Post by mcdaid36 on Sept 3, 2011 9:48:06 GMT -5
Hi there! I am new to keeping a milk cow (we have had dairy goats for a few years though) and have learned so much from this board. I am hoping to get some answer to some questions I have from you knowledgeable people!
We brought our cow home about 4 weeks ago. The farmer told us she is 2 years old, pregnant for the first time, due in October. While he had her in the stanchion waiting for us to pick her up, he noticed she was dripping milk. He felt her and her udder was hard, he recommended I milk her out when we got home, then follow up with milking her every few days or whenever the udder got hard again. In the few squirts he took out of her he did notice some flakes.
On our first milking at home, she did have some flakes, although not so bad, only a couple, although the milk was very hard to strain, kept leaving a yellow film on the filter paper. I have had some suggestions that perhaps she was producing milk because she lost the pregnancy or that this wasn't her first pregnancy and she was still lactating from the last. We had a vet come to check her out and she confirmed everything the farmer had told us - the cow was 2, she felt a very large uterus, and the udder was still so small that she didn't think the cow had produced before.
Since then, I have done a CMT and 2 quarters slightly gelled. I have been milking her every other day just to keep the udder from being engorged and hard (and getting about a gallon), but these 2 infected quarters I have been milking out every day and occasionally rubbing with a peppermint/tea tree/carrier oil combo. I suppose I could make it a point to do that at least once a day since it seems many of you say it helps. As long as I milk those 2 quarters once a day, there aren't any flakes but the CMT still test positive.
The other thing is that she has been getting small pimple like things on her udder and teats, about 5 altogether. They were not there when I first got her home. I would like to know what they are.
I would love to stop milking her before the calf is born, but if that will just increase the mastitis then it's not worth it. The farmer did give me frozen colostrum for when the calf is born. I also want this to get taken care of before so that the nursing calf does not spread it around to the other quarters. I think I will try the peppermint infusion recipe that I saw on these boards, but have to take a trip to tractor supply for the cannulas and that's almost an hour away.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this strange situation, and how you would handle it if she were your cow! Thanks so much!!!!
We brought our cow home about 4 weeks ago. The farmer told us she is 2 years old, pregnant for the first time, due in October. While he had her in the stanchion waiting for us to pick her up, he noticed she was dripping milk. He felt her and her udder was hard, he recommended I milk her out when we got home, then follow up with milking her every few days or whenever the udder got hard again. In the few squirts he took out of her he did notice some flakes.
On our first milking at home, she did have some flakes, although not so bad, only a couple, although the milk was very hard to strain, kept leaving a yellow film on the filter paper. I have had some suggestions that perhaps she was producing milk because she lost the pregnancy or that this wasn't her first pregnancy and she was still lactating from the last. We had a vet come to check her out and she confirmed everything the farmer had told us - the cow was 2, she felt a very large uterus, and the udder was still so small that she didn't think the cow had produced before.
Since then, I have done a CMT and 2 quarters slightly gelled. I have been milking her every other day just to keep the udder from being engorged and hard (and getting about a gallon), but these 2 infected quarters I have been milking out every day and occasionally rubbing with a peppermint/tea tree/carrier oil combo. I suppose I could make it a point to do that at least once a day since it seems many of you say it helps. As long as I milk those 2 quarters once a day, there aren't any flakes but the CMT still test positive.
The other thing is that she has been getting small pimple like things on her udder and teats, about 5 altogether. They were not there when I first got her home. I would like to know what they are.
I would love to stop milking her before the calf is born, but if that will just increase the mastitis then it's not worth it. The farmer did give me frozen colostrum for when the calf is born. I also want this to get taken care of before so that the nursing calf does not spread it around to the other quarters. I think I will try the peppermint infusion recipe that I saw on these boards, but have to take a trip to tractor supply for the cannulas and that's almost an hour away.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this strange situation, and how you would handle it if she were your cow! Thanks so much!!!!