Ear Issues - with pics

[Victoria]

Here's the story, it's long. About 3 weeks ago we had a steer who started getting droopy ears and they seemed a little swollen. Had the vet look at him and gave him some antibiotics. He'd never seen the problem in a calf but it was almost like the ear problems that dogs get - especially labs. At that time he put a needle in and got out a blood/clearish liquid mixture. The decision was made not to drain it at that time to keep risk of infection down but we were told if it hadn't gone down in two weeks that the ears should be sliced and drained. So, today was 16 day later and the vet was out. The ears had grown harder. An incision was made with a scalpel and even with freezing it was far more painful than expected. We've had other liquid swellings and after the first cut there is almost a pleased look on the animals face as pressure is released. Not in this case and there was no liquid bursting out - just a lot of blood. So a pair of scissors was inserted into the hole and what came out was fiberous tissue. Wish I had a picture but I didn't have my camera with me and didn't bring it home, went back and the birds had already gotten it. The tissue was thin maybe a 1/16 of an inch but quite strong. The decision was made to only do the one ear since it didn't make the swelling go down. I'll keep him for my freezer as other than his ears he is perfectly healthy. Here's some pictures, it is hard to see but I was wondering if anyone else has seen anything like this. We are going to watch the doctored ear and if the swelling does go down on that one then we might do the other ear. It doesn't seem to cause him any pain being swollen. You can push on it and he doesn't care. The swelling has not entered the ear canal either.

 

[randiliana]

We have a heifer with an ear that looks a lot like that. In her case, it was due to an infection from the tag. I see that this guy has tags in both ears, so could that be what happened? In our case, we removed the tag, and her ear healed up, but it is still really swollen. She is healthy otherwise, and it isn't causing her any pain either. She is destined for our freezer as well, as she is not replacement material.

 

[CWT Angus]

That's really weird. Looks like the hematomas that dogs get when they break a blood vessel in their ear. But that doesn't make sense with the type of tissue that was pulled out. I would have expected only blood. Please keep us updated on his condition.

 

[Victoria]

We have a heifer with an ear that looks a lot like that. In her case, it was due to an infection from the tag. I see that this guy has tags in both ears, so could that be what happened? In our case, we removed the tag, and her ear healed up, but it is still really swollen. She is healthy otherwise, and it isn't causing her any pain either. She is destined for our freezer as well, as she is not replacement material.

The 98 tag was given to him at birth in March. The RFID tag was given about the end of May and the swelling didn't occur until September. We had wondered about some kind of infection but the antibiotics did no good and then when the ear was cut there were no signs of infection.

 

[Victoria]

That's really weird. Looks like the hematomas that dogs get when they break a blood vessel in their ear. But that doesn't make sense with the type of tissue that was pulled out. I would have expected only blood. Please keep us updated on his condition.

I will.

 

[randiliana]

The 98 tag was given to him at birth in March. The RFID tag was given about the end of May and the swelling didn't occur until September. We had wondered about some kind of infection but the antibiotics did no good and then when the ear was cut there were no signs of infection.

We gave antibiotics as well, and her ear is still really swollen up, it never responded either. Probably because the infection was walled off really well. But who knows, it is strange. Here is a pic of our heifer.

 

[Victoria]

The 98 tag was given to him at birth in March. The RFID tag was given about the end of May and the swelling didn't occur until September. We had wondered about some kind of infection but the antibiotics did no good and then when the ear was cut there were no signs of infection.

We gave antibiotics as well, and her ear is still really swollen up, it never responded either. Probably because the infection was walled off really well. But who knows, it is strange. Here is a pic of our heifer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/randiliana/DSC0515

7.jpg

Interesting, but if it was from the tag I don't think it would take 6 months to show up. Yours doesn't look quite as droopy, almost normal. Shame you would take a hit at auction, for no reason. :roll:

 

[hillsdown]

Victoria wrote:

Shame you would take a hit at auction, for no reason. :roll:

The biggest reason they give for docking animals with ear issues is because they think the animal probably had pneumonia especially with our Canadian winters.

 

[Victoria]

Victoria wrote:

Shame you would take a hit at auction, for no reason. :roll:

The biggest reason they give for docking animals with ear issues is because they think the animal probably had pneumonia especially with our Canadian winters.

I can see that for frozen off but not so much for the kind of swelling randiliana's heifer has. It seems they will dock for any excuse they can find. Not that I blame them I guess, they don't have any extra money either. My rolling eyes wasn't really at the buyers, more just the situation of having a perfectly healthy calf that takes a hit because they don't know he/she is perfectly healthy.

I was told that it is also because they think the calf might have suffered some hoof damage. One year I had a steer calf with no ears and a bob tail. The ears were caused by frost bite but the tail was stepped on. Anyhow, he was sorted out before coming in the ring but he was so quiet and just came in and stood still. A few of the buyers stood up and had a real close look at his feet and legs. The bidding went just as high for him as the rest of the steers we sold that day. So maybe there is truth in the statement.

 

[hillsdown]

All I can say Victoria is that my calves that have lost half an ear were usually born in minus 30 conditions and their Moms would not leave them alone so their ears finally froze and broke.

Any animal that has had pneumonia has always kept their ears.WHY???????because they are immediately put in a nice warm barn with lot's of bedding and treated right away.Only when they have recovered 100% are they and their Moms let back out with the rest of the "rift raff"......

So I agree they will dock for any little reason.

Also if sell an animal private treaty I will not sell one that has had pneumonia without disclosing the full medical treatment.

 

[randiliana]

The buyers will dock for any slight imperfection. Most times it is legitimate, but a lot of times, it makes you wonder. I work at the stockyards, so I get to see these 'imperfect' animals up close. When they pull animals out of presorted groups usually they are just being picky. Hair too short, hair too long, too big, too small, too fat, too thin. Some of them just make you wonder, and sometimes I think it is so they can get the right weight for their loads.

 

[Victoria]

All I can say Victoria is that my calves that have lost half an ear were usually born in minus 30 conditions and their Moms would not leave them alone so their ears finally froze and broke.

Any animal that has had pneumonia has always kept their ears.WHY???????because they are immediately put in a nice warm barn with lot's of bedding and treated right away.Only when they have recovered 100% are they and their Moms let back out with the rest of the "rift raff"......

So I agree they will dock for any little reason.

Also if sell an animal private treaty I will not sell one that has had pneumonia without disclosing the full medical treatment.

We have never had a calf get pneumonia before weaning. Hopefully it stays that way. The calves that lose their ears here are typically because I was just too busy to spend much time with them and they were doing well. We got some cozy caps so I am going to try them out this year and see if we have less ear loss.

 

[Victoria]

sometimes I think it is so they can get the right weight for their loads.

Makes sense.

 

[randiliana]

We got some cozy caps so I am going to try them out this year and see if we have less ear loss.

Are those the polar fleece ones? We tried those, and the cows just lick them off. The best thing I have found is an old hockey sock. Just slide it over their head and it holds the ears against the neck. But it does interfere with their balance a bit until they get used to it. Something else we have learned is to avoid tagging them (especially with the cheap ketchum tags) when it is really cold. The tag either interferes with the blood circulation or conducts the cold, maybe both. And they will freeze that ear up to where the tag was.

 

[Victoria]

We don't tag if it is really cold, or really damp. We learned that the hard way. This is the caps we got. They didn't cost too much to give it a try. We actually got them last calving but they came in so late that I only tried it on two - neither of them needed it so I don't know how if they work but I wanted to check them out. One cow took it off, one left it on. Our purebreds should at least mostly be OK with it, they are more used to weird things.
I got them because I had one with really cold ears this year and I didn't have time to stop and take care of it so I took off my own belacava and shoved it on, seemed to work so I bought them their own. I think they should work like a hockey sock. Good idea.

http://www.mcbethshorthorns.com/cozycaps.html

 

[randiliana]

We don't tag if it is really cold, or really damp. We learned that the hard way. This is the caps we got. They didn't cost too much to give it a try. We actually got them last calving but they came in so late that I only tried it on two - neither of them needed it so I don't know how if they work but I wanted to check them out. One cow took it off, one left it on. Our purebreds should at least mostly be OK with it, they are more used to weird things.
I got them because I had one with really cold ears this year and I didn't have time to stop and take care of it so I took off my own belacava and shoved it on, seemed to work so I bought them their own. I think they should work like a hockey sock. Good idea.

http://www.mcbethshorthorns.com/cozycaps.html

Those look pretty good. The ones we tried just went over the ears, they didn't hold the ears against the calf's neck.

 

[Victoria]

Just an update if anyone is reading this. Had the steer in the chute today to have a look at the ear. It was scabbed up and I was told to take off the scab to ensure it didn't need to drain. There was barely any blood and no draining at all. The ear that was done is no smaller than the ear that was not done.

 

[randiliana]

Just an update if anyone is reading this. Had the steer in the chute today to have a look at the ear. It was scabbed up and I was told to take off the scab to ensure it didn't need to drain. There was barely any blood and no draining at all. The ear that was done is no smaller than the ear that was not done.

This is a really strange case, but I guess as long as he is acting healthy, I wouldn't really worry about it too much. Just sucks, that an otherwise healthy animal is unsaleable.

 

[Victoria]

I'm really not worried about his health, unless the swelling goes into the canal, I guess that could happen and be a problem. He has taken to oats real quick and he'll be good to eat anyway. It is weird though, I think when we butcher him I might ask for the ears. I wouldn't mind cutting them open all the way and having a really good look at what is going on with them. Anyway, I will post if anything changes with him over the winter, just in case this ever happens to anyone else.