Post by simplynaturalfarm on Jan 17, 2015 21:14:55 GMT -5
Yes, me - never dealt with anything quite like this before.
5 days ago I decided to up the milkers pellets via ground barley - they had been getting 1.5lbs per day and went up to 3lbs. They get free choice meadow hay and then for 5 hours a day they get free choice 3rd cutting alfalfa. They have been "loose" before, but not more than is normal on alfalfa. I put a couple of extra cows in with the milkers to give them a treat of alfalfa and check on them (the milkers stay in the corral by the barn after milking so the bulls and steers and heifers don't get extra alfalfa they don't need). I noticed Tildy was looser than normal.
3 days ago I notice Tildy has streaming diarrhea. Good appetite, I figured the combo of extra alfalfa and grain and added probios and checked their minerals. Friday morning I decided to wean a calf and milk his dam along with Tildy. Selene was shaking when she came in. It was odd and I could not figure out why - she is a timid cow, but has come in daily and twice a day for her entire lactation. Hubby and I had just worked on a bleeding heifer which got the entire herd riled (blood does that), but I"ve never had a cow whose haunches physically shook and shook. I leaned on her to milk (I don't usually lean) and she swiped at me 2x while I milked, but as her calf was bellowing I figured she was upset (she never kicks normally), so I just held her foot out of the way and said no and kept going. She wouldn't eat her pellets, just tucked her legs under her and shook. She had NO milk. She usually comes in just bursting and I could get 1.5 gallons. I thought maybe somebody got through the fence to nurse and hubby came in to find out if I was okay (he heard me yell no) and I said she was shaking and he said it was probably because we had worked on the heifer. I said nobody ever shakes and he said who cares, she's a dexter and dexters react to different things. She had kicked 3x and swatted me multiple times on the head with her tail.
5PM I went out to shoo cows out and finish up chores and she has a tail encased in frozen poopy diarrhea and blood. I checked the ground where she was and pipestream diarrhea that was mainly blood - yes, Mama had a freak out. I caught her and Tildy and got hubby - of course this happens right before he's leaving for 3 days AND just as we were leaving to go see a new nephew. We never go anywhere, and when we do we are always late due to some farm emergency . . .
Anyhoo, hubby comes out with a sleeve because I wondered could she have lost her calf - she had blood all over her vulva. Her hind quarters are still shaking and immediately she pooped watery blood everywhere and hubby checked her still and said it is definitely digestive issue. He checked her rumen and when he thumped her for sounds she kicked out at him which she never does - definitely upset stomach. Her rumen was definitely slow and upset and we treated her with charcoal and immunoboost and DH said to call the local vet if she was down or dehydrated today. He asked was I sure it was just that day and I said yes, she had hit me on the head multiple times that morning with her tail and if she had come in with a solid poop frozen tail it would have knocked me unconscious. He asked me about the other cows, I mentioned we'd put in new bales the night before, the 7 year old had helped with grain so maybe too much?, I had brought in 2 other cows the day before and given the 4 a full bale of 3rd cutting alfalfa . . and he said probably too much at once, no grain or alfalfa for a couple days. I decided to dry her up instead of milking her because there was nothing to milk and complained about the filth on the two milkers. I left the "sick" girl locked up in the barn pen with grass hay and water just in case.
This morning treated cow still has ridiculous diarrhea and the odd cough, no temp and normal respiration and lung sounds. But just a glob of mucous in the one pile that has a bit of blood. I'd kept her in the barn pen to give her different grass hay as I still was wondering if it was possible for the 2 new bales to have a toxic weed and figured different hay to the two milkers. Tildy spent the night with the cow herd and came a running, and everybody is enjoying this crazy 36F weather by bucking and kicking. Tildy was absolutely filthy, so I carefully cleaned her up with a dry towel and minimum water and let her dry before milking. Gave them both probios and yeast on their short bit of pellets in the hopes that I wouldn't have to shove the tube down anybody's throat. . . Tildy ate hers, but the other wouldn't touch. So I let them out, gvive them grass hay and no alfalfa and lots of water. Tildy has no blood in hers and now Lena and Katie come a running begging to be let into the corral. Katie looks a tiny bit underweight and empty rumen and so be the worried mother I am, I let her and Lena come in to eat new grass hay. I see clean butts on them and watch the herd for a while but they were all bucking, kicking and having fun so I eventually went back in.
I went out at 5PM and Selene is still a bit depressed and not eating well, but she is eating some. Tildy wants more food and I thought Selene was in the barn so ran to catch her . . as I ran to the barn, Lena went ahead of me, gave a mild cough and out streamed diarrhea with frank blood in it. I almost got it from head to toe. . . Good grief!! So then I just shooed her out, shooed Tildy out, caught Katie and Selene in headgates (you can almost guarantee a cow that won't poop for you WILL if you catch them in the headgate and let them not have any treat ) and then ran to check the 2 grass bales I'd put out on Thursday to see if there is anything noticeable. I cut them into pieces, yanked armfuls out and yes I am seeing a fair bit of weed and tansy (which is everywhere here), but nothing out of the normal. I begin to wonder if that is part of the problem because I watched the cows all day and nobody is spending enough time at the hay racks. They are all happy, I had offered them a gorgeous small square of grass (different field) and they weren't interested, but normally I only see butts all day long as they pig out on grass hay, especially new bales. AS I walked through the field to the bales (still bale grazing and they have lovely clean straw, clean hay and snow to boot) I see the normal piles of poop are gone and there is diarrhea everywhere. . . just over the last 24 hours. So, it is no longer a digestive issue that just the milking girls have. So I go in the barn and yes, Katie is streaming diarrhea flecked with frank blood, and I go to the calves (they are completely separate, weaned and get grass hay from a different producer) and yes they have diarrhea with a bit of blood. Everybody is still eating and drinking. .
SO, after all that, what do you think is going on. . . I am being very careful with my own sanitation and milking, I am watching everybody for hydration, minerals, appetites, and while a couple are definitely not eating as much, they are all acting perfectly normal.
5 days ago I decided to up the milkers pellets via ground barley - they had been getting 1.5lbs per day and went up to 3lbs. They get free choice meadow hay and then for 5 hours a day they get free choice 3rd cutting alfalfa. They have been "loose" before, but not more than is normal on alfalfa. I put a couple of extra cows in with the milkers to give them a treat of alfalfa and check on them (the milkers stay in the corral by the barn after milking so the bulls and steers and heifers don't get extra alfalfa they don't need). I noticed Tildy was looser than normal.
3 days ago I notice Tildy has streaming diarrhea. Good appetite, I figured the combo of extra alfalfa and grain and added probios and checked their minerals. Friday morning I decided to wean a calf and milk his dam along with Tildy. Selene was shaking when she came in. It was odd and I could not figure out why - she is a timid cow, but has come in daily and twice a day for her entire lactation. Hubby and I had just worked on a bleeding heifer which got the entire herd riled (blood does that), but I"ve never had a cow whose haunches physically shook and shook. I leaned on her to milk (I don't usually lean) and she swiped at me 2x while I milked, but as her calf was bellowing I figured she was upset (she never kicks normally), so I just held her foot out of the way and said no and kept going. She wouldn't eat her pellets, just tucked her legs under her and shook. She had NO milk. She usually comes in just bursting and I could get 1.5 gallons. I thought maybe somebody got through the fence to nurse and hubby came in to find out if I was okay (he heard me yell no) and I said she was shaking and he said it was probably because we had worked on the heifer. I said nobody ever shakes and he said who cares, she's a dexter and dexters react to different things. She had kicked 3x and swatted me multiple times on the head with her tail.
5PM I went out to shoo cows out and finish up chores and she has a tail encased in frozen poopy diarrhea and blood. I checked the ground where she was and pipestream diarrhea that was mainly blood - yes, Mama had a freak out. I caught her and Tildy and got hubby - of course this happens right before he's leaving for 3 days AND just as we were leaving to go see a new nephew. We never go anywhere, and when we do we are always late due to some farm emergency . . .
Anyhoo, hubby comes out with a sleeve because I wondered could she have lost her calf - she had blood all over her vulva. Her hind quarters are still shaking and immediately she pooped watery blood everywhere and hubby checked her still and said it is definitely digestive issue. He checked her rumen and when he thumped her for sounds she kicked out at him which she never does - definitely upset stomach. Her rumen was definitely slow and upset and we treated her with charcoal and immunoboost and DH said to call the local vet if she was down or dehydrated today. He asked was I sure it was just that day and I said yes, she had hit me on the head multiple times that morning with her tail and if she had come in with a solid poop frozen tail it would have knocked me unconscious. He asked me about the other cows, I mentioned we'd put in new bales the night before, the 7 year old had helped with grain so maybe too much?, I had brought in 2 other cows the day before and given the 4 a full bale of 3rd cutting alfalfa . . and he said probably too much at once, no grain or alfalfa for a couple days. I decided to dry her up instead of milking her because there was nothing to milk and complained about the filth on the two milkers. I left the "sick" girl locked up in the barn pen with grass hay and water just in case.
This morning treated cow still has ridiculous diarrhea and the odd cough, no temp and normal respiration and lung sounds. But just a glob of mucous in the one pile that has a bit of blood. I'd kept her in the barn pen to give her different grass hay as I still was wondering if it was possible for the 2 new bales to have a toxic weed and figured different hay to the two milkers. Tildy spent the night with the cow herd and came a running, and everybody is enjoying this crazy 36F weather by bucking and kicking. Tildy was absolutely filthy, so I carefully cleaned her up with a dry towel and minimum water and let her dry before milking. Gave them both probios and yeast on their short bit of pellets in the hopes that I wouldn't have to shove the tube down anybody's throat. . . Tildy ate hers, but the other wouldn't touch. So I let them out, gvive them grass hay and no alfalfa and lots of water. Tildy has no blood in hers and now Lena and Katie come a running begging to be let into the corral. Katie looks a tiny bit underweight and empty rumen and so be the worried mother I am, I let her and Lena come in to eat new grass hay. I see clean butts on them and watch the herd for a while but they were all bucking, kicking and having fun so I eventually went back in.
I went out at 5PM and Selene is still a bit depressed and not eating well, but she is eating some. Tildy wants more food and I thought Selene was in the barn so ran to catch her . . as I ran to the barn, Lena went ahead of me, gave a mild cough and out streamed diarrhea with frank blood in it. I almost got it from head to toe. . . Good grief!! So then I just shooed her out, shooed Tildy out, caught Katie and Selene in headgates (you can almost guarantee a cow that won't poop for you WILL if you catch them in the headgate and let them not have any treat ) and then ran to check the 2 grass bales I'd put out on Thursday to see if there is anything noticeable. I cut them into pieces, yanked armfuls out and yes I am seeing a fair bit of weed and tansy (which is everywhere here), but nothing out of the normal. I begin to wonder if that is part of the problem because I watched the cows all day and nobody is spending enough time at the hay racks. They are all happy, I had offered them a gorgeous small square of grass (different field) and they weren't interested, but normally I only see butts all day long as they pig out on grass hay, especially new bales. AS I walked through the field to the bales (still bale grazing and they have lovely clean straw, clean hay and snow to boot) I see the normal piles of poop are gone and there is diarrhea everywhere. . . just over the last 24 hours. So, it is no longer a digestive issue that just the milking girls have. So I go in the barn and yes, Katie is streaming diarrhea flecked with frank blood, and I go to the calves (they are completely separate, weaned and get grass hay from a different producer) and yes they have diarrhea with a bit of blood. Everybody is still eating and drinking. .
SO, after all that, what do you think is going on. . . I am being very careful with my own sanitation and milking, I am watching everybody for hydration, minerals, appetites, and while a couple are definitely not eating as much, they are all acting perfectly normal.