What is this on my cow?

[CricketYang]

Its on the top of both of his eyes and we've just noticed it on his neck as well. It looks like he's scratching himself or something.

He's our only cow (jersey bull calf). Patrick the cow
Less than three mos old
Bottle fed
Grains
Hay
Just banded him about two weeks ago.


**I signed up for backyardherds.com and tried to post the picture on there but the site wouldn't let me because I was too new. :-/

 

[Katy]

Looks like warts....our cattle get them sometimes.

 

[CricketYang]

Is it a life or death thing, or should I just not worry about it? is there anything I can do to treat them? Maybe he's lonely

He's very well taken care of, clean stall, fed as much as he wants and still bottle fed (still don't know when to stop that). I think he may be scratching himself bc one day it was bleeding a bit on the leftside.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
There's not a whole lot you can do about them....and it's not a life or death thing. Most of the time they only show up on the neck and shoulder area. Once in awhile they'll show up as a venereal warts and that can cause problems in breeding stock. They're caused by a virus and usually only affect younger cattle. They usually fall off after a few months. Sometimes when they itch they'll rub on them and cause them to bleed....just watch so he doesn't get a secondary infection.

 

[CricketYang]

Thank you Katy. My SLW looks JUST like the one in your display... except she's molting like crazy and looks like a junkyard chicken

 

[Katy]

You're welcome.

SLWs are great birds.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

You might want to have a skin scraping done. It could be scabies.

 

[tornado8070]

Hello,
Your calf definatly has ringworm. It is contagoius to humans by touch. If you get the little flakes under your fingernails and scratch yourself you run a good chance to get this. If humans get this in there hair it will cause hair loss, sometimes perment. If you have children do not let them touch it. I have had it twice myself and is nothing serious just as long as it is noticed and treated before it gets out of hand. Dont mean to freak you out or anything just make sure you wash hands good when around the little fella. Your vet can get you something to treat the calf. Most times is best to let it run its corse, unless it covers a large part of there body. Occurs in fall and winter when exposure to sunlight is minimal. Most bovine species get this once in there lifetime, but only once. Hope this helps.

 

[glenolam]

I've got to ask....how are you so certain, tornado? I'm having a hard time seeing what the problem actually is from that picture. From what I can see there's nothing abnormal or anything that points to ringworm.

Can you get a closeup of one of the areas?

 

[CricketYang]

Quote:
I can try... Patrick isn't as happy about taking pictures as the chickens are.