new calf

[bookwormom]

big smile on BWMs face. Brownie had a girl yesterday. those Dexters have the tiniest calves. Here I am with the problem of milking. Her bag looks like it is ready to bust, and one spicket is empty and flaccid. I really would like to milk out the two rear teats. I sure could stand a good neighbor who knows more than I about things like that who could help me with that. right now she lowers her head and faces me when i approach her, even though she is really gentle and I milked her last year, until she stepped on my hand.

[goodwifefarm]

Congrats on the new addition! Can you put kickers on her, to prevent her stepping on your hand again? Good luck and have fun! :D

sarah

[Anon001]

if you milk cows, you need a stancheon. They can be easily built with 4 2x4's and a bolt or peg. Or put her in a headgate if you have one.

[bookwormom]

I have neither, but was thinking of making a milking stand this afternoon, portable, sort of like the goat's. I hope it works, she has to step up on it. you just can't milk her in any comfort because she is so far down. Last year I just tied her to a fence post and put some feed in front of her and she stood still. she is not quite as friendly this year for some reason.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Is the one clogged with a milk stone that you can feel? *Or perhaps mastitis? *You could easily do a CA mastitis test if you could just get out a drop. But that quadrant would be hard if there was mastitis.
I would definitely encourage him to use the *quadrant to "break" it if he can. That would help relieve the pressure there. *Usually they can get it flowing after a feeding or two unless it is extremely mastitic and congested.

One of my friends is encouraging me to get some dexters. Do you love them?

[bookwormom]

yes, I love my Dexters.

I talked to an Amish Dairy farmer who told me that it happens at times that a first time mother has teat openings that are too small. There is some gizmo to open them wider. He said he had done it often. This is new to me.
I got the calf to work on one extra nipple and have only the really bad one left, it is really vexing. I milked enough of it to give her some relief. I am afraid I have to call the vet to enlarge it, since I have never even seen it done I am loath to get the tool and attempt it myself. I milked out one side this evening and after a while Brownie stood really still. AFter I got it flowing it was running by itself for a while. But I could not face the other side after I was finished. when milk comes out i n a stream like a cotton thread it wears you out to milk a quart or so and it takes too long.

[AlchemyAcres]

I talked to an Amish Dairy farmer who told me that it happens at times that a first time mother has teat openings that are too small. There is some gizmo to open them wider. He said he had done it often. This is new to me.
I got the calf to work on one extra nipple and have only the really bad one left, it is really vexing. I milked enough of it to give her some relief. I am afraid I have to call the vet to enlarge it,

If you've never done it before, or even seen it done, it's certainly best to have the Vet do it....preferably ASAP, before she gets mastitis.


~Martin

[bookwormom]

I called the vet and he does not want to bother with it and said she will get mastitis from it. he said to come in and get a teat dialater. I hope that works. anyone ever use one of those?

[AlchemyAcres]

What a worthless Vet!!!!!!!!!

Is there another Vet that you can call?

Do you know a dairy farmer who can help?

A dilator isn't a permanent solution.



~Martin

[bookwormom]

thanks Martin. no there is not a another vet, and they expect me to bring the cow in. so you think this should be done? I think I'll ask the Amish farmer if we can pick him up and drive him over to do it and pay him a few bucks for his troubles. In the meantime I have made a point of milking her out,even though it takes long. I am surprised how patient she stands, when she gets fed up DH speaks to her nicely and gives her a little treat and we make sure her little one is right close to her.
Her left hind quarter is just fine. but the right one, even though I milked until the teat was a limp, shriveled something, and I can feel there are empty, flaccid places, all in all that udder has some hard, rocky spots. what do I do to loosen them. I massage her with hot water. It really took effort to get that teat open at all. But using hot water seemed to help and she likes it. After I finally got the first little squirt, there were clots of very soft butter clogging it up over and over, I would squeeze them out and finally established a stream, though thin. yesterday I managed to get the little one on that teat, he did not want to,but I would hold any other that he tried to latch on to and sort of angled that teat so he could get it in his mouth easier. is a bit big for his little mouth.
the quadrant is not hot compared to the others, but is hard and even when milked to the last drop is still much bigger than the other side.
It sure is much easier getting a cow that is an established milker, rather than breaking one in.

[Anon001]

Bookwormom, if you are getting clots or "strings", it sounds like she may already have mastitis.... possibly. If that quarter feels hot, then there is infection which would indicate mastitis... but with mastitis, it isn't always hot... I would get a neighbor dairyman or the Amish farmer to come look at her. If it is mastitis, you need to be able to treat it quickly and not let it get worse.

Good luck.
Paul

[momma_to_seven_chi]

There are small index type cards that you can use to test for mastitis. Get one from your vet. You just squirt a bit of milk onto it. If the dot changes color it is a positive mastitis test. They are called California Mastitis Test strips. All vets should have them. I will put a link to a picture of one of the types of papers below.
http://www.drugs.com/vet/images/1270002e.png

They shouldn't cost you more than a dollar or two for a test sheet, usually they are free. Whatever you do, keep that teat flowing. Put the baby on her, tape off the others, and make him nurse that one quadrant. You want that to flow. If it were me, I would be giving Penn G already. I wouldn't wait any longer, and start it even before a test. But that is just me. Get a test sheet tomorrow or take in a few drops of milk for your vet to test. She can give you a few days worth of injections of Penn for very little.

[Anon001]

I agree with momma......,

I would probably already be giving Pen G. Also, I would not be saving any of her milk at this point. The problem could be mastitis and not narrow teats. But, if you need teat dialators, they can be bought rather inexpensively at a "farm and home" store or the coop. They are just small plastic pieces that are easily inserted into the teat. When you see them, you will see how simple they are to use.

Paul

[bookwormom]

I got teat dilaters from the vet in Glasgow. when I called them they told me that is what I need. when I got there they said I need to bring the cow in. It is only a fourty five minute drive.
so what is Pen G?
I don't think that the original problem is mastitis. If she got mastitis it is because milking is so hard I could not get it all, and the bad one did not get milked because I was worn out from doing the other, and she would not stand for hrs. You try to milk out a cow when the stream is thin as a thread.
No, Paul, it is not stringy, I rubbed it between my fingers and it is soft like thick cream. felt like lotion. thanks guys for all your help. as soon as I put the strawberries in the freezer I'll get the mastitis strips. Yikes, and I got bread rising too.

well, decided to call the vet first, they do not have those mastitis papers, I would have to bring in a sample and they send it off to a lab.

[Anon001]

Bookwormom,

Pen G is a form of penicillin. The closest vet to you is 45 minutes? Wow... Our are sur isn't hurting for them. lol

I have milked out teats like you are describing that is just thread of a stream. lol. I used dilators. that's just too much work for milk. lol

I can't comment on the mastitis papers because I've never heard of them or seen them. It would be great if you could get some locally...

[AlchemyAcres]

You should be able to get a California Mastitis Test Kit for less than $15.

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=2&mscssid=SDCPN2TKFBK99HNJJXC5NCRW 6JX87555&pf_id=16616

The Vet is a total bum!
This is serious, he's an idiot and completely and totally irresponsible for initially brushing you off!!!!!
I'd get the Amish guy to look at her.

~Martin

[bookwormom]

thanks guys. So, Paul, did the dilators do the job?
Oh we have a vet closer, but he treats cats and dogs, will not come , and we consider him worse than the other one. They are interested in treating her if I bring her in.

[Anon001]

Bookwormom,

LOL It has been about 12+ years since I used one. I can't honestly rememer how well the dilators worked. lol

However, I did want to add something. I was talking to a neighbor today and describing everything you said about Brownie. He said he would lay bets that is mastitis. He also said that mastitis won't always be clumpy and won't always have heat in the affected quarter. He recommended getting someone locally to look at her as soon as possible. He said if you can't get a local vet to do it, get an old cattleman close by to take a look. But, he said he would definitely get her looked at ASAP. Mastitis is an infection and if left untreated can spread to the other quarters.

I also told him about Blacky. He said he would think, even after this long, that she is still likely to have lepto or a mild form of pnemonia. He says there is a type of pneumonia cattle can contract that can hang on for a very long time. So, if it was me, I would load up Brownie and Blacky and head to the vet.

Good luck,
Paul

[bookwormom]

we had the vet here and he said it was not lepto, it was my first question. he put a magnet into her rumen and said that would fix what was ailing her, and that she had secondary pneumonia. He gave her a shot for that, he said one shot was all that was needed. we had given her pennicillin before that, the prescribed regimen, when that did not work we gave her the antibiotic the vet prescribed, which did not do a thing either. that is when he came out. so what else can he do?
Brownie's bag seems to look better all the time. I have started putting the calf on it. It is not hot and looks like it has gone way down after milking and nursing. the milk looks okay too, no stringiness. Question, what do farmers do when the cows have calves in the pasture and there are four teats and one calf and they never get milked? It just occured to me because right now we see so many calves out in the pastures with the herd.

I have been trying to get ahold of the Amish Dairy farmer, he is hard to catch, since I still have my original problem, very thin stream of milk, very long and tedious milking.

there just are no more dairy farms around here and the Amish guy is thinking of quitting, too. And we used to have a creamery on the outskirts of town, it closed five years ago. They made good cheese there.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Vets use the magnet to try to "trap" any hardware that was swallowed. Cows can swallow a piece of wire, have it perforate the stomach, and cause toxicity. That's why they give the antibiotics.
I doubt a problem with mastitis is related to hardware disease.

Calves usually use all four teats. If one isn't flowing, then the nursing helps relieve it to help with the congestion.

If the udder looks good, and has started flowing then you may have solved your issue. The main thing is just to keep it flowing. Some people tape off the others, to make the baby nurse the congested one a few times a day. I have even heard some people say they use lasix to ease udder congestion, but that doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

[bookwormom]

hi momma, I am talking about two cows here, named ingeniously Blacky and Brownie.
quote from Paul
I also told him about Blacky. He said he would think, even after this long, that she is still likely to have lepto or a mild form of pnemonia. He says there is a type of pneumonia cattle can contract that can hang on for a very long time. So, if it was me, I would load up Brownie and Blacky and head to the vet.

Husband hauled hay yeasterday so he asked the farmer what he thought about mastitis. he thought she does not have it, cows get huge bags when the calf can't drain it all and go for days and he never had mastitis.

Actually I really was not worried about mastities in my question, I was wondering how to solve my milking problem of too small teat openings, it is no fun to really have to work to get the milk out in a thin stream.

I have found out that there is a surgical gizmo that you push up in the opening to cut the whole larger. I found out about dilaters. from what I read on the packet they may be a good idea to use after she has had her openings enlarged, to prevent mastities as they are medicated to prevent just that.
this morning her problem quarter was limp and normal, I could not tell any difference. I still have my original problem, though.

[Anon001]

Bookwormom... Usually when a cow swallows hardware the brisket swells up. That is a sure sign of hardware.

As for calves on cows in the pasture. The calf uses all four quarters... although he may favor one over the others. But he will get to them all. If the calf isn't taking all the milk, she will cut back production to meet the need of the calf.

I'm glad that the quarter is finally back to normal. The teat dilators and opening up the tract are the only two ways I know of to increase the milk stream..... you're absolutely right. It's no fun! lol

Paul

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Sorry. *I was confused on the number of cows. *My fault. *It's busy here, and I don't get to read everything every day. I must have missed the details. Sorry.

So, did the cow have hardware disease or was it something else?
I am by no means versed in cow issues, but I do know that when vets aren't exactly sure, they tend to diagnose bloat or hardware disease. It seems like those are a couple of common diagnoses from vets concerning cows. Balling cows with a magnet is common too.

At any rate, I hope your cows are all doing better.