Is sunburn (or skin cancer) a common problem in mostly white oxen?

DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Oxen › Is sunburn (or skin cancer) a common problem in mostly white oxen?

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  • October 20, 2011 at 5:51 pm #43144
    Andy Carson
    Moderator

    It gives me pause when I see pink noses/skin on oxen, as I worry about sunburn and skin cancer. I really don’t know if this is a common enough problem to worry about, though. Any experiences or thoughts out there??? Western PA isn’t all that sunny, but I still get my share of bad burns on my own pink skin… 😮

    October 21, 2011 at 7:59 pm #69795
    Vicki
    Participant

    Just my experience over about 13 years: My hereford pink-nosed and pink eye-lidded cows are old and live basically out-doors, and I do not see any problems with them. The oldest is going on 15. I watch for bumps or warts. The old matriarch cow did develop a wart on her eyelid when she was a ripe old age, which the vet and I assumed was cancer, but it went away and I had her another two years without incident. Granted, I am in NE Ohio in a major snowbelt, where we have more cloudy days than sunny ones.

    riends say they avoid white faced cattle because of pink eye susceptibility, but I’ve never had pink-eye on my farm, either.

    The baby calves do get sun-burned noses in the summer, and I hate to see it but don’t know what to do about it. I’ve seen the skin flake and peel off. It just burns one time, then I never notice any more sunburns on any of them.

    October 21, 2011 at 8:23 pm #69796
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    I’d suspect color adaptations in cattle are similar to in people, that dark skin burns less, but light skin collects more vitamin D in climates where it’s hard to get enough.

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