Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 17:44:18 GMT -5
Hello, all! Newbie to the forum, 'though I've lurked in the past. Thank you for being here.
I just went through my first case of mastitis. My cow just had her third calf - a beautiful little girl - a week ago while I was out of town. The folks on the farm couldn't figure out how to get her off pasture and in so she could be milked 'til I got back, a day later. We milked her out fairly well (long story; we use a milker but the pump broke and our attempt to fix it failed, and we are willing but not very good at hand milking. Much better now, a week later!) - she was huge, tight, and sore, so it was a challenge all around.
I thought we were ok but by Wednesday it was clear we were definitely not. CMT said mastitis in three quarters, and it was not pretty. I took the easy and quick route and treated with Today, figuring out how to administer it safely and cleanly, and how to keep her calf on the good quarter for at least a couple of hours after giving the med. (Yes, we should have milked the good quarter and bottle fed the calf but that wasn't working well at all. Better supplied now; another long story; I think if this happens again we might have more success but the calf doesn't seem affected by this adventure.) Attempted probios, but she is very clever about spitting out that which she does not want. She passed that along to her gorgeous little daughter.
Anyway, I'm looking for two things:
1) natural meds to get her system back on track after this adventure. We are rubbing her udder with bag balm at the moment but I have lanolin and coconut oil on the way, and have essential oils, so can put something together for this. I think the mastitis is gone, but I am concerned about having just put her through a round of antibiotics, and just want to get her back on track.
2) one quarter is still rather firm, and doesn't go fully down when milked out. I've seen the term "congested udder" but am not sure what to do about it, besides continuing to massage her bag with nice moisturizing things. Is there something I should do besides what I'm preparing for - the home-made balm with essential oils? I was able to find tea tree oil, oil of oregano, and eucalyptus.
They remain in her stall, eating a nice but normal hay and lots of carrots, not getting any hot feed for a little while longer 'til it seems like the swelling has gone down and she's really out of the woods.
Looking forward to next Wednesday evening, when we can finally start enjoying milk and butter from my gorgeous girl. Very grateful for the colostrum in the freezer, from that first day's milking, as well as any assistance from you good folks
I just went through my first case of mastitis. My cow just had her third calf - a beautiful little girl - a week ago while I was out of town. The folks on the farm couldn't figure out how to get her off pasture and in so she could be milked 'til I got back, a day later. We milked her out fairly well (long story; we use a milker but the pump broke and our attempt to fix it failed, and we are willing but not very good at hand milking. Much better now, a week later!) - she was huge, tight, and sore, so it was a challenge all around.
I thought we were ok but by Wednesday it was clear we were definitely not. CMT said mastitis in three quarters, and it was not pretty. I took the easy and quick route and treated with Today, figuring out how to administer it safely and cleanly, and how to keep her calf on the good quarter for at least a couple of hours after giving the med. (Yes, we should have milked the good quarter and bottle fed the calf but that wasn't working well at all. Better supplied now; another long story; I think if this happens again we might have more success but the calf doesn't seem affected by this adventure.) Attempted probios, but she is very clever about spitting out that which she does not want. She passed that along to her gorgeous little daughter.
Anyway, I'm looking for two things:
1) natural meds to get her system back on track after this adventure. We are rubbing her udder with bag balm at the moment but I have lanolin and coconut oil on the way, and have essential oils, so can put something together for this. I think the mastitis is gone, but I am concerned about having just put her through a round of antibiotics, and just want to get her back on track.
2) one quarter is still rather firm, and doesn't go fully down when milked out. I've seen the term "congested udder" but am not sure what to do about it, besides continuing to massage her bag with nice moisturizing things. Is there something I should do besides what I'm preparing for - the home-made balm with essential oils? I was able to find tea tree oil, oil of oregano, and eucalyptus.
They remain in her stall, eating a nice but normal hay and lots of carrots, not getting any hot feed for a little while longer 'til it seems like the swelling has gone down and she's really out of the woods.
Looking forward to next Wednesday evening, when we can finally start enjoying milk and butter from my gorgeous girl. Very grateful for the colostrum in the freezer, from that first day's milking, as well as any assistance from you good folks