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Fall
is Prime Time for Lice |
Fall
is the time of year when lice love to hitch a ride on the
backs of cattle for the winter. There are five types
of lice that are costing cattlemen thousands of dollars when
their cattle lose weight and become susceptible to all kinds
of disease. There are three types of bloodsucking lice, one
biting louse and one tail louse.
Biting
lice feed on particles of hair, scabs, and excretions
from the skin.
The
tail louse, prevalent in the southern states attacks
cattle. You can tell when these lice are present, as much of
the hair on the tail is missing.
The
blood-sucking lice feed by piercing the animal's skin
and drawing blood. Animals that are heavily infested may be
weakened by loss of blood. They become more susceptible to
disease. Lice keep beef cattle from making maximum weight
gains and will reduce milk production in dairy cattle.
Lice
infestations are usually heavy during the winter and spring
months, therefore it's important to treat for lice in the
fall to delay and minimize the lice buildup during colder
months. Most insecticides are effective in controlling
blood-sucking and biting lice. Your choice depends on
whether you plan to spray, dip or dust. Recommandations for
beef and dairy cattle are different. Your county
agricultural extension agent will have the latest
information on the control of lice.
For
treating tail lice, you may need to spray the tail or dip it
in an insecticide. Never use more insecticide than is
recommended. Young animals are susceptible to overdoses of
most preparations. These strong mixtures can injure or
poison stock and too little may not control the lice, so
follow directions carefully.
In
the book Natural Cattle Care, (Acres U.S.A., ISBN
0-911311-68-8), Pat Coleby states due to modern chemical
farming, cattle feeds are lacking the proper quantities of
sulfur, which may increase the likelihood of lice. Feeding
sulfur in licks will help to keep the cattle lice and
exterior parasite-free. Keeping the sulfur content under 2%
of the diet is safe, so a cow could be given a heaping
tablespoon of sulfur a day if she had an infestation, and
the lice would leave over a period of five or six days.
A
top dressing of sulfur seems to work equally well. Rubbing
two or three handfuls of sulfur along the spine is enough
(diatomaceous earth may also help). Coleby also states
cattle lacking sulfur aren't absorbing and digesting feed as
well as they should. Top-dressing the feed with gypsum (have
the feed analyzed-you don't want to add too much) will
increase the sulfur levels.
Source:
Countryside and Small Stock Journal, November 12, 2004, by
Mance, Thomas La,
Originally
Published:20041101.
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