Manure On The Tail.

[cornstalk]

Hello gang:

As a few of you may know, I'm pail feeding about 20 hd of 375-500lb calves. The group is doing fantastic, having worked their way up to eating an average of 8.75lbs of corn, 1lb of protien, and appx 5-8lbs of hay apiece/per day.

My concern is for 2-3 calves who were added a little later to the group. They likely recieved a little too much corn the first week, and developed scours until they were fully adjusted to the feed. (My own fault, they should have probably been penned seperately, and brought up to feed more gradually.) Anyway, they have long since adjusted, and scours havent been an issue for quite sometime. During the time they were a little loose in the rear end, they developed an accumulation of manure on their tails. I really didnt worry about it, assuming it would dry up and fall off. It's been 6-8 weeks now and if anything, they have probably accumulated a little more. These calves are quite tame, and several times while their heads have been in the bunk, I've tried to scrape some of this off, only to find it is REALLY attached.

I'm now concerned about our soon frigid temperatures. Temps will soon be in the teens during the night, and I'm afraid they might freeze off their tails.

Anybody have any insight on this one?

Thank you. :cboy:

 

[farmer rich]

You should remove any hard manure from their tails. When it forms a hard ball around the tail it can stop the circulation and the tail can fall off.

 

[MikeC]

You should remove any hard manure from their tails. When it forms a hard ball around the tail it can stop the circulation and the tail can fall off.

I wouldn't remove the manure from the tail. I would just go ahead and cut their tails off with a chainsaw at the base and be done with the problem once and for all. ;-)

 

[msscamp]

I don't know Mike, seems a bit drastic to me! :lol:

 

[Scotty]

Dairy farmers do it all the time around here. not real sure if they use a chain saw. I would not worry to much. You might remove the crap if you are selling the animal or dispencing advice to people trying to help others. You know, that neighborly thing.


Scotty

 

[Farmhand]

You do want to remove the manure. Don't blame it all on the scours. Our holstein bucket calves always seem to get those balls of manure on their tails too. Their tails will fall off if you don't remove them. Also they have a dickens of a time swatten flies with them too. They are very hard to remove. Pull them off anyway you can. Quite a bit of hair will come off too. Hubby has even used pliers to bust the chunks up some so they can be removed. We do ours at feeding time. Easier if they are busy with their heads in the bunk. Takes time and persistance.

 

[SF]

In the past 30 years I can't recall a single cow on my place having her tail fall of because of having manure on it. However if you are really concerned about it and you don't feel like washing it out, why not use a pair of electric clippers and simply shave the hair off underneath the manure. Might be better than pulling the hair out.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about . Most of mine how manure on their tails. Now I have to worry about their tails falling off. One more thing I've got to worry about now. Thanks folks.

 

[Ryder]

You should remove any hard manure from their tails. When it forms a hard ball around the tail it can stop the circulation and the tail can fall off.

I wouldn't remove the manure from the tail. I would just go ahead and cut their tails off with a chainsaw at the base and be done with the problem once and for all. ;-)

Mike, that is pretty extreme. :stop: I would use a hacksaw or dehorners. If she gets to jumping around that chainsaw could put you in the same fix madbeancounter is in :!:

 

[dun]

Dairys that wack pff the tails do it for convenience when milking in parallel parlors since you have to work between the hind legs.
Some cattle are just lazy $hitters and don;t raise thir tails, Big deal.......

dun

 

[ctlbaron]

Farmhand gave the exact description I was going to give. I use channel locks to break through the hard balls that develop on their tails from time to time.

 

[Ryder]

You should remove any hard manure from their tails. When it forms a hard ball around the tail it can stop the circulation and the tail can fall off.

I wouldn't remove the manure from the tail. I would just go ahead and cut their tails off with a chainsaw at the base and be done with the problem once and for all. ;-)

Mike, that is pretty extreme. :stop: I would use a hacksaw or dehorners. If she gets to jumping around that chainsaw could put you in the same fix madbeancounter is in :!:

Just joking.

 

[semen demon]

I grew up in the upper midwest. Lots of our cows had these wads of manure on thieir tales, they all still had their tales in the spring. Don't worry about it, dun called the spaid a spaid, "lazy shitters", couldn't have said it better.

 

[Susie David]

Be sure to wear your work gloves...
If the clumps bother you or they are balling up all around the tail then have-at-it when they are at the feed bunk. Sometimes it's the things that give us piece of mind that we do because it just feels right. Go ahead and clean them tails. Come to think of it, that would be one to put on the son-in-law's to-do-list except that our cows keep a pretty high tail when they need to.
More that I think about it, the better the task sounds...wouldn't want to have a tail frozen to the rump...
Good luck and happy tails to you, till we meet again....
Dave Mc

 

[Farmhand]

I wasn't referring to just a little accumulation of manure. Nor was it at the base of the tail. I'm talking about large accumulations from mid-tail to the tip. Mostly happens to younger calfs. They seem to spend more time lying down and are not to picky where they choose to lay down. These balls of manure keep growing and growing everytime they lay down. Also tends to be worse with colder weather. Biggest problem is if the area stays damp underneath. The skin develops sores and infection and maggots set in. Left untreated the tail will rot off. Also possible to lead to sickness in the animal. The other reason to remove is for the comfort of the animal. Have seen some reach the size of softballs. This is painful to have to swat flies with.

 

[MikeC]

I don't know Mike, seems a bit drastic to me! :lol:

Yeah, you are right. If they sell them by the lb., cutting the tails off would hurt the bottom dollar. Sorry.......bad idea. ;-)

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

And just imagine all that great oxtail soup that wouldn't be as available in the future!

 

[Anonymous]

I HAVE HEARD IT MEANS THEY HAVE WORMS. WORMING THEM TOOK IT OFF OUR CALVES.

 

[tripleS]

I have deffinatly seen it happen. I was one of those that said a baseball size ball of manure half way down on the tail wouldn't hurt anything. Then one of my best heifer's tails fell off. Didn't make her any worse of a cow but still makes me sick when I see her trying to swat flies.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

is this **** for real? :shock:

 

[Wilson_Cattle_Company]

:shock:

ROFL

I hope not!!

Looks like you and I would have our work cut out for us de-shi##ing tails! ;-)