Post by Applelonia on Jun 9, 2019 0:40:11 GMT -5
Not sure if this is a 911 issue or not....
France is having great difficulty walking. She is taking very short, shaky, almost stumbling steps. I can't tell if it is a hoof issue or a leg/muscle issue. More pronounced in the front. She seems alert and has no other symptoms of being off except her walking. Eating and drinking, alert, calm, full rumen.
I'm thinking it's either a hoof thing or from being stiff and sore from not having good muscle tone from being locked up to long. But, I’m very worried about her, especially because I lost Applelonia to a broken leg of unknown cause.
Our barn faces the south and there is a hill sloping down to it..this winter it was sheer ice for most of the winter. Not just a patch here and there but thick ice in the whole turn out area. She was locked up inside the barn for months except for a day or two when things would melt enough for her to go out. There were several occasions when she fell. She doesn't have good balance and is not a graceful cow on a good day and just a little ice she would fall down. It was not ideal, as her stall is only 10x12, but I decided to keep her in instead of leaving her out on the ice.
The snow melted and I let her outside and she seemed stiff but I figured she was stiff from being locked up. There was no pasture to go out on and she just had the sloppy muddy muck and didn't run or walk around much in these conditions. Then a month ago I stopped milking her (cold turkey) to dry her up - she is due Aug 10th. She dripped milk for three weeks. Was producing just under 4 gallons a day. We still had, deep mud behind the barn - past the cows knees. And it kept raining and more mud. When I let her out her udder/teats would be full of mud. Anything that resembled her milk routine and she would start streaming milk. So, I figured needing to wash her dirty udder/teats daily would not be good for the drying off process. I agonized over locking her up or leaving her out in the deep, slurry mud behind the barn. I locked her up inside. The day she stopped dripping I let her outside. That was about a week ago.
She was started slowly on pasture. First two days she was in the pasture area that is rather short and not much to eat. Third day she was out for about 4 hours in a smaller polywired off area. Fourth day about 6 hours in the polywired area. Fifth day she was let into a larger polywired area for about 8 hours. Today she was left all day in the polywired area. It's not rich grass ~ native/volunteer grasses, weeds, a little clover, no alfalfa.
She's been eating alfalfa hay and grass hay. Same alfalfa hay she's had all winter. Grass hay was cut last weekend, it's from a rented field - same field/hay she's had last year. She has free choice redmonds salt and an organic dairy mineral.
Her hooves are too long. I've trimmed a little off the ends on her back hooves...weeks ago. And it was only like 1/2 an inch. I have called many farriers in the past ....either they will not come as they are too far away or they will not come to trim a cow or two (only will come for large herds). Or I just leave messages and they never call back. I've been looking online tonight and found a couple more I'm going to call.
I’m very concerned for her. Her steps look so short and unsteady like she could go down with any step. Will be calling the vet in the morning…or do you guys think this seems like a vet emergency?
Going out to check on her again....
France is having great difficulty walking. She is taking very short, shaky, almost stumbling steps. I can't tell if it is a hoof issue or a leg/muscle issue. More pronounced in the front. She seems alert and has no other symptoms of being off except her walking. Eating and drinking, alert, calm, full rumen.
I'm thinking it's either a hoof thing or from being stiff and sore from not having good muscle tone from being locked up to long. But, I’m very worried about her, especially because I lost Applelonia to a broken leg of unknown cause.
Our barn faces the south and there is a hill sloping down to it..this winter it was sheer ice for most of the winter. Not just a patch here and there but thick ice in the whole turn out area. She was locked up inside the barn for months except for a day or two when things would melt enough for her to go out. There were several occasions when she fell. She doesn't have good balance and is not a graceful cow on a good day and just a little ice she would fall down. It was not ideal, as her stall is only 10x12, but I decided to keep her in instead of leaving her out on the ice.
The snow melted and I let her outside and she seemed stiff but I figured she was stiff from being locked up. There was no pasture to go out on and she just had the sloppy muddy muck and didn't run or walk around much in these conditions. Then a month ago I stopped milking her (cold turkey) to dry her up - she is due Aug 10th. She dripped milk for three weeks. Was producing just under 4 gallons a day. We still had, deep mud behind the barn - past the cows knees. And it kept raining and more mud. When I let her out her udder/teats would be full of mud. Anything that resembled her milk routine and she would start streaming milk. So, I figured needing to wash her dirty udder/teats daily would not be good for the drying off process. I agonized over locking her up or leaving her out in the deep, slurry mud behind the barn. I locked her up inside. The day she stopped dripping I let her outside. That was about a week ago.
She was started slowly on pasture. First two days she was in the pasture area that is rather short and not much to eat. Third day she was out for about 4 hours in a smaller polywired off area. Fourth day about 6 hours in the polywired area. Fifth day she was let into a larger polywired area for about 8 hours. Today she was left all day in the polywired area. It's not rich grass ~ native/volunteer grasses, weeds, a little clover, no alfalfa.
She's been eating alfalfa hay and grass hay. Same alfalfa hay she's had all winter. Grass hay was cut last weekend, it's from a rented field - same field/hay she's had last year. She has free choice redmonds salt and an organic dairy mineral.
Her hooves are too long. I've trimmed a little off the ends on her back hooves...weeks ago. And it was only like 1/2 an inch. I have called many farriers in the past ....either they will not come as they are too far away or they will not come to trim a cow or two (only will come for large herds). Or I just leave messages and they never call back. I've been looking online tonight and found a couple more I'm going to call.
I’m very concerned for her. Her steps look so short and unsteady like she could go down with any step. Will be calling the vet in the morning…or do you guys think this seems like a vet emergency?
Going out to check on her again....