondered if there might be mites in it.

well, one of mine started to lose her hair, but not in patches like books suggest, it just thinned, also they slept next to each other and the other pig never showed signs of hair loss. we had alot of midges at the time so thought that mite (excuse the pun lol) cause itching. we never had any more problems after she had panomec. once every 6 mths.

[Leri]

Isn't scratching just what they do?! Mine all do - but not to excess and there is no sign of anything.
Reading this forum is mainly making me paranoid!!

[Hilarysmum]

Leri dont worry, honestly, Hilary scratches so hard on her ark it has to be repaired regularly .  To my knowledge (and after a recent vet check) she has no parasites.

[Helencus]

Mine scratch regularly just repaired the Arc yesterday after their efforts. They don't have anything just love to scratch and rub. To make sure they don't they get a douse with louse powder every few months and I use diatom earth in with the straw.