Post by Deleted on May 19, 2015 21:23:48 GMT -5
Hi All. Joined this site at the request of some folks over in a Face book group by the same name. A brief and very generalized history of myself........ " Grew up on a farm. Left as soon as I could, to go waste my youth. Realized years later that I'd been wrong, and started working myself back to the farm. Last year I came to the point where I thought I was ready to make some major moves in the farm direction. Bought two calves, and this year two more. Now here I am, cattle on both ends of the county and second guessing myself more times than not, as it seems I remember just enough to get myself in over my head"....Ok...Introduction over.This years calves are ready to wean. I fought and beat shipping fever already. When my bull (now a steer) was about 3 weeks old (I'd had him for a week) i discovered a knot on his face about the size of a grape(cheek skin). I let it be, and hoped it would absorb itself and be gone. No such luck. Last week it doubled and he had about half a golf ball on the side of his face. Some prodding at it revealed that it was hard, but enough pressure would get it "squishing". I knew my dad (who's now past) would have said it needed lanced, but he was "the lancer" on the farm when I was growing up....Well, Sunday night I got him down and banded him and had a go at the abscess. My dad would have been ashamed. Compared to lancings I watched him do, I botched it pretty bad. It took me 3 tries to get deep enough to puncture the sack. Once punctured, I don't know how much if any, shot across the stall, but a good tablespoon or more of some "thick yellow/green pus" ran out. I doused it with Triodine, gave a tetanus shot and Penicillin. By the time I was done with the shots, it had filled back up (with blood I assumed) That was Sunday... On Monday the abscess was twice the size it was before I lanced it, with no evidence of drainage. I gave another shot of Penn. and doused with Triodine again.... Today (Tuesday)the abscess was unchanged in size, but there was puss oozing from the incision. I squeezed it hoping to empty it again, but squeezing produced nothing, except for a bucking calf. I doused with Triodine, and gave another Penn. shot..... OK folks. How bad did I screw up, and what do I do now?