Huge lump on calf's jaw. Got some infection out or is it.....

[Farmerboy]

Hi all, my first post here, so please bear with me.

We have 2 bull holstein calves. November was born on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and Pancake was born on the first Sunday of December. Both are from a dairy farm where I work, and my dad wanted to raise some steers, so we got those calves when they were a few days old.

The calves were living in my chicken coop, before we got the cow shed built. I have let them out of the 8x8 pen into the 20x60 coop to run around. A few weeks ago, before I moved the calves to the cow shed, I saw that Pancake had a egg size lump on his left jaw. It had felt solid and firm. I had told my boss about the lump, and he had said the he had a few calves that had it before, and sometimes it goes away, and he does not know what causes it.
Today, I was just watching the calves, and noticed that the bottom of the double-yolker egg size lump on Pancake's jaw was red, so I went in the shed to take a close look at it. I saw a white bubble in the middle of the bloody spot, and pressed lightly around the bubble, and right away, it shot a stream of pale yellow-green pudding like stuff out allover our puppy's head and the wall. I had gloves on and pressed harder around the opening, and got a large pile of stuff on my hand. Wiped the stuff off, and continue getting more out, this time the stuff was a bit bloody.
What is the stuff and what had caused it? What should I do for him in the morning?

I tried posting pictures on here, but I am not able to.

Thanks for any help, and please let me know if I need to give more details.

Daron

 

[redtailgal]

SOunds like an abcess to me. It's not really uncommon. A large piece of hay poked his gum, or he bit a stick or.......well, you get the idea. I've seen and dealt with it a number of times. Young mouths are very tender, and young minds are very curious, lol.

If your new to cattle, might be a good idea to talk with a vet.

With it already draining, your in good shape.

here is what works for me:

I keep them drained out by pulling that wound open daily and squirting a little betadine in the wound to clean it. I don't keep them shut up, so I make sure that it stays clean. Keep in mind when cleaning a wound that a little blood is a good thing. Blood is the bodies way of cleaning a wound. You will see the different stages of "ooze", the thick yucky pus, following by a dark bloody pus, then a nice red blood or watery blood. You want to get it to the red blood or watery blood. Your not looking for ALOT of blood, just clean blood. Dont be afraid to ket in the hole and clean it good.

I always try (but am not always successful) to see the inside of the mouth. I check for wounds, cracked or loose teeth and deformities.

I check the temperature of the calf. If there is no temp, and the calf is eating well, acting well etc, I dont medicate and just watch thing carefully.

At the first sign of fever, going off feed, or "off" behavior, I start them on some penicillan and either live culture yogurt or probios to help keep the gut balanced.

You may get a few different approaches to this, choose what works best for you, and ask for more help if you need it.

Oh and you need 10 (I think its 10 anyway) posts before you can post pics, so go say hi and meet a few people, then come back and post a pic of your calves. We like puppy pics too, but more-so when they dont have pus on their head.

 

[kelsey2017]

I can't think of anything to add except if you have any flies where ever you are, keep them off. I have used ichthammol on abscesses but that is still with daily draining/ cleaning. Ichthammol is strong smelling and would be enough to keep flies off or maybe SWAT.

 

[Farmerboy]

Morning, and thanks for the advice and welcome.

So, if the issue was cause by being poked in the month, then I have a general idea how he got the infection in the first place. When I let the calves loose in the coop, they like to poke their nose into everything, and lick them. I have tools, screws, and nails in one corner of the coop, for I was working in the coop and the cow shed. Well, they are not in the coop anymore, so I do not have to worry about them getting hurt again.

 

[Farmerboy]

Oh, I am from west Michigan. All the flies are out cold right now, so they are not bothering the calves.

 

[jhm47]

It's lumpjaw, and quite common. Caused by something poking into their cheek or gum. The awns (beards) from wheat or barley straw often cause this. If you can keep it drained well (I often open up the lump with a razor blade or utility knife to allow easier access to the pus), and squirt either iodine or betadyne into it for several days, you will cure it. I would be extremely careful to not allow your calves access to nails, screws, or other small metal objects. They will swallow some, and get a nasty disease called "hardware". This is often fatal if not caught in time. The nails puncture the walls of the digestive system, migrate to other vital organs, and kill the animal. Hope your calf heals up quickly!

 

[Farmerboy]

I got a small amount out this morning with a pop, and the lump is still there, and it feels hard. Should I feel inside his mouth? I tried it when I first saw the lump, but he chew my fingers a bit and they hurt.

 

[redtailgal]

First, get the nails and hardware out of there! A curious calf can get into some SERIOUS trouble with that.

IF you have someone to help you, you can take two dishrags and use them to hold the mouth open, using one to pull up on the top jaw and the other to pull down on the bottom. I dont know that I would do all that just yet though.

A lump is normal even after you get all the pus out. Sometimes, with a nasty abcess, the soft tissue around the area gets swollen and hard. It may go down, but it is possible that he will have a permanant lump there. You can help it some with hot compresses. Cold wont do much good that this point, as you need added blood flow to the lump to carry away infection and extra body fluid.

Prevent swelling with cold, treat with heat.

JHM is right, take some thing sharp like a razor blade (wash it in HOT water and rinse in betadine) and make a hole large enough to stick your finger in. Get a syring and SQUIRT the betadine into the hole when you clean the wound.

 

[Cricket]

I'm a big fan of Ichthamal.

 

[Farmerboy]

Update on the bull calf-
The swelling is down to the size of a small egg, and got a bit more infection out, this time more bloody, which is good, right? I had told my boss about getting infection out of the calf, he said very good, and told me to squirt Hydrogen Peroxide Solution into the wound. I did two times, one this morning, and one at noon. How often should I squirt Hydrogen Peroxide Solution into the wound?
He seems perky, and is eating well, and is alert of his surroundings. He is also grooming himself with no trouble.

redtailgal- The calves do not have access to the coop anymore. They are confined in the 12x20 cowshed.


I will post pictures as soon I get up to 10 posts.