Post by cowbelle on Jan 8, 2014 20:00:02 GMT -5
I need some advice and ideas from the amazing people here on the forum, with the following situation:
Our dairy cow, Heidi, has been fresh for three months. She calved Oct. 12, (fourth calving, first with us, not our first cow), and she's been awful to milk the whole time. Very sensitive, very kicky. We've tied her near leg back every milking since calving, with little improvement. A couple of weeks after calving, we tried a pair of metal and chain hobbles on her, once. They were not helpful, she kicked anyways, and they hurt her udder. A couple of days later, there were red, scraped areas on either side of her udder. They didn't look too bad, we put cream on them, and they started to heal. However, they periodically would look worse - they scabbed, then there'd just be a little mark left, then they'd look worse again.
Two days ago, the near side looked fine - still not healed, which has bothered me, but just a clear mark, a little red. Yesterday it was almost dark when I milked and I noticed that the near side looked purple in a larger area than just the small scab (purple area about 2 in in diameter). The scrape marks were BLACK. I was worried about this, but being so dark, I didn't check the other side. Today I did, and I was horrified to find a long, inch wide strip of black scabby skin all the way to the teat.
She is tender on the areas, but otherwise acting normal. They do not stink, and they are not cold. What is going on with her?
I'm hoping for advice, any ideas of what could be done to save her, other situations like this (and what ended up happening). Is there a chance of saving her? Would it be better to cull her now? She's not the best cow, and could be culled for several other reasons (lameness, attitude...) but we are quite attached to her. She has twin heifers who are still nursing, and we milk each evening. She doesn't give that much milk, (after being separated over the day), and she does not ever have a really full udder.
Also, is the milk safe? We have drank the milk until today, having not noticed this.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to look at this, and I appreciate greatly any advice.
Near Side:
DSC01544 by cowbelle90, on Flickr
Far Side:
DSC01542 by cowbelle90, on Flickr
Our dairy cow, Heidi, has been fresh for three months. She calved Oct. 12, (fourth calving, first with us, not our first cow), and she's been awful to milk the whole time. Very sensitive, very kicky. We've tied her near leg back every milking since calving, with little improvement. A couple of weeks after calving, we tried a pair of metal and chain hobbles on her, once. They were not helpful, she kicked anyways, and they hurt her udder. A couple of days later, there were red, scraped areas on either side of her udder. They didn't look too bad, we put cream on them, and they started to heal. However, they periodically would look worse - they scabbed, then there'd just be a little mark left, then they'd look worse again.
Two days ago, the near side looked fine - still not healed, which has bothered me, but just a clear mark, a little red. Yesterday it was almost dark when I milked and I noticed that the near side looked purple in a larger area than just the small scab (purple area about 2 in in diameter). The scrape marks were BLACK. I was worried about this, but being so dark, I didn't check the other side. Today I did, and I was horrified to find a long, inch wide strip of black scabby skin all the way to the teat.
She is tender on the areas, but otherwise acting normal. They do not stink, and they are not cold. What is going on with her?
I'm hoping for advice, any ideas of what could be done to save her, other situations like this (and what ended up happening). Is there a chance of saving her? Would it be better to cull her now? She's not the best cow, and could be culled for several other reasons (lameness, attitude...) but we are quite attached to her. She has twin heifers who are still nursing, and we milk each evening. She doesn't give that much milk, (after being separated over the day), and she does not ever have a really full udder.
Also, is the milk safe? We have drank the milk until today, having not noticed this.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to look at this, and I appreciate greatly any advice.
Near Side:
DSC01544 by cowbelle90, on Flickr
Far Side:
DSC01542 by cowbelle90, on Flickr