# Cattle developing "bald spots"



## jode

Hey, I was out watering the cattle last night and noticed that a cow and a 2-year old heifer have little bald spots on them. The cow has several white spots on her face around her eyes that range from very small up to a couple inches across and a few spots that look kinda thin down on her neck. The heifer has a single spot where the skin is still pink, but the hair is gone on her rump/flank area. It looks like what we used to call a "hot spot" on a dog where they had been licking at an itch.

Any thoughts? The cattle seem normal apart from this and this seems like a strange time of year for some kind of insect to be bothering them.


----------



## tinknal

Ringworm?


----------



## tinknal

http://cattletoday.info/ringworm.htm

Here is some info on ringworm.


----------



## jode

Thanks for the thoughts. If it is ringworm, it sounds like:
1: it is fairly harmless
2: it will cure itself

The one thing that has me wondering though is that the spots are not necessarily round like you would expect for ringworm...


----------



## ksfarmer

small spots sound like ringworm. But, larger areas on the neck and rump would be indicative of lice.


----------



## agmantoo

Lice, easily treated. Any farm store should have pesticides to treat. When hot weather eventually arrives the lice will retreat to the underside of the animal and will not be as abundant or observable.


----------



## tinknal

Yeah, probably lice. Lice spots look kind of like moth eaten cloth.


----------



## desertshi

Thanks for this question! lol. I was getting on to post on the same exact issue with one of my heifer calves!!


----------



## willow_girl

Be careful if it's ringworm; I've caught it from cows before. 

Do they seem itchy? Are they scratching themselves on posts, etc.? If so, probably lice. 

Cydectin will take care of it.


----------



## DJ in WA

Please post a photo, preferably several. Hard to picture things from words. Everyone describes things differently.


----------



## jerzeygurl

lice or ringworm


----------



## Cliff

Lice, from how you describe it. This is the time of year you will see hair loss from lice.


----------



## desertshi

Someone asked for pics on this subject. Here is what my girl looks like. You can see the little bald patches on face and chest.


----------



## agmantoo

After seeing the pic I have changed my mind as to those being lice. I do not think those are lice. Instead those are warts IMO.


----------



## desertshi

agmantoo said:


> After seeing the pic I have changed my mind as to those being lice. I do not think those are lice. Instead those are warts IMO.


Wouldn't warts stand out though? These are just circular spots of missing hair! Flush with the body, just like someone ripped the hair out in those spots. 

I have seen what lice infestations look like. That's more like sparsly covered areas where the animal rubs to get the itch! Right? Never almost perfectly circular areas like this. 

Again, this is just my situation. The OP might have something different. But from his post it sounds like it's the same thing.


----------



## agmantoo

Warts will develop and warts will spontaneously leave. The appearance will vary depending on the stage they are in. Notice on top of this animals nose the flatter warts. Your calf even has a flat spot on its nose where lice would not be but does not have many warts. http://www.nadis.org.uk/DiseasesCattle/Warts/Warts in Cattle_files/image002.jpg


----------



## Welshmom

It's not impossible or even unusual for a cow to have more than one thing going on. Those do look like warts to me, but your description of larger patches near her rump may be lice or ringworm. Warts stick up, the other two are flat on the skin. Warts will fall off on their own. Lice should be treated. Ringworm can be difficult to treat, but I just heard of a down-home treatment from a vet that supposedly works - pen a billy goat up with your ringworm cow(s)! Seems funny, and no one knows how it actually works, but they said it did work. However, your cows may stink for a while! LOL


----------

