parasitic maggots??

[Linda Draper]

I have a friend who is new to this industry and last week found a new born calf with, what appear to be, maggots in the vaginal area. She cleaned them out and has been bottle feeding the calf as it will not nurse its mother. Does anyone know what these insects could be?

Thanks
Linda

 

[Susie David]

If the worms were on a new born then they are not maggots, the fly has to lay eggs which hatch into maggots...I'd take a sample to the vet along with some feces from the dam.

 

[ollie]

I don't want to be disagreeable but they are maggots. Either your friend didn't know when the calf was born or your definition of newborn is a week old. Perfect time of the year for blowflies. If it is truely newborn like a few hours old then it wasn't maggots they saw.

 

[Linda Draper]

Thanks for the input. It is possible the calf was about a week old. Since posting, the calf expired. I am now wondering if the maggots killed it. Any thoughts?

Linda

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Thanks for the input. It is possible the calf was about a week old. Since posting, the calf expired. I am now wondering if the maggots killed it. Any thoughts?

Linda

I doubt if the maggots(if that's what they were)killed the calf directly. Probably died from an associated severe infection.

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Thanks for the input. It is possible the calf was about a week old. Since posting, the calf expired. I am now wondering if the maggots killed it. Any thoughts?

Linda

YES! Maggots can kill a calf! and in a very short time.
Under the right conditions (intense heat), the fly eggs hatch within minutes of being laid. While the "medicinal" maggots may not damage live flesh, these things release a toxin that kills the flesh so that they can eat it.
I've had healthy CLEAN rabbit kits, killed and consumed in less than 2 hours by maggots. 3 years ago I had a heifer calf that was infested with maggots. The vet saved her with a double dose of Ivomec to kill the maggots that were inside her body.


Ann B

 

[Dana]

How can these maggots be prevented?

How can you tell if they have maggots?

 

[Orerancher]

How can these maggots be prevented?

How can you tell if they have maggots?

This time of year, if calves have manure "caked" under the tail they can get "fly Struck" in a hurry! I calve in the spring, befor the flies get bad as this can be a real problem with Highlands

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

How can these maggots be prevented?

How can you tell if they have maggots?

"Fly Strike" as it is called, is usually pretty dramatic, with the nasty things boiling in whatever opening they've infested.
My heifer calf had so many they were literally falling out of her vagina and rectum.
While the animals can be successfully treated by washing (douching) with soapy water then treating with Ivomec, it is much better to control the flies to begin with.
Since I only have a handful of tame animals, fly control isn't a big deal -- mine wear the red fly tags in their ears (changed every 5 months) and each receive 1 cup of apple cider vinegar in their daily feed. Since I use the milk from my cows, I don't like to use anything that might end up in the milk. Apple cider vinegar works real well "most" of the time, but I will use a dairy-approved fly spray when needed.

Ann B

 

[Medic24]

Ann, tell us what the cider vinager does, or is supposed to do please? :cboy:

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

I really don't know how it works. I've used it for years in the rabbits' drinking water and didn't do a thing for flies, but it did cause a very high percentage of female offspring. I put it in the cattle water and all it did was make a mess. So I've started adding it to the feed -- in the hopes of increasing the chances of female offspring when we breed in a few weeks.
Within a few days I noticed was that the cow that was getting the vinegar wasn't bother with flies while the rest were covered. So I started adding it to the feed for all of them and the difference in the flies is amazing.

App

 

[ollie]

How can these maggots be prevented?

How can you tell if they have maggots?

A calf with maggots in it or on it will stamp their feet , lick their self , switch their tail , etc. Usually they get maggots in their navel , under their tail or on the top of their back. In my experience if the cows do a real good job cleaning the calf then maggots aren't as bad. This time of year though most calves born would be at least a suspect to have blowflies on them , thus the maggots . The only good prevention is not to calve summer months where blow flies are a problem. If you do then make sure the cow cleans them . I always but a small amount of flie spray or Ivermectin on a calf born in late spring or summer and watch the calf close. If they have blow flies on them then maggots will follow. They will kill a calf in short order left untreated.

 

[Ryder]

[/qeach receive 1 cup of apple cider vinegar in their daily feed. Since I use the milk from my cows, I don't like to use anything that might end up in the milk. Apple cider vinegar works real well "most" of the time, but I will use a dairy-approved fly spray when needed.

Ann B

I thought all the apple cider vinegar remedies were just old tales. But someone told me to try it for a sore back , so I gave it a try. I can't say if it helped my back or not, but I have been plagued with acid-reflux. The apple cider vinegar has helped the acid-reflux condition I would guess by 85%. I seldom have to take the otc stuff I was using.

I know this is off topic, but if it helps someone it is worth it.

 

[jt]

i had never heard of this until about a month ago.. a friend i went to visit had about a 2 day old calf that was covered in maggots... he said the blow flys were all over it... he washed her down real good with iodine...

he attributed it to the calf being born in the heat of the day and the cow not cleaning it up quick enough before some of the after birth dried on the calf...

the calf is ok now.

jt

 

[Bama]

From what I have saw with the flies is the ones that are born in the hottest heat are at risk. Expecially if the cow was disturbed during and right after birth. If I have one born during the heat I check on them from a distant. Its better for momma to have pleanty of time and not feel rushed to clean em up.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I had fly strike on a few Highland calves a few years ago, now. Absolutely disgusting. I treated them with Dectomax and although they were sick for awhile afterwards, they made a complete recovery. To be honest when I saw those big, open wounds on their back crawling with maggots, I thought they were done for but the hair even grew back eventually.

 

[Foxx]

We had a sheepherder come by our place once--grazing on the range. He left behind a ewe that was nearly dead. She couldn't walk because the maggots had eaten into her leg. He left her for dead. (Really irritating that he'd just leave her to die near our house!) Probably she was torn by a coyote. The gash was about 6" x 4" and then bottom and top were farther in than your fingers could reach.

So I took some hydrogen peroxide to it. I washed her wound time and time and time again with the hydrogen peroxide. It was deep and a huge gash with the skin all loose and all kinds of maggot poison (yellow) in it and at least a finger's length under the skin where you couldn't see anything. As I poured it on, the maggots died like they were already dead. The ones that were wiggling, one dose of hydrogen peroxide, and that instant, they didn't move again. I washed her way up inside with the peroxide, rinsing and rinsing until no maggots came out. It took about an hour, and it was really sickening. I cleaned out the dead muscle (they had eaten her) and we kept it covered with a vaseline-like substance to keep the flies off. They didn't want to go back on anyway since the taste of hydrogen peroxide was not to their liking. About a week, and it was healing just fine.

I think we also gave her a shot of penicillin and one again the next day. The vet said we'd probably lose her. Everybody told me to just shoot her because she would die. And the sheepherder gave her up for dead.

He left her for dead. But she didn't die. She lived. We took her to the sale about three months later, and she brought a good price. Nice ewe if you like sheep.

If you use this stuff, don't continue to use it after you get the wound clean unless there are maggots in the wound (then you didn't do a good job). Hydrogen peroxide keeps a wound open and slow to heal. You don't want to keep using it. Great for infection too.

 

[J-CCCC]

One of those 2 cent comments. When I was a fingerling I had a couple of calves . One of them got maggots in the navel area. My Ag teacher advised me to dig out those I could and fill the cavity with tar. Did it and there was no problem from then on.

Now when we casterate we spray the wound with a aerosol can containing tar.

Isn't it remarkable the similarity after some 50-plus years.

Jay

 

[Foxx]

I'd forgotten about that. I agree that it is remarkable. We try all kinds of new stuff that doesn't work half as good as the old stuff did, and it costs 4 times as much!

Kay

 

[frenchie]

One of those 2 cent comments. When I was a fingerling I had a couple of calves . One of them got maggots in the navel area. My Ag teacher advised me to dig out those I could and fill the cavity with tar. Did it and there was no problem from then on.

Now when we casterate we spray the wound with a aerosol can containing tar.

Isn't it remarkable the similarity after some 50-plus years.

Jay

Pine tar is amazing stuff..I used that on a cow that came home with a coyote snare..I flushed the maggots out, cleaned out the rotten stuff , filled the wound up with pine tar . Then gave her a wicked dose of La200. She healed up good.