UDDER ERUPTIONS.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 3081, 19 April 1927, Page 8

UDDER ERUPTIONS.

A VARIETY OF TROUBLES

.MKTiKmS OF TREATMENT

j: Every dairy farmer has.had more or j: less trouble with eruption of pustules j| or vesicles on cows' teats, and knows ■ : fairly well bow to identify the'various : kinds or their cause; but eruptions upj: on the udder proper sometimes are even |:| more troublesome and are 'much more : difficult to account for and cure. A : few hints on this important subject j may be of assistance in the manage- | ment of dairy cows. It should be i\n- : dcrstood that eowpox papules or vesic- : les are, as a rule, largely confined to \ the teats; but they may also form up- | on the udder, and, in severe attacks, : some eruptions of the kind are found : in that location. Hoard's Dairyman : points out that these pustules have to j bo differentiated from pus containing : boils (feruncles) and sores. That is not j difficult if it be remembered that the j papulae of cowpox is elliptical in form, | has a concave or depressed top and the j lymph— not pus—is contained in sover- | al compartments. I Each spot is generally surrounded by ! a purplish-red ring or zone. These pa- | pules mature in a week or ten days, are I ruptured by the act of milking-, O r otherwise form thick, yellow crusts which harden, come off in time, and leave pock marks or pits like those of smallpox in man. Usually the papules start on the teats; then some break out on the udder. They may also form on the muzzle of the nursing calf. New crops of papules may keep forming on new- parts. Each crop of papules takes about 20 days to heal. When infected the sores may take on a chronic form on the teats or udder. Man may contract the disease on his hands by milking. An attack vaccinates him against smallpox. Boils on the udder often start around the base of the teat. They result from infection of injury or abrasion of the skin. A hot, sore, red node or bunch forms, increases in size, becomes conical in shape, turns yellow and soft at its apex, ruptures in a week to ten days, ■may leave a core of dead or necrotic tissue which has to come away, and ! then gradually heals by rilling with now tissue. Chains of such boils sometimes form by spread of the germs in the connective tissue. The milker may suffer from similar boils, caused by scratching the skin, after treating boils on the udder. We have seen troublesome crops of such boils form in the armpit. Pus containing pimples or pustules may also form, following eruption of vesicles characteristic of eczema and infection with pus-forming germs. They occur in groups or patches, cause great irritation, and in time rupture and heal without leaving- pock marks or ■scars. Carbuncles often leave a red spot which remains for some time. Recurring, crops of little pustules, upon the udder alone, characterise folliculitis, each pustule containing a hair. They are caused by pus germs, and do not, as a rule, cause much irritation, but they run a chronic, slow course and are difficult to cure. Somewhat similar pustules involve the sebaceous! glands of the skin of the udder rather than the hair roots. Like the papules of cowpox these pustules leave depressed scars or pits. Itchiness seldom is present, but abscesses may form in some cases. The cow then loses appetite and milk flow shrinks. Ringworm spots may also form on the udder. The most troublesome spot is that caused by the necrosis bacillus. It gives off a foul-smelling liquid and contains dead tissues, which must be removed to affect healing.