Lumps after antibiotic injections

[Baymule]

I have no experience with fox tails. But I think I'd be burning that hay to make sure there was no more of them. Due to hay being brought in over the years to feed cattle, I have all kinds of noxious weeds on my place. It's a battle.

 

[SteepedInSheep]

I have no experience with fox tails. But I think I'd be burning that hay to make sure there was no more of them. Due to hay being brought in over the years to feed cattle, I have all kinds of noxious weeds on my place. It's a battle.

Burn it? There's no way he will agree to that. We just spent so much money on all this hay.
I talked to him about the hay situation last night. He said he'll give this first cutting crap to the older cows. Apparently he's getting about a dozen second cutting hay round bales soon, which he said he'll set aside for the sheep.
Not ideal for sure, but

 

[SteepedInSheep]

It's hard to tell, but it does look like foxtail, which is actually a BIG problem for animals. We do not seem to have much of it here. Our nemesis is Johnson Grass... and it is a fast growing "weed grass" that the cattle love but can be toxic if drought stressed and then has a growth spurt...
Timothy and foxtail have similiar type seed heads but foxtail will bend over more often... it it gets to the point where they are "opening" then the hay is over mature..
That said, we have had a B%@#H of a time getting first cutting made due to the constant threats and showers that have prevented us from cutting when it should be, and it is over mature... but we can feed it to mature, dry beef cows, and get by with it... the calves get the better 2nd cutting. And we will supplement them to off set the lower protein in the mature/over mature hay.

The foxtail has little barbs on the seed heads and I suspect that is the problem with the sheep and calf.

The hay is also very coarse looking; meaning first cutting and not very nutritious for the young animals...

You are fighting an uphill battle with that hay. You would be better with a plain pasture grass hay that is finer bladed and not so much "maturity"... as in the seed heads. I am not sure what else to suggest, except they need a less coarse, finer bladed hay from 2nd cutting or 3rd cutting.

I looked up what a timothy hay seed head looks like and I'm pretty confident that's not what we have, unfortunately. I don't know what kind of foxtails these are (never knew there were multiple kinds until I googled it) but the seed heads look right.
I appreciate all the info! I've learned more since I started this thread than I have in a year

 

[farmerjan]

You said you would feed this hay to the older cows... I am assuming you have some beef cows?
That is what I would do... the older cows will "eat around" the heads more, and their mouth is not quite as tender, although the foxtails can cause them some problems.
I think you have the right thoughts, 2nd cutting for the calves and sheep.

Here we plan enough hay to do us for a year at a time. Can you possibly purchase enough 2nd cutting when available, to last for a year?

 

[SteepedInSheep]

You said you would feed this hay to the older cows... I am assuming you have some beef cows?
That is what I would do... the older cows will "eat around" the heads more, and their mouth is not quite as tender, although the foxtails can cause them some problems.
I think you have the right thoughts, 2nd cutting for the calves and sheep.

Here we plan enough hay to do us for a year at a time. Can you possibly purchase enough 2nd cutting when available, to last for a year?

Yes, we have some beef cows and a bull who will eat it. I also have a couple of goats that I'm using for brush cleaning that would eat it, too. Have no plans for breeding them at this time.
I can ask him about a year's supply of second or third cutting hay. He told me we actually spent close to 4k on all this crappy hay. Ouch

 

[peteyfoozer]

One of the cowboys fed foxtail infested hay to my old horse a few years ago and almost killed him. His gums were impacted with them and they were imbedded in his tongue. I was very concerned about his intestines but he survived it after a large vet bill

 

[SteepedInSheep]

One of the cowboys fed foxtail infested hay to my old horse a few years ago and almost killed him. His gums were impacted with them and they were imbedded in his tongue. I was very concerned about his intestines but he survived it after a large vet bill

Ugh, what a nightmare. I'm glad he manged to pull through.

 

[Baymule]

I'm glad you are learning things you need to know. I was a member here for 5 years before we moved and I got sheep. I studied past posts on goats and sheep. Decided I wanted sheep, even more when I found out about hair sheep. I asked questions and got good answers. Once we got sheep, the questions got more interesting. LOL I learned how to doctor my sheep, vets are expensive and most know nothing about sheep. I'm real fortunate now, there is a clinic in Crockett, 30 miles away, that has 3 vets, 1 has lots of sheep experience.

 

[SteepedInSheep]

I'm happy to report that the lumps from the injections have disappeared.
Her abcess started draining a few days ago. I haven't done anything to it except monitor. It looks like it's started to scab over but there's still "matter' in there (pus that came out was very thick). I assume I should make a cut and work out the rest and flush with something like saline? The abcess is much smaller than it was but it doesn't look drained or flattened.

 

[Mini Horses]

I'd widen the burst out just a bit, clean it out & flush well...treat surround with fly deterrent, keep watch for a few days. It should finish up & heal.