Post by blaithin on Feb 5, 2014 21:21:11 GMT -5
So I'm sure most of you have read somewhere my tribulations with MamaCoo and the dastardly Magpies. For some reason, most likely lice, they started to peck her and eventually drew blood. Once there was blood they really went to town and she became a walking smorgasbord. Originally it was on her back right behind her shoulder blades. She couldn't even escape them by going in the barn as they'd just follow her so I found an old summer horse blanket a roommate had left behind and put that on her. It worked well except it wasn't long enough to cover her bum as well since it ended about a foot up from her tail head. After about a week of not having a back to eat, the Magpies went for her tail head instead and picked all along the side.
I tried everything from Blue Kote to treat to Pine Tar to prevent them from picking more. Nothing would stop them for more than a few days at a time and then they'd come back with a vengeance so I went and got MamaCoo a snazzy new blanket more her size (it was the biggest the store had but it could definitely be a bit bigger!) The best part is, IT HAS A TAIL FLAP! The best sound to hear was the angry squacking of a thwarted Magpie that couldn't reach it's snack, although they paid me back by pooping on her new blanket.
Here's a shot of MamaCoo in her new fashion trend.
![](https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1546411_10152142581435664_1845471214_n.jpg)
Since the blanket has been successful in keeping the Magpies away I've begun treating her poor raw bum. While I do have Blue Kote I prefer to go homeopathic whenever possible. Since there isn't a huge rush to heal now and there's no sign of infection I decided to treat MamaCoo with Lavender oil instead. I've had good success using this on my own small cuts and scrapes and wanted to see how it did on something this size. I must say it's doing a very satisfying job and smells good too![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
This photo is an image of MamaCoo's bum picked area the day I started treatment. I forgot to put my hand in as a size reference but she's a Holstein to her bum is rather large. The entire area was probably at least the size of my whole hand.
![](http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj590/EarEigna/CA385E00-180C-46C5-8345-25E9C5BCB2BE_zpsbjxuyvr2.jpg)
This photo is one week later. It's in the dark since I wanted to do photos at weekly intervals but when I'm at work I never see the animals unless it's dark. Still, you can see how it's dried it out very well and already started regenerating a tonne of new skin, especially in the middle area! I just hope her hair comes back or the birds may remember how yummy she tastes...
![](http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj590/EarEigna/61D33B0D-5D0F-4D9D-B464-D01A7844E40F_zpsx01mcmst.jpg)
Hopefully it will be just about completely healed AND have hair on it by summer. Fingers crossed once food is easier to find and the scab isn't so obvious the Magpies will be content to not bother the old girl. The spot on her back that was originally about the same size has healed well and is now only about the size of a loonie and looks more like ringworm.
I'll try and continue to update this weekly to see the progress made![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
I tried everything from Blue Kote to treat to Pine Tar to prevent them from picking more. Nothing would stop them for more than a few days at a time and then they'd come back with a vengeance so I went and got MamaCoo a snazzy new blanket more her size (it was the biggest the store had but it could definitely be a bit bigger!) The best part is, IT HAS A TAIL FLAP! The best sound to hear was the angry squacking of a thwarted Magpie that couldn't reach it's snack, although they paid me back by pooping on her new blanket.
Here's a shot of MamaCoo in her new fashion trend.
![](https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1546411_10152142581435664_1845471214_n.jpg)
Since the blanket has been successful in keeping the Magpies away I've begun treating her poor raw bum. While I do have Blue Kote I prefer to go homeopathic whenever possible. Since there isn't a huge rush to heal now and there's no sign of infection I decided to treat MamaCoo with Lavender oil instead. I've had good success using this on my own small cuts and scrapes and wanted to see how it did on something this size. I must say it's doing a very satisfying job and smells good too
![:)](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
This photo is an image of MamaCoo's bum picked area the day I started treatment. I forgot to put my hand in as a size reference but she's a Holstein to her bum is rather large. The entire area was probably at least the size of my whole hand.
![](http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj590/EarEigna/CA385E00-180C-46C5-8345-25E9C5BCB2BE_zpsbjxuyvr2.jpg)
This photo is one week later. It's in the dark since I wanted to do photos at weekly intervals but when I'm at work I never see the animals unless it's dark. Still, you can see how it's dried it out very well and already started regenerating a tonne of new skin, especially in the middle area! I just hope her hair comes back or the birds may remember how yummy she tastes...
![](http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj590/EarEigna/61D33B0D-5D0F-4D9D-B464-D01A7844E40F_zpsx01mcmst.jpg)
Hopefully it will be just about completely healed AND have hair on it by summer. Fingers crossed once food is easier to find and the scab isn't so obvious the Magpies will be content to not bother the old girl. The spot on her back that was originally about the same size has healed well and is now only about the size of a loonie and looks more like ringworm.
I'll try and continue to update this weekly to see the progress made
![:)](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)