Rain Scald / Rain Rot

[Nasc]

Anybody ever have dealings with this?

We have a calf this year that it seems if he gets wet or rained on and we don’t get him dry ASAP his hair/hide starts to fester with what appears to be rain scald/rain rot.

I have had luck controlling it with Medi-Dan dandruff shampoo but I was wondering if anybody has  other suggestions.

 

[sjcattleco]

If it really is a fungus..( that is what Rain rot is) a fungicide should do the trick.. CAPTAN might work... I would start with a fruit fungicide and go from there.....

 

[Malinda]

Nasc,

I have had good results using Betadine Shampoo.

Good luck,

Malinda

 

[red]

I had an absolute nightmare w/ it last year! My heifer's hair was so thick she just lost chunks of hair. It was terrible.
Give Penicillin. That's what the vet said to use. Best of luck & try to keep them as dry as possible.

Red

 

[Nasc]

Thanks for the reply’s

We pretty well had the corner turned on this problem until we ran into about three straight days of cold rain.
We would bring him and dry him of an evening but he still broke with it on his head and a couple of places along his back.

SJcattleco- Do you recommend leaving the CAPTAN on, or should it be rinsed off after a while?

Malinda-
Can I just add Betadine to our regular Shampoo or is there a certain product you use?
“We are in Chillicothe so you probably had the same lovely weather”

Red-
We have four steers in the lot, the three black ones are fine but our hairiest one, “the RED one” is the one with the problem. Could skin tone or hair color play a roll in this? We have never had a problem with this before and this is the first “hairy” red calf we’ve had.

Thanks Again

 

[red]

Nasc- I'm not sure, I just know it affects the ones w/ the really thick tight hair. You need to let it breathe so don't put ointment or stuff that won't let air get to it. Keep them out of snow! That's what happened to us. The snow blew in & got her damp & she just didn't dry out.

Red

 

[Malinda]

Nasc,

I am about 25 miles from Chillicothe.....We're neighbors! I am 71/2 miles south of Bainbridge.

You can get Betadine Shampoo at places like TSC or PBS, maybe even a vet. No diluting, just use it right out of the bottle. I leave it on for a few minutes.

Use a scotch comb GENTLY and get the loose hair, etc. off. What everyone said about keeping the areas dry does help.

Good luck!

Malinda

 

[DL]

Not to be contrary (on purpose that is) but rain rot is not caused by a fungus but by a bacteria - Dermatophilius congolensis - it is kind of a wierd bacteria. The big predisposing factors as others have said are wet and trauma (can actually be passed by biting insects) - so drying is of the utmost importance. Iodine (like in betadine shampoo as Malinda said) is a good choice. Most cases will spontaneously disappear in about a month if kept dry, however the infection can impact growth, milk production etc so sometimes systemic antibiotics are recommended. Good luck!

 

[red]

that's why I suggested the penicillin. Or something like it. Just be sure the calf isn't allergic like mine was!

Red

 

[Jill]

I was going to say, wasn't that the same calf that had the bad reation to the penicillin