One-cow Family Meets the One-family Cow
(Page 12 of 14)
May/June 1972
By Hank Rate
Unless you're trying to raise a replacement heifer (which has its drawbacks), have the agent service Bossy with semen from a bull of one of the beef breeds . . . the calf will be "chunkier" and worth more for feeding purposes. Insemination commonly costs $12.00 and the fee includes a second service, if required. Once she's settled, your cow will be her same sweet self again for nine more months.
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HOW TO BE YOUR OWN VET
Without presuming to invade the professional veterinary, field, let me briefly discuss some of the common cow problems you may encounter and which you can often solve by administering your own "first aid".
BLOAT. If your pastures contain a high percentage of legumes, your cow may frequently become bloated . . . especially if she eats those legumes when they're wet or frosted. The ailment is caused by gasses that form in the rumen which extends high up in front of a cow's left hip. The obvious symptom is distention (often above backbone level) of an affected animal's left side. A bloated cow will be off her feed, in pain and either listless or down. Mild bloat is not particularly dangerous to a cow but extreme cases can kill any animal rather quickly.
If a bloated cow can move, running her around the pasture may be all the treatment she'll need to effect a complete cure. The stomach tube will help relieve gas pressure and a gallon of mineral oil forced down Bossy may "break up the bubbles" of a medium bloating. More heroic treatment—(such as "sticking" or puncturing the animal's paunch) used as a last resort to save a severely distended and down cow—is best left to a vet.
HARDWARE DISEASE is common in junky areas and means only that the old girl has swallowed a foreign objectusually metal-that is hung up somewhere in her digestive tract. Symptoms are pain and lack of appetite not accompanied by distention or other indications of disease.
Treatment consists of inserting a special "rumen magnet" down the sick Bossy's throat by means of a balling gun. The magnet will usually attract the offending object and immobilize it until both the magnet and attached offender can be pulled out. If that doesn't work, call the vet.
MILK FEVER is relatively common in very high-production dairy cattle but you may never see it at all in a general-run homestead cow. The ailment occurs when milk first starts to flow in a freshening cow and is the result of her body "donating" more calcium to the calf and the milk than it can spare. An afflicted animal will sicken rapidly and go down. Her eyes will flicker and her head will turn back. Death is imminent if the cow is not treated quickly.
Immediate intravenous administration of an electrolyte solution containing calcium—properly done—will bring a spectacular recovery from milk fever. I know of several farmers, equipped with the proper gear, who've saved cows down with this disease when storms or distance prevented the arrival of a vet. The injection is touchy, though, and rate of administration is critical . . . so get professional help if at all possible.
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