Cattle with very dirty arses

patjack

As above I have a bunch of 16 month cattle, routinely wormed with alternate type treatments, bimectin + injection, zanil drench and albex 10%. Have also systematically received lice pour on.

They have become very dirty prior to their last dose of albex 10%, they have been treated at intervals of approx 4-6 weeks since they grass.

Asides from getting a fecal analysis done or before I decide on it, anyone any ideas as to why they might so bad?

Maybe it's just me but when I look at cattle with dirt starting to gather and stick/clump around their rears and tails, I usually take it as a sign of some form of parasitic burden.

100% grass diet as well, and fresh clean water available.

whelan2

patjack wrote: »

As above I have a bunch of 16 month cattle, routinely wormed with alternate type treatments, bimectin + injection, zanil drench and albex 10%. Have also systematically received lice pour on.

They have become very dirty prior to their last dose of albex 10%, they have been treated at intervals of approx 4-6 weeks since they grass.

Asides from getting a fecal analysis done or before I decide on it, anyone any ideas as to why they might so bad?

Maybe it's just me but when I look at cattle with dirt starting to gather and stick/clump around their rears and tails, I usually take it as a sign of some form of parasitic burden.

100% grass diet as well, and fresh clean water available.

are they on fresh grass?

patjack

whelan2 wrote: »

are they on fresh grass?

No they are block grazing old pasture.

angusangus

patjack wrote: »

As above I have a bunch of 16 month cattle, routinely wormed with alternate type treatments, bimectin + injection, zanil drench and albex 10%. Have also systematically received lice pour on.

They have become very dirty prior to their last dose of albex 10%, they have been treated at intervals of approx 4-6 weeks since they grass.

Asides from getting a fecal analysis done or before I decide on it, anyone any ideas as to why they might so bad?

Maybe it's just me but when I look at cattle with dirt starting to gather and stick/clump around their rears and tails, I usually take it as a sign of some form of parasitic burden.

100% grass diet as well, and fresh clean water available.

Dosing every 4 to 6 weeks seems excessive to me! Some doses like albex can make them loose !maybe it's all the dosing

patsy_mccabe

Be careful not to overdose them, especially with the stomach fluke medicines. They can knock a lot out of cattle. Can even kill them.

I had weanlings with the same problem, dirty behinds, loose dung but thriving away. I got a pool of 5 animals dung sampled and nothing showed up. Even moved some to fields with mains water and problem still there. Maybe there's some strange virus doing the rounds.

thevinylword

Just popped in to say Best Thread Title Ever!

(but seriously, hope ye get sorted)

patjack

Thanks for responses, I normally dose at turnout and housing with maybe a few hits of pour on for lice during the grazing season.

Bought these at the start of the year, and they had never been dosed so I thought I'd do cycle of dosing to clear whatever burden they might have. Although I'd say ye are right, maybe I was over zealous about dosing.

Will leave be till housing now and maybe get a fecal analysis done then. Not too worried as thrive appears good, so I'd be inclined to rule out virus etc.

Weighed them when I bought them, so plan is to weigh them at housing and see how they did.

patjack

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Be careful not to overdose them, especially with the stomach fluke medicines. They can knock a lot out of cattle. Can even kill them.

I had weanlings with the same problem, dirty behinds, loose dung but thriving away. I got a pool of 5 animals dung sampled and nothing showed up. Even moved some to fields with mains water and problem still there. Maybe there's some strange virus doing the rounds.

Yea was careful with the stomach fluke Patsy, it can really knock an animal if they are overdosed or if they have a heavy burden of rumen fluke when dosed.
I am not worried really, they seem to be doing well, just always associated that kind of build up with some sort of parasitic burden. Thank God its my biggest worry them since I bought them

I said

Very excessive dosing regime to my mind.

greysides

4-6 weeks isn't an excessive interval, however for cattle of that age it sounds as if it is a lot more dosing than 'normal'. If you are rotating them around an area that has been used similarly before then you could have a build up of parasites or resistance to some of the doses. Another possibility is Copper Deficiency. You might be best to talk to your vet.

blue5000

patjack wrote: »

As above I have a bunch of 16 month cattle, routinely wormed with alternate type treatments, bimectin + injection, zanil drench and albex 10%. Have also systematically received lice pour on.

They have become very dirty prior to their last dose of albex 10%, they have been treated at intervals of approx 4-6 weeks since they grass.

Asides from getting a fecal analysis done or before I decide on it, anyone any ideas as to why they might so bad?

Maybe it's just me but when I look at cattle with dirt starting to gather and stick/clump around their rears and tails, I usually take it as a sign of some form of parasitic burden.

100% grass diet as well, and fresh clean water available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYKLhM4UcWw

patjack

blue5000 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYKLhM4UcWw

There is something very Fr Tedesque about the thread title alright.

They all have very dirty bottoms Ted ...:)

AP2014

patjack wrote: »

There is something very Fr Tedesque about the thread title alright.

They all have very dirty bottoms Ted ...:)

Could stick nappies on them!

KatyMac

Knew an ol' lad who used to say he loved to see dirty arses as it meant the cattle were thriving.

tanko

KatyMac wrote: »

Knew an ol' lad who used to say he loved to see dirty arses as it meant the cattle were thriving.

Not if they had a blood scour they weren't.:pac:

mikeoh

Clip their tails........tails get covered in sh1t and get weighed down so cow cant lift tail high enough to clear the next load, and then tail acts like a paint brush!!!

restive

Patjack did you ever find what the problem was? I have cattle (Charolais) some of which are also dirty? They got ivomec a month ago and trodax at the weekend.

_Brian

restive wrote: »

Patjack did you ever find what the problem was? I have cattle (Charolais) some of which are also dirty? They got ivomec a month ago and trodax at the weekend.

I'd imagine grass at the moment has little/no fibre and so causes this... lads say to introduce some hay/silage and this helps.

yosemitesam1

_Brian wrote: »

I'd imagine grass at the moment has little/no fibre and so causes this... lads say to introduce some hay/silage and this helps.

More down to low dm and nitrogen I'd say, finishing cattle on adlib meal would have very little fibre compared to grass but fairly solid dung