Simmental cow with swollen udder

vanderbadger

lads have a big sim cow that calved there 5 or 6 days ago, had a nice heifer calf, she isnt an old cow but she have a huge bag and her back 2 tits are expecially big, you know the sort, they are practically tipping the ground and are as fat as your hand, the calf is flying it but is only sucking 1 tit yet id say, i noticed the cow is lame on 1 side today, the calf works the other side and the back quarter on the lame side looks particularly large. now the cow is quiet enough but doesnt like being handled, also this is the wrong side for access from my crush so i would have to get her into the crush in the wrong direction, she doesnt seem sick, should i try and tie her up somehow in the crush and draw off the back quarter or leave well enough alone, the lameness might be unrelated...

1chippy

sounds like maestatis (that doesnt look like the right spelling but youll get what i mean). If you cant get to it from the near side try going at it from behind. ive had to do this a few times but just be careful.

JimCorrFan

I would try and draw the teats that are swollen, sounds like she might have mastitis, maybe she might have a bad type called e-coli mastitis.
I think try and draw the teat and give her mastitis tube.

vanderbadger

fairly hard to get at it now, you would nearly have to lie down to reach across, she isnt sick anyway this evening, eating silage as normal, tied her up in gate and after alot of messing got a strong calf to suck one side but still couldnt manage the worse looking side, was trying to get her into crush the wrong way around by bring ing in her calf but she wouldnt fall for it, nuisance type of cow now

whelan1

get some one capable to hold her tail up and milk her out by hand, pain in the butt but she is probably sore at this stage

yellow50HX

sounds like a touch of mastistis alright, if the udder is hard then it is defintaly, you'll have to draw her, chances are the calve couldnt get to the pap so it never been drawn, it can get infected and the cow will go down hill quickly also leads to the quather going dry. you might need to tie her leg to the crush if she is not used to been handeled and get someone to lift the tail straight up so you dont get a lash. the calves wont drink it if its infected. when you draw the pap you'll see the milk will have curled, dont worry if its hard to get out but draw off all you can. get a few tubes of milking cow and then give her one after its been drawn. you'll probably have to do it twice a day for a bit, it'll usually clear up after a few days.

pakalasa

Can you tie a gate at the opening of the crush. Walk her to the crush with the back bar or back gate closed. Get her to turn around then and swing in the gate quickly. Back her down the crush then. Not easy, I know but reaching across to her far side like that is asking for trouble. I've done it enough times.

Bizzum

No matter how you do it, you have to get at the quarter to see what it's like. Some of those bigs spins can be very difficult for a calf to get to grips with. There is a chance that's it's fine but just wants to be strigged out, but only be getting hands on will you be able to eliminate mastitis.
It can be a tough job with a lively cow!

Muckit

yellow50HX wrote: »

you might need to tie her leg to the crush if she is not used to been handeled and get someone to lift the tail straight up so you dont get a lash.

+1

yellow50HX

my uncle puts cows into the crush gate from the front, that way there is room to work around them while thier head is held by the head stock.

vanderbadger

got her own calf on that back quarter this morning, and yes even the calves find it hard to get to grips with it, its so short and fat, any she sucked it a bit, hard to know if the quarter is dry already, she would suck it for maybe 30 sec then jump onto the other tit, i would put her back on the hind one again and she would suck it a bit and then jump again..if it was mastitus i dont think she would suck it high nor dry, will try again in the evening and see

yellow50HX

best not to let the calf drink it if its infected, last thing you need is a sick cow and a sick calf. you should draw it anyway, if its grand and milky then they are ok, good to just check either way. did you check to see if the quather is hard?

vanderbadger

yellow50HX wrote: »

best not to let the calf drink it if its infected, last thing you need is a sick cow and a sick calf. you should draw it anyway, if its grand and milky then they are ok, good to just check either way. did you check to see if the quather is hard?

no didnt get to leave a hand on her now, might have a bit of help at weekend and give it a go