FREE EQUINE
VETERINARY ADVICE
Over the past five years, vet Stephen Ashdown has written many
articles, spoken on equine matters and contributed widely to horse
magazines.
Here he reproduces
in the form of questions and answers about 100 topics, all of
them common problems which afflict horses.
To access
Topics click on Vet Advice Menu.
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Magpies
are Pecking at my Horse
Q My 30-Year old Mare kept coming in from the field with small wounds
on her, not big enough to be done by another horse.

Imagine
my horror when I saw my mare lying in the field, where she sleeps
very soundly, with magpies pecking at her.She
has now had wounds to the bulbs of her heels, under her tail and,
most recently, to the whorl of her star. Have you heard of this
happening before and is there anything I can do to prevent them
doing this to her?
A As
you know, magpies can be quite aggressive and assertive birds. Horses
and other animals will tolerate birds giving them a peck, particularly
if it is to help get rid of ticks and other parasites.
However, this
situation does sound like it is getting out of hand. It may be that
if your old horse did not sleep so well and had a bit more liveliness
she would not allow the birds to get away with this so much. You
could try giving your horse a 'pick-up' product.
Alternatively, try keeping your mare with other horses that will
not tolerate the magpie problems.
If your
question has not been covered adequately in the Vet Advice Topic
Section, please feel free to start a thread in the Forum, and -
time permitting - Stephen will endeavour to answer your question.
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