# Fly Strike: Calf With Maggots



## Farmer Jayne (Oct 21, 2013)

I think we have a handle on this problem, but I decided to run a thread on it anyway. It looks like it's going to be a hot, wet summer, and the flies are going to be bad. This is a problem that's easier to treat if you can be on the lookout for it and catch it early.

One of our cows had a calf that was a little premature (exactly 9 months and 3 days after her last). He made it up and nursed at first, but by day 3 was looking weak. For some reason (that we will ascertain and deal with today or tomorrow) his mom, who was attentive, licking and talking to him, would not let him nurse. I brought him home and started him on goat's milk. He was very small, under 20 pounds, and just bones. He took the bottle well, drank about a pint. 
Fast forward three days. He's taking just over a pint 3 times a day. Not looking so skinny, but not becoming stronger or more energized. Poop is a nice mustard yellow, not too runny. However, I noticed a white, almost powdery substance on his tail. It looked like the cottony powder you get when you rip a white towel to make a rag. Weird description, I know, but that's what I thought when I saw it. If I had known what to look for I could have fixed this before it got so bad. I shrugged it off. The next day I realized what I was looking at was maggots. So gross. It takes a lot to gross me out, but live maggots on a living creature? Yikes! Looking more closely, his entire anus was filled with maggots, and he had a wound? just above it, under his tail. 
I treated him with Ivomec pour on. Not sure if it would kill the maggots, but knew it would kill the flies. I had noticed bottle flies around him when I found him in the pasture, which was strange. They are usually around dead things, so it should have been a red flag. Then we flushed everything with hydrogen peroxide, then dilute iodine, then put on a sulfa based wound powder. I'll post the name of it later. It's out at the calf pen right now. 

This is a link to a site that explains what flystrike is:

http://www.leawhitefarms.com/flystrikeandmaggots.htm

I don't know if the wound under his tail was there first, or if the maggots created it. It's a strange place for a wound, or even a congenital fistula, so I'm thinking maggots. The article states,
" While they do not feed on living tissue, like the screwworm, the inflammation and irritation that they cause contributes to necrosis or death of the tissue they are on".

I'll post an update later to let you all know how he's doing. I didn't know that this could happen. Freaked me out. But now I know, and know that it's fairly common in weather like this. Definitely Ivomec for all the cows on the field to help cut back on the number of flies.


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## Redd89 (Jun 27, 2016)

Oh wow. I've never actually seen this, myself, nor a 20 pound live calf. The ivermectin was definitely a good idea. I would make sure everything where you have him is clean and dry and also give him a huge dose of penicillin. Remember, you can't overdose on it, but you can definitely under dose. And keep rinsing it out with iodine. That's what we do when we have infections in our cattle, and they seem to get over it pretty fast. I hope everything turns out well for the calf.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

You should probably run this idea and the use of these products by your vet and also ask about administering antibiotics.

If you have some Povidone Solution (1% iodine, I think), dilute it with some warm water and clean out the maggots. Yes, I know it's disgusting, but get them off and out of that calf. If you're not sure how to do it, ask your vet how. You may have to do this several times to get them all. 

Have you got some Nolvasan Ointment? A very light coating can be put on the sore, and I think it's very soothing.

Then get some SWAT, and put that AROUND the sore to keep flies away. 

You may have to do this several times. And, of course, the calf's mother will probably lick everything off.

Some fly sprays are okay to use on cows, but check to be sure.

I just finished doing all this on a large donkey with a lot of hair. It rained almost all of May, then high temperatures, and then I discovered the maggots on her knee under thick hair. Had to clip as much as I could and am still using fly spray everyday. The flies are unbelievable here. I think I hate summer.


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## Farmer Jayne (Oct 21, 2013)

G. Seddon, thanks for your advice. It was kind and well thought out, but obviously TLDR, lol. If you have a teenager around ask him what it means.

Here are some pictures:
The first one is this one's sister from last year. She was premature, couldn't stand, was blind. Here she is a couple of days old and can walk.
The second one is the same cow now. She is 9 months old and doing well. She can see just fine. I'll probably make her a milk cow if she gets big enough to breed safely.
The last picture is this new calf. He's doing much better. Drank almost 2 pints this morning. 

Their mother obviously is not a good producer. We'll probably move her on down the line soon.


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

Could the other problems (calves not standing and weak,preemie,blind)have been caused by a selenium and or other mineral deficiency ?


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## Farmer Jayne (Oct 21, 2013)

Ufo chris, while a deficiency in minerals, especially Selenium, is always something to consider, I don't think it's the cause in this case. This seems to be happening just to this one cow. We've had many other calves, sired by this same bull, out of cows on this same pasturage, and they were all fine. This bull does throw blessedly small calves, but these too weak, very tiny calves are not the norm. I know that there was only 9 months and 3 days between this little fella and his sister. While I don't know exactly when she was bred, I would think that it was probably a couple of weeks or so after giving birth, and I am looking at about an 8 month calf.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Years ago I had a calf with maggots. Acting on advice, I mixed some household ammonia with a couple of gallons of water, slipped up behind the calf, and threw a bucket of the mixture on the affected area. It worked fine. I don't remember if I used a second application or not.

COWS


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

This works like a charm for fly strike (well, it has for us):

Screw Worm Spray

We always have some on hand, though it is awfully rare to have a fly strike case in our climate. Speed is of the essence. Any wound in the late spring to early fall, we use it prevent any chance of fly strike.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Farmer Jayne, wondering how your calf is doing?


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## Farmer Jayne (Oct 21, 2013)

My little bull calf is doing pretty well. A week ago he weighed in at 30 pounds. I haven't weighed him since, but he's really filled out. He's gone from spending most of his time sleeping like a dead thing, complete with his mouth open and his eyes rolled back, to sitting up and looking around, or even getting up when he sees the bottle. Today he got up and went into the shelter when it rained. These are huge improvements. His problem with maggots has cleared up. He lost a lot of skin from his hind end, but there was no infection and it's healing nicely. I was worried about flies until he got some new roommates in his pen. Those ducklings in the picture sit around him and eat flies. Normally I have to take the new ducklings and cage them until they are older to protect them from predators. This little family moved into my calf pens. They clean up the extra feed and eat a lot of flies. In return, they get some protection from the hawks and owls. I'll try to weigh him tomorrow and post some better pictures.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Very glad to hear he's doing better! And the ducklings, what a wonderful solution! They'll probably imprint on him and follow him forever, right?


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

Hey Farmer Jayne, was wondering how the little guy is doing 10 days later. Are you still concerned that he isn't as active as most calves his age, or are you figuring it's because he was a premie?

Just curious. Hope he's doing well, he sure is a cutie!


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## Farmer Jayne (Oct 21, 2013)

I have been having the worst time with my computer! So, sorry I haven't answered sooner. 
The little calf is doing pretty well. He's eating about a quart and a half twice a day. Growing like a weed. My only concern right now is that his front knees look arthritic. My first thought was joint ill, but he hasn't had any infections (umbilicus, or pneumonia) that are generally precursors for this illness. His knee joints are enlarged (not swollen with fluid) and he's not walking as well as he should be. Just using the wait-and-see method on this one for the time being. Trying to get pictures up, but that may have to wait until my technical difficulties have been solved. He's really a cutie. The ducklings have grown and moved out of the cattle pen. They have suffered some losses due to this, but insisted on moving out into the world. Really don't want big ducks living with the calves, anyway. It was nice while it lasted.


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