Heifer with warts

Help Support CattleToday:

Moved the heifers back close yesterday so we could pull the bull out, then this morning when separating bulls, got this one in the barn to pull a few warts.
She is one of two from the group of 19 that had warts. The other one just had a few and they have cleared up. I usually don't worry about warts as they don't typically get this bad, but this one is one that may get sold and don't want warts on her like that. Just cut a couple and sprayed fly spray on them.View attachment 7708View attachment 7709
Cut a piece of wart off and inject it back into the animal. It works. Smash it up real fine and mix it with a sterile solution and use a fat needle so it can pass through . Maybe inject another shot of sterile solution to make sure it's not hung up in the needle. Another method is to take a wire brush and scratch over the wart and the skin beside it until you are scratching broken wart into broken skin. You just have to get the wart inside the body/blood? (Idk) I've also seen it given down the throat with a bolus gun. This seems to work too, although it is counterintuitive if you think about it as needing to get in the bloodstream. Not sure if this is possible through the digestive track but maybe. I don't know the science behind any of it very well but it does work. I think it's just a herpes virus like most other warts. The way ive had it described to me, this is like a DIY vaccine. I guess when the existing warts go away, no new ones grow back. It may even knock the existing ones out, idk... I've never watched them that closely afterward but they do seem to not get any worse and then go away maybe between a couple weeks and a couple months. Also they are contagious and other cattle may get them and u may have to do the same with them.

I know... I know... if this works why doesn't it work with genital herpes in people? Also maybe this is just an old wives tale and the real cure is time....

Try it if you want to and be your own judge. I was skeptical at first too, but based on my experience since trying it multiple times, I believe in it. Good luck!
Also ear tag cutters work pretty good for cutting warts off . Not that you would want to cut that many off.... but if there are just one or two it will get them off quick. Also safer than trying to do it with a pocket knife while they are slinging their head.
 
Cut a piece of wart off and inject it back into the animal. It works. Smash it up real fine and mix it with a sterile solution and use a fat needle so it can pass through . Maybe inject another shot of sterile solution to make sure it's not hung up in the needle. Another method is to take a wire brush and scratch over the wart and the skin beside it until you are scratching broken wart into broken skin. You just have to get the wart inside the body/blood? (Idk) I've also seen it given down the throat with a bolus gun. This seems to work too, although it is counterintuitive if you think about it as needing to get in the bloodstream. Not sure if this is possible through the digestive track but maybe. I don't know the science behind any of it very well but it does work. I think it's just a herpes virus like most other warts. The way ive had it described to me, this is like a DIY vaccine. I guess when the existing warts go away, no new ones grow back. It may even knock the existing ones out, idk... I've never watched them that closely afterward but they do seem to not get any worse and then go away maybe between a couple weeks and a couple months. Also they are contagious and other cattle may get them and u may have to do the same with them.

I know... I know... if this works why doesn't it work with genital herpes in people? Also maybe this is just an old wives tale and the real cure is time....

Try it if you want to and be your own judge. I was skeptical at first too, but based on my experience since trying it multiple times, I believe in it. Good luck!
We've done the same thing in the past. Rip a couple off and shove them down her throat. Vet says it triggers a response for the animal to kill all the other warts and yes it worked like a charm
 
Also ear tag cutters work pretty good for cutting warts off . Not that you would want to cut that many off.... but if there are just one or two it will get them off quick. Also safer than trying to do it with a pocket knife while they are slinging their head.
We just use pliers and pull 'em off, root an all. Small ones, just a fingernail can scratch 'em off, but be sure to wash afterwards. It IS a virus which causes warts
 
I've never seen warts that bad and for some reason it's usually heifers that always gets warts. Most times they get it because once 1 gets them they all do because they are sharing the same water and feeding areas or in places they are in close quarters and rub up against each other so it spreads easily. If they have been out to pasture though that is just bizzare as most of our wart problems were when we showed cattle over 20 years ago and the heifers would be up around the barn instead of the pasture. Even when we weren't showing it was mostly a spring issue with the replacement heifers before we turned them out on pasture for the summer.

Just pull off any dried up ones that you can. They will bleed a bit but the more you pull off the quicker they heal up. Not much you can do otherwise. Your vet may have some fungicide cream that will shorten the healing time but the best thing is just pull off all the warts you can and let them heal naturally and they will clear up on their own.
 
I had one this year that was that bad. I ordered the vaccine because the vet recommended it but it took months to come in. I cut a few off and put them in a balling gun, pushed them down her throat but it didn't seem to help. Then, one day, 90% of the warts fell off. Literally, like within 3-4 days they all fell off. She is 99% clean now and the vaccine arrived at the store. I rejected it.
 
I had one heifer with bad warts this year, noticed them in late spring, they were pretty bad all summer, she's pretty much only got one big one left and it's reducing in size now
 
I get one or two heifers that get them every year, but track our cows and calves and have never seen a heifer from a cow that had warts as a heifer so don't think it's hereditary. I have also noticed they tend to come on about 30 days after being bangs vaccinated, so we asked the Vet and he said it can cause warts in some calves. Never had warts on a steer, so maybe there is some fact to it..Idk. However we use to pull or twist them off so they would bleed and fall off, but a couple years ago a guy said to spray "Fluid Film" on the warts. I laughed but curiosity got the better of me, but I be danged if after 3-4 weeks (sprayed twice) the warts were either all gone or a just a small one or two left that were just barely visible. That's all I use now..not sure why it works but it does. Actually kinda fizzes and turns some of them black..Idk why..🤷
 
I get one or two heifers that get them every year, but track our cows and calves and have never seen a heifer from a cow that had warts as a heifer so don't think it's hereditary. I have also noticed they tend to come on about 30 days after being bangs vaccinated, so we asked the Vet and he said it can cause warts in some calves. Never had warts on a steer, so maybe there is some fact to it..Idk. However we use to pull or twist them off so they would bleed and fall off, but a couple years ago a guy said to spray "Fluid Film" on the warts. I laughed but curiosity got the better of me, but I be danged if after 3-4 weeks (sprayed twice) the warts were either all gone or a just a small one or two left that were just barely visible. That's all I use now..not sure why it works but it does. Actually kinda fizzes and turns some of them black..Idk why..🤷
Interesting! That's generally when my heifers get them. Never the weaned calves while I still have them and I usually have the vet out to BANGS/pelvic measure the heifers at 11 months; they seem to show up a few months later (or at least that's when I notice them). I almost always have a couple that get them but this year is the first year in ages they're all clear. So far. I've never had one get them this late in the year.
 

Latest posts

Top