New cow and bull with odd skin

[Cuddles11]

Good morning, herders!

My husband and I have a sweet 5-year-old Jersey who needed friends. This weekend we picked up a Jersey cow and bull. They are both two years old, and raised organically. The cow is due to calf in late June. They are both on the thin side (so was our other cow, now that I think about it), but I do not think their nutrition is what is at question. At least, I do not think...

Both the cow and the bull have areas of skin where the hair has completely fallen out. The hair loss is not in a circular "ringworm" pattern, but more distributed. Has anyone experienced this with cattle? I have included a photo of the cow's neck below so you can see a picture. I appreciate any help; I am calling the vet this morning. Thank you in advance!

 

[greybeard]

Range mite I would suspect--maybe lice. Both are pretty prevalent in late winter early spring and most of the hair loss comes from rubbing against fence posts, trees, corners of barns. There are several things you can spray them with, but if it is mites, the general consensus is the improving weather---sunlight--will get rid of them pretty quickly. Since these are dairy animals, read any product label carefully. Many are not intended for use on dairy animals, lactating or dry.

edit to add...
This time of year, when we start having warm sunny days, some cattle breeds just itch and rub because the winter coat is too uncomfortable or the shedding process causes them to itch.

 

[jhm47]

Hard to tell from a picture, but from the color of the bald patches, it looks like it might be a really bad case of ringworm. I have seen ringworm that looked like that, but only once.

 

[Riverside Fainters]

Mange.. We had it go through our Holstein heifers..