Calves keep growing warts

[Cham2135]

These past two years we have had a problem with out show calves growing warts. One steer basically grows warts like hair. I was wondering what y'all do to stop warts. Also could it be our farm is "infected"?

 

[OSmith1999]

I've always pulled them off with pliers, but that's been one or two. We had a feedlot heifer that had a huge one in her ear. We called the vet and he said you could surgically remove it, but its pricey and the heifer was only going to be sold at the sale barn in a few months. We grabbed the wart with pliers, and ripped it out. It came out in several pieces and bled a bit, but it didn't come back. We were told by others that the farm could now be infested, but time will tell.

 

[EastTnShower]

We had the same problem tried pulling em off and cutting off basically everthing in the book. We finally brown down and called the vet for a vaccine. Works a charm. It only cost us 10 bucks and only took a week or 2 to for him to make. We cut some off when we saw they were dieing and they haven't came back. That's the way I would go  if I were you.

 

[Ms Ray]

do a search on here there are many posts about it, if you keep getting them you can have a vaccine made for them from what I'm told.  pull them off feed them back.  We have had a few get them really bad and I do think it gets in the ground, the steers we buy seem to get them more than the ones out of our cow and our has never had them (knock on wood)

 

[Cham2135]

That's what we've done, used side cutters, but they keep coming back. I will have to talk to my vet about that shot.

We had the same problem tried pulling em off and cutting off basically everthing in the book. We finally brown down and called the vet for a vaccine. Works a charm. It only cost us 10 bucks and only took a week or 2 to for him to make. We cut some off when we saw they were dieing and they haven't came back. That's the way I would go  if I were you.

Do you remember what was in the shot?

 

[HavinABlast]

Had this same problem a few years back.  After searching online for answers and actually needing the vet out to knock down a show heifer to remove a huge one from her lower leg along with about 50 others we chopped up the warts and fed them back to her after taking some of them and rubbing them back in to sites where warts had been cut out.  This is an 'old timers' method but basically the body reacts the same way it does to a vaccine.  It worked for her and she's been problem free ever since.  Warts are caused by a virus so once you have it in your barn you seem to see it year after year.  Because it is a virus it will usually 'run its course' but we have found that just waiting it out can certainly interfere when you're dealing with show stock.  We just thoroughly check all show stock and snip them off as soon as we notice any.  Good luck!