One of my calves has developed a golf ball size lump on the side of his face. it feels hard to the touch but does not seem to bother him. he is eating good and takes in plenty of fluids and his behaver is fine. any ideas what caused the lump.
lump
- Thread starter rweirich
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Cattle Rack Rancher
Well-known member
Sometimes they'll get an oat or a grass awn or something stuck in there and it will swell up like that. I had one do that a couple of years ago. They get docked pretty heavy when you send them to the sale barn like that.
CUZ
Well-known member
Honestly, I have NO idea. Sometimes some of them just develop those lumps. I look at it like - why did that hair on my _____ (insert name of a body part) develop a blackhead and the others didn't.
I think this probably falls under the category "Stuff Happens"
(Not to say there aren't times that there is a knowable answer.)
I think this probably falls under the category "Stuff Happens"
(Not to say there aren't times that there is a knowable answer.)
Outrigger2
Well-known member
had a calf with a lump like that, and come to find out he was a milk thief and paid the price with a sharp kick in the face by the other cow. ended up lancing the thing. really nasty.
randiliana
Well-known member
We have had trouble with the diptheria/footrot bug (at least that is what our vet's say it is) Depending on what it infects it can cause everything from foot rot to abcesses to ulcers in the mouth. We usually treat any calves that develop lumps (marble to golf ball size)with a couple Sustain III boluses. So far it has worked fairly well and we don't usually have to retreat.
As suggested before though, it could be an abcess caused by a grass awn or some sort of sliver.
As suggested before though, it could be an abcess caused by a grass awn or some sort of sliver.
TheBullLady
Well-known member
Abcess most likely. You can either lance it and let it drain, or leave it alone. As long as the calf is still eating and acting normal, you can watch and see what it does. It may just burst itself eventually.
chetski
Member
May have had the same thing last winter. A stem had worked it's way under the skin. Penned the cow, cleaned area with betadine (since I did not know what I would find), palpated the area then popped it like a zit. Puss and the piece of stem came out: cow unhappy... have a good chute and head gate. Cleaned out with H2O2 on a Q-Tip and turned her loose. Lived happily ever after.
shorty
Well-known member
Take a clean needle and syringe and stick into it and draw back if you get pus then lance it and clean it out, it will heal up that you don't know it was there. I had one that I didn't check first and when I cut it nothing came out it was hard , it healed shut again and went down a little but never went away, that was over 2 years ago she's fine and been raising nice calves, it just looks like she has a chew in her mouth.
I'll add to all this advice since I had a young show bull develope the same thing about a month ago. This lumps or abcesses usually develope in a lymph node just below the jaw, the cause can be one of many things. The result is an infection in the lymph node, it will be hot and rock hard, sometimes the ear will droop slightly, more often than not the animal will act normally and eat as if it doesn't bother it.
At this stage while it still hard you can't really do anything about it, give it time and it will eventually form a soft spot somewhere on the lump and will burst and drain some fluid. At this stage you can squeeze the puss out, it will be very foul smelling and look like cheese spread. Then flush the wound with a 20% hydrogen peroxide that is diluted with and equal part water. Within 10 days all that will be left is a small bald spot.
If you really need it to go away sooner a tetracycline (not oxytetracycline like in LA200) given every day for 5 days should hasten the process, but not without risk. The risk is that the abcess will dry up and leave a permanent knot there.
If you want to lance it, wait till it forms a softer spot and lance it there. No sense in lancing whilst its still hard as a rock, you won't get much out.
At this stage while it still hard you can't really do anything about it, give it time and it will eventually form a soft spot somewhere on the lump and will burst and drain some fluid. At this stage you can squeeze the puss out, it will be very foul smelling and look like cheese spread. Then flush the wound with a 20% hydrogen peroxide that is diluted with and equal part water. Within 10 days all that will be left is a small bald spot.
If you really need it to go away sooner a tetracycline (not oxytetracycline like in LA200) given every day for 5 days should hasten the process, but not without risk. The risk is that the abcess will dry up and leave a permanent knot there.
If you want to lance it, wait till it forms a softer spot and lance it there. No sense in lancing whilst its still hard as a rock, you won't get much out.
