More Cow Tips from Esther Shuttleworth

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At one time we had to have nearly 10% of our fresh cows cleaned by the vet after they calved. This percentage dropped to near zero after we began feeding mineral free choice to the cattle. If you haven't been feeding mineral to your cow or cows, buy a sack and keep the feed in front of them until they "catch up" . . . thereafter, a block of mineral salt in front of them year-round will supply their needs.

Sometimes when you move onto a new farm, your cows will get foot rot from the animals that have been there before. It happened to us and I treated the disease by sewing up boots of two to four thicknesses of denim. I'd put a small handful of flaxseed meal into a pan, stir in enough water to make a runny mixture, bring to a boil, let bubble and thicken. Then I'd pour the mixture into the boot while still fairly hot and put it on the cow's foot to cool and draw out the infection. At the next milking I'd remove the boot and pack the crack in the affected hoof with a salve of powdered sulfur mixed in lard or Crisco.

If your cow kicks when you milk her, don't fight back. That'll only make her nervous and intensify the problem. Just tie a strap or rope very, very tightly around her middle immediately in front of the hips and udder. The cow won't particularly like it . . . but she won't want to kick much anymore either. Remove the rope when you've finished milking.

Cold — really intense cold — won't hurt a fresh baby calf but drafts will give one pneumonia in just a few hours. If you catch it fast enough, stir two tablespoons of whiskey and two or three tablespoons of sugar into a cup of warm water and get the mixture down the sick baby (but not down its windpipe). Make the calf a thick bed of straw and then cover the baby with another heavy layer of straw. It should be up and around in a day or two.

We've found that almost any medication which works for people will work for animals if the dose is scaled up in proportion to body weight . . . and I've doctored our livestock with Pepto-Bismol and many other drugstore remedies.

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