Warts

[MBECNEL]

What's the best way to get rid of warts on a heifer ?

 

[shorthorns r us]

pull them off with plier if necessary and make her eat them. that's the wives tale.  seems to work.  i give the vax along with the snack. there is something that some will apply to the spot.  don't know what that is.

 

[DL]

Warts are caused by a virus (actually billions of different viruses) and they can be a royal pain. SRU has the idea - kinda squish the wart with the pliers (sortof injects the virus into the heifer) then yank it off (technically that would be the squish - yank technique) - feeding them the warts ain't gonna hurt them and may help. The  wart vaccine may or may not work - only covers one or a couple strains and is not inexpensive - I usually go with the squish - yank technique. If you notice them in a certain spot (ie inside the ears, where the halter goes etc) it will give you a clue maybe as to why she has them - if the virus hangs out on the tattoo digits many animals will end up with warts in letters and numbers in their ears. If you get a hint as to cause clean whatever you think is the sulprit - they can spread from calf to calf. Scotch combs and other grooming utensile can be the culprit too. If she is not a show heifer or you have a long time to the show you can also just ignore them (yeah, I know it is hard to do) because they will basically go away on their own! Probably more than you ever wanted to know! ;D

 

[red]

Hate warts! I'm like DL, unless it's a show calf, I leave them alone.
We pull them off w/ tweezers, fingers or dental floss works well too. Let them bleed out. Try to get as much of the root as possible. I've fed them back but can't honestly tell if it helped.
The vaccine has given us mixed results. Once used it on a heifer & she got a worse out break than had before. I guess the vaccine is only for certain strains & doesn't cover all of them.Also it can cause allergic reactions or shock so be carful to watch them after giving it.  I've used the wart-off product but never got any results from it.
Good luck, they can be a total pain!

Red

 

[bluegrass]

I use one of those tag knifes, if you pull up on the wart a little the razors in the tag cutter will take it off in one swipe.

 

[MBECNEL]

That's what we've done in the past.........squeeze and hank. Just checking to see if there was another (better) method...............This is one of the best forums I've seen

Thanks
Mike

 

[red]

Thank you so much for your kind remarks! It's made up of some of the best people around!

Red (welcome)