Post by mymenagerie on Jan 7, 2010 19:14:01 GMT -5
Hi everybody. I took in a rescue cow today and in my online search for answers, I came upon this forum; what a nice find!
She is a Jersey. She's in kindof rough shape; pretty filthy & very thin. She's come through 2 large dairy farms; lived on concrete in a stantion most of her life. I'd like to patch her up & maybe make a nice little family milk cow out of her.
I have a couple of questions though.
First, I was told that last year she got mastitis pretty bad. The previous owners got her through it, but said they had to kill a quarter to save her. Now, will that quarter ever come back, or is it lost for good? Also, is she more susceptible to getting mastitis again? She's filthy, so I'm thinking if I clean her up & keep her clean, she won't be as likely to get it again, correct? She is re-bred. She is currently dry. She has another 4 1/2 months to go before she has the calf.
Second question. The previous owners said she had injured her kneecap a couple years ago and they would tap it occasionally to make her body reabsorb the fluid. It is very swollen and squishy, fluid-filled feeling. I do not know if it was ever any better than this with them tapping it to "treat" it. Or if it always looks this way. She does limp on it and there is a bit of heat on it. Is there any possible treatment? Or maybe her being out of a dairy barn, off the concrete & now being a normal free-range cow in my pasture may help it correct itself? Or since it's an old injury, it'll never get better?
I'm also thinking that maybe doing a round of antibiotics on her for the next week might not be a bad idea, considering her shape and issues she's coming from. What do you think?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
She is a Jersey. She's in kindof rough shape; pretty filthy & very thin. She's come through 2 large dairy farms; lived on concrete in a stantion most of her life. I'd like to patch her up & maybe make a nice little family milk cow out of her.
I have a couple of questions though.
First, I was told that last year she got mastitis pretty bad. The previous owners got her through it, but said they had to kill a quarter to save her. Now, will that quarter ever come back, or is it lost for good? Also, is she more susceptible to getting mastitis again? She's filthy, so I'm thinking if I clean her up & keep her clean, she won't be as likely to get it again, correct? She is re-bred. She is currently dry. She has another 4 1/2 months to go before she has the calf.
Second question. The previous owners said she had injured her kneecap a couple years ago and they would tap it occasionally to make her body reabsorb the fluid. It is very swollen and squishy, fluid-filled feeling. I do not know if it was ever any better than this with them tapping it to "treat" it. Or if it always looks this way. She does limp on it and there is a bit of heat on it. Is there any possible treatment? Or maybe her being out of a dairy barn, off the concrete & now being a normal free-range cow in my pasture may help it correct itself? Or since it's an old injury, it'll never get better?
I'm also thinking that maybe doing a round of antibiotics on her for the next week might not be a bad idea, considering her shape and issues she's coming from. What do you think?
Thank you in advance for any advice!