ringworm

Bridgehouse · Post by **Bridgehouse** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:54 pm

Ben- when you said it follows ranking with your 4-5 top cows not getting it. Is this due to them being the older ones and have therefore maybe had it before possibly prior to your ownership or have you bred these cows? Or maybe your dominant cows are not the older ones as i have presumed like mine.

I believe after havng had ringwork they become immune to it - is this right?

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:34 pm

On a farming forum, they are discussing problems with cows and some have said that lack of minerals leads to all sorts of problems including ringworm.

bjreroberts · Post by **bjreroberts** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:07 pm

Not such a mystery afterall, I forgot my cattle had been in contact with a neighbour's although only for a couple of hours before they realised. Spoke to him yesterday and his have ringworm, just worried about what else they could have caught!

Of the top 5 there are only 2 that were not born in the herd so still interesting that they have not been infected.

Will have to think about the future of this field, it has been fine for 3 years. But I now have 2 neighbours with cattle (none before) and badger activity has increased.

Denise · Post by **Denise** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:27 pm

Found this link - just called ringworm - could be of interest.

We have more problems with warts in immature animals.

Both are viral

http://www.ringworm.com.au/

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:34 pm

Ringworm is fungal.

Duncan

Ted Neal · Post by **Ted Neal** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:17 pm

It does seem the cows carry and the youngsters get it.
As it is fungal I tried using Athlete's foot cream on one of my heifers and it worked well. In the mean time most of my other youngsters are showing signs. Roll on the sunshine!!!

oakwell · Post by **oakwell** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:56 pm

I started this thread back in Feb2008,
since then I have had four crops of calfs and not one outbreak of ringworm. Is there any amunity through the mothers milk ? My original outbreak cleared itself up once the cattle were turned out in the sun and fresh air. :;):

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:12 am

There may be some maternal immunity to ringworm, but I think that the type of antibodies required for resistance to ringworm are different to those needed to provide resistance to some infections such as calf scour and pneumonia. There is no doubt that those animals which have suffered ringworm and got over it remain immune, hence the tendency to have the disease in calves rather than cows. If a herd has not had ringworm for many years then it can hit every age group, and I have seen some total messes amongst dairy cows.

As far as carriers go, I think the real carrier is the environment - old wooden pens, new metal pens not cleaned properly etc. One of the things we used to recommend on the old ATB calf rearing courses was to dismantle calf pens, clean them, and leave them out in the sun for a week or two. I don't think animals without active infection can be carriers - having said that the active infection may be on a very small area and difficult to see.

There is a very effective vaccine for ringworm, but a bit pricey.

Duncan

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:24 pm

We had not had ringworm for 10 years, then in 2009 we brought the infection back from a friend's farm......probably on a jacket after leaning on a gate!! It rampaged thro' the whole herd, aged 14 years to 3 weeks so I agree with Duncan about the age groups. It took an entire year to run its course - not much sun in 2009! Not seen it since...........thank goodness & touch wood!!!
Steve

strawberriesclint · Post by **strawberriesclint** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:48 pm

Hi everyone

We also have suffered the attack of the ringworm, however after speaking to my vet about a year ago i was advised to try a homeopathic remedy, my husband thought what a load of rubbish but we were so desperate to get rid of the ringworm we gave it a go. Its called Thyme oil and you simply apply it to the ringworm and i kid you not, if you catch the infection quickly it only needs one application and within 48 hours you can see a real difference and it seems to get rid of it completely. I can only tell you for us it worked.

cyndy

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:12 am

Cyndy, do you mean homeopathic or herbal? Undiluted herbal extracts may well have beneficial effects, but there is no proven evidence of any homeopathic remedy working.

As a vet I am quite happy to use a number of alternative therapies, my daughter, also vet, does acupuncture, I regularly attend a chiropracter myself, and I am quite sure a lot of the old herbal remedies did or do have good results, though in many cases there are much more potent drugs now available. I have given homeopathy very careful thought over the years but I do not think it is at all likely that water has a memory and medicine increases in power the more dilute it is. In many cases it can be down right dangerous to rely on homeopathic remedies and vaccines. There have been cases recently of travellers from UK relying on homeopathic stuff to protect them from malaria, for example, with disastrous results.

(not that I compare ringworm and malaria!!)

Duncan

strawberriesclint · Post by **strawberriesclint** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:47 am

Hi Duncan

Could be herbal, i don't know a lot about it only that it works. I have also have a cow with bad warts and my vet suggested to see if the thyme oil worked on that, so i have taken a picture ( 5 days ago now) so i can compare the results. I don't hold out much hope but we will see.

cyndy

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:15 am

On a farmers forum the subject of ringworm came up and quite a number of farmers said they used engine oil which worked very well. I wouldn't use engine oil on any animal, but the point could be maybe that covering it up with an oil does the trick. Just putting 2 and 2 together and no doubt getting 5!!!

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:24 am

Would it be worth getting a huge pot of petroleum jelly to try Clive?

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:24 pm

Saffy wrote:Would it be worth getting a huge pot of petroleum jelly to try Clive?

Stephanie

Judging by what some farmers have said works, it might well do the job? A jelly / oily substance is going to keep air away from the site, perhaps that's the key to some type of ringworm? Again, just talking, I haven't a clue.

We've had RW in the past, but it just cleared up and went away without us doing anything. As it says in the article posted earlier, it's not one thing, it's a general term for a whole load of "infections" (probably the wrong word), so it probably depends of what you've actually got on your animal.