[swm]

Hi,

I have a one year old ewe that has a patch of crusty wool on her lower back about 4 inches in front of the root of her tail. If the wool is scratched it comes away with what appears to be dead skin. Underneath it looks as if new wool is growing and there is no sign of any wound. The crusty wool is paler than the surrounding area and there are what appear to be runoffs on both flanks. I don't think that it has been like this for long. I only have a few sheep and they are handled most days, and although the discolouration was there at the weekend the fleece didn't feel crusty.

She did have a touch of fly strike on 13/06/10 which caused some distress and was sheared that same day and treated with Crovect. Since then she has seemed fine.

It doesn’t appear to be causing any distress (she is eating, drinking, not scouring and is alert and with the rest of the flock).

I have a Vet already booked for Friday but I just wondered if anyone has any idea what might be causing this and whether it will keep for a couple of days.

Sam

[morri2]

Hi!  i have the same problem with one of my two year old rams.  I noticed it after he'd been sheared about three or four weeks ago, since then the crusty wool has come off leaving a bare patch about four inches by six - same place, by the tail root.  I does not appear to have spread and there were, and still are no ill effects.  The skin underneath was fine - no sign of infection or scabbing of any kind.  I just had to make sure I spread sun cream on his bare patch in the nice weather.  The fleece has begun to grow back now and has nearly covered the bare area completely. It will be interesting to find out if your vet has a diagnosis for it.  Cheers.

[woollyval]

Both of these sound like the effects of a strike!
Maggots secrete an acid that burns the skin and removes the wool. The ram might have had the smallest maggies and you may not have noticed as he was sheared in the nick of time however the classic crusty wool over clean skin is a classic sign of recent infestation that didn't break the skin.
If the skin underneath was problematic I would suspect other things but I will stick my head on the block and say I think they are fine and there is not a serious problem!

[swm]

Thanks for the replies. It has set my mind at rest.

If the Vet has anything else to add I will post it here

Sam.

[swm]

Just to let you know that the Vet confirmed the diagnosis of recovering from strike.

thanks again

Sam