662 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



to the tail or surrounding parts. The tufts of hair about the 

 sheath opening (preputial tuft) and the vulva (vulvar tuft) 

 over which the urine flows are not stained, matted or dirty. 

 Experimentally this state can be maintained for several 

 months, if not indefinitely. Naturally, in range cattle of 

 high reproductive efficiency, the status at birth tends to be 

 continued over a long period of time. In dairy herds and 

 in purebred beef herds, which closely approach dairy herds 

 in general plans of handling, the calf may soon break down 

 with dysentery, pneumonia, joint-ill, or other manifestations 

 of serious or critical disease, or show within five to ten 

 days notable deviation from the ideal. 



The temperature becomes elevated. This is so nearly uni- 

 versal that writers commonly hold that the temperature of 

 a young calf is higher than that of an adult. The experi- 

 ments in my department indicate that this belief is a fallacy 

 and that the higher temperature of young calves is patho- 

 logical. The hair soon loses its lustre and becomes dry, 

 rough and faded. The skin becomes dirty. There are di- 

 gestive disturbances of great variety. Almost always the 

 feces are adhesive and stick to tail and buttocks. They are 

 soft, medium, or hard, but the adhesiveness persists in each 

 type. The consistency and color vary from day to day. Usu- 

 ally they are fetid and expelled frequently in small amounts. 

 The total volume of feces is greater than in health, but the 

 volume voided at one time is much less. The feces are irri- 

 tant and frequently cause the matted hairs to fall out, leav- 

 ing hairless areas on the tail or buttocks. 



The calf may be either gaunt or pot-bellied. Its appetite 

 is capricious, and it may swallow straw, shavings or other 

 indigestible matter. Its growth is slow and uncertain. 

 While a typically healthy calf well fed should gain not less 

 than two per cent, of its body weight per day, the unthrifty 

 one drops below this standard. There is a hacking cough. 

 The calf plays but little, in marked contrast with the typi- 

 cally healthy calf which is one of the gayest rompers among 

 domestic animals. The preputial or vulvar tuft of hairs be- 

 comes stained a deep brown and then black, to remain so 



