Ringworm?
- Thread starter TLM1988
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I've never had ringworm that bad but generally sunshine & time and it eventually goes away.
I had an outbreak last year and the bald, crusty spots have completely cleared - you can't even tell which cows had it.
Oh yes this is ringworm, we get it a lot in our parts due to the mild damp seasons we have here with a ton of rain. We deal with it every year. You should treat him with a pour on dewormer. When it gets this bad, because this is actually a pretty bad case, I actually put used motor oil on the spots to suffocate it. You can google about it. You'll read mixed reviews but our old vet swore by it and it works. With a mix of dewormer, oil on the spots and keeping him dry and letting this dry out it will clear up. If you have any other cows around him, they probably have it to. You have to treat your whole herd.
TLM1988 said:
Its amazing how much it travels. I can have cows 10 acres apart and they will all still get it. It's one of those things that often if you have it at your farm everyone's got it. But, I would only thoroughly treat this one cow. I would just use a pour over dewormer on the rest of the bunch. Ring worm is not a big deal though. Some people just let it run its course but once it gets around the eyes like your cow has it I step in with a better treatment plan. But this is all the fun of having cows haha.
Buck Randall
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Despite its name, ringworm is a fungus. Dewormer has no direct effect on it. Lots of people have home remedies, but it will go away around the same time whether you treat it or not.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
I was laughing so I am glad you posted before me. I shouldn't laugh. There are others that associate ring "worm" with a parasite. The only time anyone needs to worry about it, is if you need to get health papers/ go to shows.Buck Randall said:
"Normally", once they get it, they don't ever get it again. Just let it run it's course. If you feel like you "need" to do something, keep vaseline on it to smother the fungus.
Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
The few times that any of my animals had it, I found benign neglect to work out just as well. Same treatment for warts.
Generally it bothers the people/owner more than it does the animal. Most "treatments" make the person feel better as it gives them the sense that they are "doing something" to cure it.
Give it time.
Generally it bothers the people/owner more than it does the animal. Most "treatments" make the person feel better as it gives them the sense that they are "doing something" to cure it.
Give it time.
I didn't buy him for showing.. my wife seen it on Craigslist and her eyes lit up.. I run a stocker operation and have never dealt with a dairy breed!! He's as gentle as the day is long.. I've been really cautious not to let my boys hand feed him.. Don't see much ringworm around these parts.. lessons learned kinda thing
Workinonit Farm said:
Just as an experiment I tried one of the numerous "remedies" suggested for ringworm last year on one cow. She didn't heal any faster and you still can't tell the difference between her and the other cows (and a number of calves) that got it last year. Yup. Walk away. That said, I've also never treated for warts and currently have 2 cows that had it as heifer calves and they have them again. Hmmmm. But still not doing anything, just watching & waiting.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Yes. The skin should be soft now also.
Buck Randall said:
BINGO Buck! Don't waste your money on dewormer. As wet as we've been the last two years, it can spread REALLY easy. Last year we had a pretty bad breakout in our sale steers about 30d prior to sale. I normally wouldn't have treated, but they would've gotten rejected with active RW at shipping time. For the ones that were going to be pretty obvious (large rings golf ball sized or larger) I used some anti-fungal cream. Got some funny looks buying that many tubes of "cream" at the store, but no worse than buying several bottles of KY when we ran out of lube with about 40 heifers left to breed. Needless to say, in 30d most was cleared up and had hair growing back though the affected areas. All made the sale...Some MIGHT have had an extra dose of iodine spray as they were in the loading chute, just for insurance!
