We have a cow with a calf that I noticed has a discoloured udder (red, almost purple). So got it in the crush and on closer inspection its skin is red an irritated almost scabbed near the top of her tail, and losing her hair in places, she is swishing her tail over her back showing its bothering her. Her udder is still working fine and the calf is still suckling OK. She looks down and is standing on her own. We gave her some pen and strep when she was in the crush as we don't have much else. Can anyone help please?
Badly cow
- Thread starter bert
- Start date
- Location
- West Somerset
Sunburn?
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Is the cow white? If so then I agree could be Sun. Keep her in
Well yeah she is blonde, didn't think it would affect the udder that badly, and she was fine last summer!
CharcoalWally
Member
- Location
- West of Scotland
If the cow is very , very uncomfortable bordering on being distressed , then it could be more than just sunburn , she could be photosensitive. It comes from eating a toxic plant of some kind which leads the cow to have a bad reaction to UV light.
You'll know if it's more than sunburn because it leaves the skin as you say looking raw and scabby and if it goes too far they shed big patches of skin. Get the cow under cover and out of the light immediately. Our vet would give cortisone if the cow was really bad.
You'll know if it's more than sunburn because it leaves the skin as you say looking raw and scabby and if it goes too far they shed big patches of skin. Get the cow under cover and out of the light immediately. Our vet would give cortisone if the cow was really bad.
- Location
- Devon
Don't they try and kick their belly with it sometimes as well, they certainly go of on their own usually under a tree in my experience. It doesn't have to be particularly sunny either we have had them in autumn more than once.
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
@FonterraFarmer can you explain this. Do you drench cows with zinc for some kind of toxic thing.?
- Location
- North Somerset.
St John's Wort causes photo sensitivity when eaten by cattle.
RushesToo
Member
- Location
- Fingringhoe
Picture would really help.
Right yeah does sound like that thankyou, I will get her in first thing in the morning!
FonterraFarmer
Member
- Location
- Waikato, New Zealand
Sound like spring eczema, basicaly keep them out of direct sunlight, and I think there is some kind of creme that you can put on. Will come right but could take week , if not months, could also be reoccuring, that you will get the same problem next year or years latter.
Or it could be facial eczema, don't know if you get that up there, more of a problem in the autumn, from spores from a fungus on grasses, that effects the cows liver, if you have clinical symptoms, the animal may recover , but the liver damage is deemed to be perminant, and they tend to get culled or die .. Multi power, zinc sulphate or oxide is used as a preventative measure for the prevention of facial eczema, not a cure, my best advice for bert would be be seek veterinary advise.
- Location
- West Somerset
May have eaten something to make her hypersensitive to sunlight!
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
That's what' I was thinking facial eczema. Don't think we get it here. I never knew of it until I went to new Zealand. I'm thinking the sunlight thing could be similar
- Location
- Devon
As said its best to call the vet cos we haven't seen the cow, but my money is on photosynthesisation or whatever they call it!
- Location
- West Somerset
Had a sandy coloured blonde cow few years ago that started crabbing around very slowly and wouldn't sit down her whole back went crust like and peeled off over a couple of weeks, hair grew back on most of it still has some bald patches now, vets had never seen anything like it, lots of photos taken and sent to various places, the consensus was hypersensitivity to Sunlight, lots of pain relief and undercover for a month, fully recovered though.
Hi, been snooping for a while and just give my 2p's worth. We had something similar a few years back and it turned out to be chronic liver fluke. The vet had neverseen one so bad and stillstanding, she did survive though and a month later you wouldn't have recognised her.
http://www.totallyvets.co.nz/photosensitivity-in-cattle.html
This ties in with what's already been said previously.
Whe n mum and dad moved to their farm 27 years ago, they had quite a few cows get scabby udders and lose all the skin from the white bits. Can't remember what vet said they had eaten, but they were a mess for a while. They looked very similar to this
This ties in with what's already been said previously.
Whe n mum and dad moved to their farm 27 years ago, they had quite a few cows get scabby udders and lose all the skin from the white bits. Can't remember what vet said they had eaten, but they were a mess for a while. They looked very similar to this
- Location
- Yorkshire
Could elderberry or comfrey be a suspect?
CharcoalWally
Member
- Location
- West of Scotland
Yes , agreed @devonshire farmer. Affected cows kick at their underbelly a lot. They flap their ears and toss their head back over their back and shoulders with irritation.
I find that when you get them in to a routine of coming in every day out of the light , some cows will come to the gate looking to get in to the shed out of the light of their own accord , so getting them under cover must make them feel immediately more comfortable. When these cows stop coming to the gate , I take that as a sign that they're well on the mend.
Also agreed it doesn't have to be sunny - it's just the UV that does it - I've seen cows get affected on dull Autumn days.
@Flossie , our vets told us that going on a twice yearly fluke routine could help the cows combat photosensitivity as the liver should be working to it's fullest possible strength. So far so good as the incidence seems to have dropped.