Calf's fur coming out, what's going on?

[TSYORK]

I have a holstein steer, about three month's old, whose fur is coming out. He had pneumonia a couple of months ago, and I dosed him with Nuflor, Vitamin B-12, etc; and he got over that. Since then he's been a little on the unthrifty side. I check the calves most every day, if not, then every other day, but today is the first time I have noticed this. His fur is coming out in clumps on his back, especially on the ridgeline. Also, he's lost some on the top of his head and his ears, too. Could this be parasites? I dosed him hard today with Ivermectin and gave him a B-12 shot.

Any thoughts on this and what I should do?

TIA

[agmantoo]

The ivermectin will cure the problem. The calf has lice.

[TSYORK]

Is this a common problem? I try to keep my cows clean as possible, but I guess I failed. Since you say it is lice, is it transferrable to humans? Dear God please tell me NO! My wife will have a duck fit if she finds out.

[Cheryl aka JM]

mine had the same thing. Vet had me give them ivermectin~ the hair is starting to grow back. I was worried too~ according to my vet the lice will not live on people~ our body temp is too low and we are unpalatable to them. They are pretty normal on cattle~ even if kept clean~ and you usually don't see bald calves all over the place cuz most people treat for lice twice a year on the assumption they are there~ BEFORE the symptoms start to show.