Shedding??

[Grace Acres]

We have bleted galloways and each year they seem to shed in chuncks leaving bald spots. This year their skin is scaly, if allowed to rub on anything they would be raw spots. Not all of them seem to do this. Is this normal for bleteds?

Connie

[ozark_jewels]

Sounds like you might have lice/mite and mineral issues. Do your cows have a good loose mineral available??

[Grace Acres]

Yes, they have redman mineral block and I add loose minerals plus kelp apple cider vinegar and hydrogen peroside in their water.

[ozark_jewels]

Low copper can help attribute to skin/hair issues.......
I would consider that they might have lice or mites. Pour-on Ivermectin should take care of that pretty easily.
I wouldn't think too much of it if it was just hair shedding out in patches, but if its leaving bald spots that are easily cracked and raw?? That sounds like a problem.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

We have had to address that same issue this year, the first in 8 years with cows. 2 of them started to have bare patches of hair, a few inches in diameter. We waited and the patches got more numerous and larger, so I suspected lice. Pouron Ivermectin (Ivomec) did the trick, they have cleared up in the last 2 weeks. We added 10 cows to the herd last fall and the 2 with the spots were from that batch. Lice live on the cows through the winter bt don't usually show up til spring when the hair falls off or is rubbed off.