lumps

[15444]

Has anyone ever had a cow that developed a large lump under their jaw at about mid way through winter? We started having this problem last winter, in which about a dozen cows had it. This year fewer had it, about a half dozen. The lump gets to be about the size of your fist or a little larger. It is sometimes hard and sometimes soft. It does not effect the eating habits or gain of an animal, it's just an eyesore. Talk more about it tomorrow.

[cowman]

The only time I had a problem with this type of thing was when I fed some Harrington barley greenfeed(weed problem). The awns on this barley are something else!!
It wasn't a big deal as the lumps either broke externally or internally.
Now this last winter I have fed some CPS wheat green feed(weed problem) that had a very rough awn. I considered buying a bale processor but in the end figured I would rather have a new boat!!!
I encountered no problems with the CPS wheat. No lumps! I can hardly wait to try out the new boat!!!

[corine]

Often lumps like this are from something, like a hard/sharp piece of straw getting stuck in the inside of the cows mouth. Is your feed rougher than usual or are you feeding lots of straw? Mostly they seem to go away on their own. Some of our calves have these lumps, they are getting into the straw corral so I think that's the reason.

[15444]

My father and I always thought the problem was a result of applicating Ivomec to late in the fall. We do it about mid October. We asked a visiting vet from London, ON about it. She said the problem was Ivomec and that she knows of other producers in southern ontario that have had the same problem. But she said the problem was that we applicated the cattle to early. How late are you supposed to go? We used to put Ivomec on in mid September, and never experienced any problems. The lumps stay on the cattle until about early April. Some of them have begun to open up already. The have always opened up externally, and leak out pus until the lump goes down to about a quarter of it's size and then hardens with scar tissue. However, a few cows with lumps last year have had their lumps become active again! We feed hay that is a mix of trefoil, clover, timothy, brome, an the odd alfalfa sprig of grass. I doubt it's because of the feed. I am watching one of the more docile cows closely and will try and squeeze everything in the lump out when it opens up. Oh yeh, the reason for the lump problem the vets tell you is where the louse is positioned in the animal. The london vet said she knows people that have put Ivomec on too early, early - mid august, and had the louse die in the vertebrae, paralyzing the animal from the head down.

[cowman]

I think you made a mistake...it is a warble not a louse.

[mbfarmer]

My vet tells me that applying Ivomec after Dec 1 is too late. After Dec. 1 , he told me the warble story. However he said lots of guys use Ivomec after Dec 1 with no problems.. We treated our bulls in Jan. this year and did not have a problem. We run into lumps in a cows if we have a bad go around with foxtail. The vet told us that he could cut them out...but if it is not affecting the cow...why look for an expense. We also find we get a better price for cows with lumps if we pour some grain into them and rail grade them. The lumps look bad (so buyer can discount them) but do nothing to the carcass. Same thing as selling a frozen eared fat steer.

[pandiana]

Am I right in my assumption that warbles are not a big problem in AB? I have routinely Ivomeced my cattle in December without any consideration of warbles. Haven't seen one in years but maybe just lucky.

On the other hand, lumpjaw, or actiomycetes infection of the jaw, is relatively common. How would you describe the difference?

We used to see the occassional warble on the backs of horses. Can you find them on cows'backs?

[cowman]

pandiana: I personally haven't seen a heel fly in years, but can remember how bad they were when I was a kid. The cows used to wade out in the water to get away from the heel flies. I can remember my Dad popping them out of the backs of the bulls. I think it was in the late 60s that the Alta. government really started to push control with Neguvon and Grubex that the problem ended. I give my whole cow herd a shot of Ivomec every third year.

[harness]

Interesting to see this posted..... My father-in-law purchases a cow few months ago and it had a lump under the jaw on the right side. It is a fair size(baseball) and seems like it would need to drain. We've never seen that before, none of our cows have had it. When we got her home we were not sure what the heck it was, thinking we might have brought some sort of disease to the farm, not knowing her background. Is this something to worry about or just leave it alone. I sprayed some furacin on it with a spray bottle and seemed to loosen up the scab and hopefully it will drain. I would sure appreciate any info. or advice about this problem.

[pandiana]

I don't know much about warbles, but if the problem is lumpjaw, my understanding is that there are two basic scenarios.

First, an abscess forms around the upper or lower jaw, hence the name. It can be lanced and drained and will respond to antibiotics (actinomyces is apparanetly suceptible to penicillin and iodine) if caught early.

If not caught early, the infection can become entrenched in the jaw and becomes very resistant to treatment. Antibiotics may keep it under control but it will probably not be 'cured'.

[pandiana]

Hi all, I went and checked the cows a couple of weeks ago and found on a 2 year old with this big lump under her jaw. I have been checking around and looking for information on it but have had know success till reading this page. If anyone has any definite ways of treating this god awful thing please let me know.