Post by tammysharp on Jan 20, 2017 14:14:28 GMT -5
My Dad bought a Brown Swiss(about 7 or 8 years old) in June from a livestock auction. She calved Dec 25. She seemed in good health, if a little thin. She had a couple of knots on her udder in the back and wespeculated that the knots and small teats were possibly cause for chronic mastitis.
After calving the little bull seemed terribly rough and Bess soon developed sores which I thought were from the calf's teeth. Dad sold the calf on Monday and we've been milking twice a day since then. However, her production has decreased significantly and she's developed even more sores.
I noticed the cut at the junction of her teat and udder soon after calving. I assumed she had cut it on something in the pasture. It seemed like it was on the heal so I left it alone. Sure enough she had mastitis in a back teat and and the other back teat seemed almost dry. Then after about a week or two of nursing, the sore became worse, and scabby and the back two teats got lesions on them. At the same time I noticed what felt like a boil on her udder. I treated everything with vitamin e and peppermint oil. We would milk out the front quarters forcing the calf to work on the back udders hopefully clear up the mastitis, which it did. But to the detriment of her poor teats. I added tea tree oil and bag balm to the medicine ritual this week.
I thought with the calf off things would improve but it looks like it's getting worse. Yesterday afternoon I noticed new knots that were not there that morning.
I don't think its cowpox because they are so large. I'm thinking it's herpes...😩 given the high stress of calving and losing her calf.
We've about decided to run her back through the auction, although I am tempted to dry her off and see if I can get her healthy. I hate to think of her fate if she goes through the auction again. But I can't afford to pour money into a cow that is constantly sick.
Ideas?
After calving the little bull seemed terribly rough and Bess soon developed sores which I thought were from the calf's teeth. Dad sold the calf on Monday and we've been milking twice a day since then. However, her production has decreased significantly and she's developed even more sores.
I noticed the cut at the junction of her teat and udder soon after calving. I assumed she had cut it on something in the pasture. It seemed like it was on the heal so I left it alone. Sure enough she had mastitis in a back teat and and the other back teat seemed almost dry. Then after about a week or two of nursing, the sore became worse, and scabby and the back two teats got lesions on them. At the same time I noticed what felt like a boil on her udder. I treated everything with vitamin e and peppermint oil. We would milk out the front quarters forcing the calf to work on the back udders hopefully clear up the mastitis, which it did. But to the detriment of her poor teats. I added tea tree oil and bag balm to the medicine ritual this week.
I thought with the calf off things would improve but it looks like it's getting worse. Yesterday afternoon I noticed new knots that were not there that morning.
I don't think its cowpox because they are so large. I'm thinking it's herpes...😩 given the high stress of calving and losing her calf.
We've about decided to run her back through the auction, although I am tempted to dry her off and see if I can get her healthy. I hate to think of her fate if she goes through the auction again. But I can't afford to pour money into a cow that is constantly sick.
Ideas?