fly and coughing problems

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I have a shorthorn calf who is coughing and is covered with flies. She is being wormed with Ivomec, sprayed with Bronco fly spray with citronella scent, and I use a roll on fly repellar on her eyes and nose. I also spray the walkway infront of her pen with Bronco fly spray and liquid seven. She has a bad habit of licking her back once she is sprayed, and I don't want to effect her immune sysem. Am I causing her cough? Should I stop use of the insect repllants? Am I just being paranoid? How else could I controll the fly problem without hurting her (the flys are in her eyes a lot, but I am trying to use a fly mask made for horses)?

 

[Beefy]

put some pour-on ivomec on her at her shoulder where she cant lick it. it should keep the flies off for several weeks. may take a day or so to work but usually i see the flies that land on it die immediately. dont know about the coughing, i know pretty much any chemical/pesticide makes me cough but that could be psychological. i guess youve ruled out pneumonia, dust, dusty feed, dusty bedding, etc?

 

[tapeworm]

She might be coughing from all of that chemical junk your using to "help" her...put a gas mask on her and see if that helps

 

[[email protected]]

I put fresh shavings in her pen about one week ago because she is a show cow. She has always been on shavings, but they have never caused her to cough before. Is it possible that they could be causing the problem now?

 

[msscamp]

What kind of shavings? Pine or cedar?

P.S. My experience with Bronco fly spray is that you may as well be spraying water. If you want something that will drop the flies, get online and find a Pirahna dealer. It's expensive (about 45.00/half gallon), but it WORKS!

 

[Beefy]

are they the same kind of shavings? what quality? real dusty this time? is she confined all the time? if not, does she cough when shes out? might be worth looking into.

 

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The shavings that she is on are slightly fine-cut, but they are the same shavings that I have been using on her since I got her. They must be of fairly good quality because we use the same kind at my school show. When I let her out she didn't cough, but I only let her out for a small amout of time for exercise. I want to discontinue some use of pesticides, and I wanted to know if a fly mask made for horses is a good alternatative?

 

[Beefy]

i dont know.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

nonooktowa i'm using "ravap" for fly control i mist them ever 3 or 4 weeks and also use a rub for them to rub around on. it works great. why not let her out of the pen>?
bif

 

[TheBullLady]

I don't think you can get a horse fly mask to fit property on a heifer. If you think about it, their heads are shaped totally different. And a fly mask needs to be right against the skin, or you'll get flies IN the mask.

I would also get a cattle type fly repellent. Bronco has never worked for me either.

 

[certherfbeef]

Since she is a show heifer, all that junk you put on her will come off when you rinse her.
I'd hazard a guess that all the stuff you are using is the reason for the cough, like the rest of the folks told you.

 

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Thanks a lot guys. Currently she has stopped most of the coughing. I have tried to hold off on the pesticides. The pour-on Ivomec has really helped out a lot.

 

[Beefy]

i'm glad. it should keep them under control for several weeks.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Sometimes they caugh a lot when they are carrying a heavy load of "worms". So the dewormer might have been needed.

 

[Muratic]

I have a shorthorn calf who is covered with flies. She is being wormed with Ivomec, sprayed with Bronco fly spray with citronella scent, and I use a roll on fly repellar on her eyes and nose. I also spray the walkway infront of her pen with Bronco fly spray and liquid seven.

she is a show cow.

I'm lost. You are in Texas. You have this show cow cooped up in the barn all day. You use WAY too much chemical.

Why not just run a fan or 2???????

 

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I do run a fan all of the time (morning, day, and night). It hasn't helped at all on its own (until I used the pour-on Ivomec). I don't let her out very often because I keep her at my school ag barn and they only have a small exercise area (under 20 feet in diameter). Plus the ag teachers always keep it mowed. There is a larger field that we are supposed to be able to use, but my ag teacher leased it out to a student with two newborn calves. Due to this, I have very limited space. I would love to let her out because I don't like to keep her cooped up, but I really have no other choice. I do let her out to exercise everyday as much as I can.