Post by wyomama on Jan 19, 2019 22:13:57 GMT -5
My friend's cow (who is living at my house right now, divorce situation) is shivering when I milk her.
She is 9 years old, a "Belted Mini Jersey" calved about 12 days ago, took us by surprise. The windchill was about -20 that day. I discovered her cast against the doorway in the morning - assumed that the reason she was dull was because she was worn out and hypothermic (which she was) We got her drug away from the door, and after we had been trying to warm her up enough to get up for a couple of hours, we discovered a calf bedded down in the corner. The calf had been dried off, she had cleaned, and I was pretty sure that the calf had likely nursed before she went down, so then we suspected milk fever, even though she's never had an issue with it ever. Her temp was low, but she'd also been on the ground, in the wind for God knows how long.
I gave her 1.5 bottles CMPK IV, and a bottle of Cal Gluc SQ, while we still had her under and electric blanket and every horse blanket on the place over that. Whether it was the calcium, or the heat, after about another hour, we were able to get her up, with help from the dog.
She had a couple of days where she was pretty sore and punky, we kept her blanketed and stalled for a couple of days. She's been eating well, and seems fine. She even cycled. She willingly comes in to be milked, and when the shivering starts, she doesn't seem distressed about it - she keeps eating her grain - but it's pretty intense. Today when I was milking her, it was 40 degrees at the stanchion. There was a bit of a draft, because the wind was blowing, but it certainly wasn't cold - it was 34 outside. She's got a good winter coat and is in good condition. I've not seen her shiver any time other than when we're milking her. She's only giving about 3 gallons a day.
Any thoughts or ideas?