Jersey jaw abscess

Incredibly, this condition is usually caused by your calves eating stemmy hay or hay with briars in it...Splinters, thorns, metal, etc. I've learned that grass hay is best for young calves...Topside

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TOPSIDE FARMS

Oh, I forgot to mention wear disposable gloves when you work on this calf, and a clothspin on your nose. I don`t think you need to call the Vet., not that one anyway. He ain`t much of a vet if he hasn`t figured out what to do before now. I`d give the calf 10cc. pen, the first day and 8cc. the next two, on the third day give some probiotic to get the guts going again. Flush that wound with Iodine/saline solution, and squeeze all the pus out you can, and keep doing that several times a day for a couple days. Make sure that the flies don`t get in it. >Thanks Marc

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Yes the debris causes the irrataion but teh bacteria from the salava causes the infection. I have seen alot of swllen jaws over the years on calves that are not eating hard food yet. Mostly been seen in jerseys that cross suck each others navals. Seledomly is there anything ever found in the gum area of the calf if you where to do a inspection to find the cause.

Have you ever had a calf nick your knuckles or fingers when they are done sucking the bottle? Seems like they can feaster up over night. Also this is why calves that suck cows and bottles do better then bucket calves. They make more salava to digest the milk better and utilize what they take in. To do so the salava is loaded with bacteria.
Bob

Don't know much at all about calves, but if that were a person they'd clean the infection all the way out (incision and drainage) and then pack the cavity and leave a "wick" hanging out through the opening in order to make sure it heals from the inside out. Healing too fast on the exterior sets you up for a repeat round of infection if ANY of the bacteria are still present in the cavity. Then the person would get a course of antibiotics in addition to the wound care. Again, I don't know if the same is recommended with calves, but if it were mine, I would ask the vet about it.

DroppedatBirth you have a PM....Kristen how's the calf? Update?

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TOPSIDE FARMS