Four white socks/feathers - avoid mud fever?

Mr Ed

Mr Ed

Active Member
Mar 1, 2009
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Ed (Welsh Sec D) will be living out 24/7 this winter, for the first time. He has four white socks and feathers, which I believe puts him at a higher risk of suffereing from mud-fever. However, he has never had it with his prevous owner, but was stabled over night.

Our fields are currently quite dry and in a nice condition. Obviously a few week ago there were boggy patches from heavy rain. What I'm suprised about is that several horses at our yard already have mud-fever.

I understand that it is a form of bacteria, but just wondering how easily it is transferred between horses? Also, I would like to take preventative measures, but what would be the best option as he's living out?

I understand that an oil based barrier cream is useful, but can only be put on when dry and clean. Any recommendations? What can I do when the weather is wet?

Any advice or product recommendations would be most welcome.
 
I use Sudocreme as it's good and thick and will still stick in place in the worst clay mud.
 
Well my management of my 2 tends to differ for a start.

I don't wash their legs off and just brush them off when they are dry. It's the wetting and drying of legs that weakens the skin and makes it more prone to mud fever. I'm happy to ride round on a muddy native though!

Also I apply pig oil and sulphur (although others do ok with just the pig oil) after every farriers visit. It's a barrier and the sulphur can be found in many skin creams as an anti bacterial. As always though when trying a new product it is prudent to do a patch test :)
 
I used Pig oil and sulphur for the first time last year - Arnie had no mud fever for the first time ever! I put it on about every 3 weeks and didnt really wash his legs (or even brush them much) in between times. His legs looked pretty greasy and grotty most of the winter but no sore bits so the desired result.

The odd time he was going partying, he got his legs washed off with fairy liquid and they were dazzling white.

I'll be using it again this year.:D

I tried to put it on dry legs but some of the time it was going onto wet muddy legs - still seemed to work??
 
A lot of people don't like them.......but we used turnout chaps on Fabio last year after he got mud fever and they were a god send! Also used Carr Day and Martin barrier stuff (can't remember the name but it looks like pink vaseline!) and sudocreme. All seemed to do the trick.
 
I also used pig oil and sulphur last year. I put it on every 6 weeks after the farrier and started as soon as it was autumn - we didn't get any mud fever. I don't know if we would have but it was great. I don't do leg washing.
 
I only wash his legs once every few weeks (when he's going to a show our out and about). The rest of the time I just brush. I guess as we are now in Autumn we are not going to be taking him out as much, so no need to wash.

So, the pig oig/sulphur mix is only applied every 6 weeks as a preventative treatment? I guess you apply it all over the heels/feathers with a sponge. Do you then just brush over it when grooming each day (and it lasts)?

Can I buy it ready mixed and if so where is the best place?

(Sudocreme options also sounds good and I have plenty in supply - use it loads. But, I guess that would have to be applied more frequently).

Many thanks, as considering we have several suffering at the yard, I think I should start taking precautions.
 
You can apply more regularly if you need to (if they actually have mud fever), but I found every 6 weeks was fine as preventative (do it after farrier has been so farrier doesn't have oily legs to worry about!)

You can still wash them for shows if you need to - then just re-pig oil afterwards. Don't brush in between really, you don't need to. Mud falls off when it dries and the feather goes silky soft. Brilliant :D

You can buy it ready mixed off ebay - most tack shops will sell the pig oil and flowers of sulphur powder separately so you can mix it, but I was lazy and bought 5 litres ready mixed and only used half of that last year. Yes, I poured some into a bucket then applied to legs very liberally with a sponge then rubbed in. Wear rubber/disposable gloves!

If you do a search on here for pig oil there are 100's of threads from the converts :p

POPPY1 said:
I only wash his legs once every few weeks (when he's going to a show our out and about). The rest of the time I just brush. I guess as we are now in Autumn we are not going to be taking him out as much, so no need to wash.

So, the pig oig/sulphur mix is only applied every 6 weeks as a preventative treatment? I guess you apply it all over the heels/feathers with a sponge. Do you then just brush over it when grooming each day (and it lasts)?

Can I buy it ready mixed and if so where is the best place?

(Sudocreme options also sounds good and I have plenty in supply - use it loads. But, I guess that would have to be applied more frequently).

Many thanks, as considering we have several suffering at the yard, I think I should start taking precautions.
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Thank you. Think I might take the lazy route and try to find ready mixed. Will start will small tub/bottle, so that I can patch-test and try one or two applications. I have googled, but there doesnt seem to be that many places selling ready mixed. Will have another go:rolleyes:

As I'm using it as a preventative, I'll go with the 6-week application after farrier visit.

Love the idea of self-cleaning, silky feathers:D
 
i have a reg welsh D with 4 white stockings and never a sniff of mud fever. if nothing has surfaced then i'd be inclined to leave well alone. Keep washing to a minimum and if legs are really wet and muddy use some leg wraps to dry them overnight and brush off the following day. I wouldn't be too concerned about it transferring, mine lived in a field with a horse who had horrendous mud fever without issue.
 
That's good to know Eventerbabe - I'm hoping we can keep him MF free. It's just odd that four horses have all got it this week! Think I might just try applying it after each farrier visit, apparently it is also good for keeping feathers protected and clean. Dont think it can hurt him.

Thanks for link ACW - I have contacted Matt and ordered a 1L trial size, just to patch test and see how I get on.
 
Vasline is good but it can be annoying if it gets in with the mudd.

I wouldn't wash his legs every day, I find the more they get wet the more likly they are to get it.
 
It doesn't surprise me that other horses on the yard all have it, because I presume they are living in similar conditions in their environment :)

Good luck with it though and I'm glad to hear you are doing a patch test, have heard of some really bad reactions to it (the sulphur), but generally, overall, it seems like a good treatment :)
 
As I understand it MF is found in the soil,not transferred from horse to horse.The reason a few have it at your yard could be therefore to do with the environment rather than catching it from each other if that makes sense??

I used to use pig oil and sulphur on my mare who already had grease heel when she came to me,worked fantastically for her.
However I personally wouldn't use it as a preventative measure,simply as it is a messy affair,and some horses can react to the sulphur,so an un-necessary risk and faff about IMO.

For prevention I used to use nettex seven day mud away,on my other horses who lived out 24/7.Not a sniff of mud fever on any of them,even in that really wet winter we had couple of years ago_One of them had white legs and feather as well.Brilliant stuff,just spray it on once a week,takes 2 mins and isn't that expensive either:)
 
devonlass has a good point, using the sulphur as a preventative wouldn't really be worth it. However, you could use the pig oil on its own, its simply mineral oil (runny vaseline) so won't cause any problems and I should imagine it isn't that pricey either. It will form a barrier.
 
Hi Devonlass/Vimto,

yes, like you I assume that the bacteria is in the soil and my thinking is that although Ed has never suffered before might be susceptible given that it's in the soil (and he has white socks/feathers):confused::confused:

The nettex seven day looks good (for all purposes;)), so that will act as a preventative if I spray it all over his feathers and lower leg once a week? I'm guessing if forms a glossy barrier....

Thanks all.
 
vimto92 said:
devonlass has a good point, using the sulphur as a preventative wouldn't really be worth it. However, you could use the pig oil on its own, its simply mineral oil (runny vaseline) so won't cause any problems and I should imagine it isn't that pricey either. It will form a barrier.
Click to expand...

*what she said* That's kind of what I trying to get at lol.The sulphur is what helps the scabs heal etc as I understand it,so bit pointless to use if no actual mud fever/scabs present,that and the mess and possible risks etc would be enough reason for me.

I actually found the pig oil quite expensive TBH as well,so another reason not to use if un-necessary.Have to use quite a lot to get good coverage,and waste a lot as is so messy to apply.If buying it from the internet is even more expensive as postage on a 5 litre container is quite hefty due to weight!! I used to get mine at agricultural supplies shop come the end as worked out cheaper.

Like I said for actually treating mud fever PO&S is brilliant,but if you have no reason to think he will even get it,and just want to lessen risk,then there are cheaper,easier and less risky options:)
 
Thanks Devonlass. Well i have ordered only 1L of PO&S, so not much money. Guess I can keep that as a 'just in case'. Maybe I should therefore try the Nettex 7 day spray...

Thank you. I really dont want him to have MF, as I realise like many things once they've had it there's a tendency for it to return:mad:
 
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