When the cows were still out in the field, we spotted a bald patch on Thyme’s front left leg. We thought it looked like a graze and when, after a few days the hair began to grow back, we worried no more. Since being on the Cow Pad however, Parsley has developed quite a few bald patches too, none that big but some are a tad bloody and we have caught her licking them.
We suspected lice or similar and applied a Spot-on to all four of them. However, Parsley’s got worse and we then spotted a patch above the eye on the steer and one on Caraway’s nose! We called Rachel at the vets and when she came over, she examined all of the cows and immediately suspected ringworm!!
Ringworm is one of the commonest skin diseases in cattle and is actually caused by a fungi, not a worm. It is called ringworm because the fungi causes ‘round’ patches on the skin!! Unfortunately it is found on about 99% of farms/ smallholdings and can live ‘in the environment’ for years. Cows will develop immunity to it and so Thyme and Parsley may well not suffer again, but it is now likely we will see it in the calves each year. Rachel took samples so she could confirm it is definitely ringworm and if it is, we then need to apply a spray to all affected areas, and repeat a few weeks later!!!!
Poor Parsley!! We are itching just thinking about it!!!