The sucking lice are the most important as they take energy directly from cattle. Lice are especially important insect parasites as they infest our cattle during the season when cattle are receiving the poorest diet. Lice are active insects, moving over the body of the cow. The itching caused by lice results in the symptoms we usually notice. Hair can be rubbed off in large patches and large areas may be rubbed until raw and bleeding.
Cattle rub against trees, posts, feed-bunks and barns in a response to the itching.
November is when cattle are most often routinely treated for lice. This is a good practice for most cattlemen. This is because the sucking lice will have been controlled with the systemic treatment - and sucking lice are more damaging than biting lice. To follow this course, it is important that all cattle will have been treated with the systemic. If some individuals were not treated, or if cattle have been added to the herd, these untreated cattle may reinfest the others.