ABSTRACT

Skin disease should be suspected when presented with any of alopecia, erythema, coat staining, skin thickening, crusting, hyperkeratosis, swellings, discharge and excessive grooming or other signs of pruritus. Historical factors that are of particular interest are number and age affected, current or recent environment, and type of animal. Fibre problems range from fibres breaking, either on the animal or during processing, to complete shedding of the fleece. Demodectic mange is a sporadic problem, mainly affecting growing kids, and not of great economic significance. Zinc deficiency is probably more common than generally recognised, particularly in pygmy goats. Psoroptic mange infestation is usually limited to the ear canal and referred to colloquially as ear mange. Samples obtained by direct swab, fine needle aspirate or skin biopsy can all be used to isolate infectious agents. Biopsy is performed under local anaesthesia, ideally by infiltrating some distance from the biopsy site.