Scratching Posts and Cattle Wipes

Ever get an itch you needed to scratch? Well, livestock are no different. Cattle, goats, sheep and horses get skin irritations. Chickens get mites and even wildlife get an itch from time to time. Without an opposable thumb, livestock cannot pick up a back scratcher and get relief.

I recently planted a nine-foot tall, seven-inch diameter, Hill Country cedar scratching post in a former hay pasture. It was not suitable for a fence post, but I had kept it for something special. Without any suitable trees to scratch on, my cattle were rubbing the barbwire fence at the H posts near my pasture gates. I planted the post some two and a half feet in the ground, then tamped it hard to the ground with soil as well as I could.

The cattle took to the cedar post immediately - rubbing on it seemed to give them great pleasure. The cattle wobbled out the hole, pushing the post from every angle they could. It seemed to satisfy their itch.

I have seen trees in a pasture almost killed by cattle rubbing the bark so hard that they ringed the tree. If the cattle hadn’t been rotated to a different pasture, the trees surely would have died. But you can’t fault a cow for trying to satisfy an itch, and tree bark seems to do a good job.

One cow I had bought in the early spring had not lost her winter coat as late as May. The scratching post allowed her to remove all the excess hair in a few days. The post did its job. Cattle generally use scratching posts to move flies off of sensitive spots and scrape ticks from their hides. Frequent scratching can signal a serious skin issue.

Commercial cattle scratchers sometimes look like a giant brush or comb attached to a metal bracket and fastened to a fence post. Or they are hung with a chain above the cow. Commercial units often have an insecticide dispenser attached to the scratcher.

I have seen cattle scratchers that look like the long brush on the front end of a street sweeper used by the highway department to clean roads prior to putting down a new layer of asphalt. Indeed, the brush is of the same material and sometimes the same brush. I have even seen a rotating automated brush that the animal starts by pushing a button with its nose. Only the best for some animals.

Over the years, cattle raisers have used different methods to rid cattle of flies and ticks. The most popular is the cattle oiler often called “cattle rubs” or “cattle wipes.” For urban folks, these are not like baby wipes, and they are also not the cow wipes that dairy farmers use to clean cow teats. Cattle wipes come in many shapes and forms, and some dispense insecticide products. Mostly, they are a pipe with a cloth hanging down for cattle to walk under.

Some wipes come with a smooth covering. These are usually carried and attached to a sling-strung between two trees. Some wipes come with a rough metal coating. The rough metal acts much like bark to scrape off any additional hair or ticks that may be attached to the animal’s hide.

My dad often made a cattle wipe out of old feed sacks wrapped over a set of cables strung between two trees. This was back in the days when screwworm flies were a menace. He poured powders and liquids over the feed sacks so the cattle could rub their backs and defeat the pest. Most of these products were highly toxic to the environment, but less toxic to the animals.

The screwworm fly would lay an egg on the back of the animal and the emerging maggot would burrow into the hide and eventually into the innards. Millions of animals, both domestic and wild, died because of these pests. One of the best government programs ever implemented eventually eliminated the screwworms in the United States.

A portable wipe can be moved from pasture to pasture as the cattle are moved. The wipes can be purchased with either powder applicators or liquid applicators called oilers. I find that putting a liquid repellent on the wipe is easier than handling powders, but other ranchers find powders more to their needs.

Cattle wipes are sometimes installed at an angle. The high end is for the cow to rub its neck. The middle is for rubbing its sides, and the low end for rubbing its belly. Belly

See rubbers often hog the cow wipe until a more dominant animal comes along. And belly rubbers often cause more damage to poorly constructed wipes. This is why a heavy-duty spring is sometimes added to the upper end of the wipe.

Many oilers are made of a tank and a large felt pad or felt strips. The tank holds the liquid product and the felt pad drapes over the cow as she passes below. This does not get the belly of the animal, but if the cow uses her tail, some of the insecticide is moved below.

Organic solutions to fly wipe products include neem and various liquid essential oils. Some products repel flies while others kill the flies on contact. Cattle in dry pastures seem to prefer dust products. Diatomaceous earth is often used in dry applicators. It works better than the animal digging a hole in the ground to get to the fine sand particles. The holes cattle dig are still called buffalo wallows after the holes dug by American bison.

Both liquid and dry organic products need to be reapplied after a rain. Cattle like to rub often in wet or dry weather, so checking the cattle wipe frequently is a necessity. Some ranchers use systemic products, but the toxins that kill the flies and ticks can end up in someone’s meal. I like to know what is in my food, so I only use organic products.

I think my cedar scratching post will do for now. I think the cedar repels flies. The cows love it and it is cheaper than oilers and brushes. However, I’m thinking of the automated brush for me... and the cows.

David E. Will is a Schulenburg farmer, rancher, nurseryman, landscaper, and consultant. He can be reached at 830-6299876 or by email at dwill207@satx.rr.com.