Post by Nonesuch Melissa on Aug 11, 2010 21:20:21 GMT -5
Buttercup my mini- Jersey was severely bloated yesterday after she ate the grain that was planned for 5 lactating cows at about 8 am.
I found her down and blown up like a balloon when I got home at 5pm. I forced her up by tying her to the tractor and then push/pulled her to the stanchion... I only milk OAD so she is pretty full at night... I drenched her with oil... then with baking soda and water and then milked her and then walked her till I almost dropped. If I left her alone for even a minute she would lay back down and it was a major tug-o-war to get her up! I tied her mouth open with bailing twine and pushed her to walk some more. She was shooting diarrhea out the rear but couldn't seem to burp.
I finally put Zoe (my cow chaser dog) on her and sent her for about a 30 minute lope around the pasture. She will move a cow so gently... never nipping or scaring them... just moving them where I want them to go. After a while Butter began farting and burping up a storm.... good thing too since I was just a moment away from sticking her. I can say for sure that if your cow ever bloats you will have no trouble knowing where to stick her... the rumen sticks up like there is a large watermelon right where there is usually a hollow under the short ribs... I am thinking it would have been easy even in the dark... fortunately the other stuff worked and I didn't have to spend today wondering if she would get peritonitis from the stick.
Today she is still passing loose and spatly poo but her rumen looks normal. I have fasted her from grain until tonight and then gave her only a handful after her probios and plenty of grass hay tonight. She usually gets 6 pounds of dairy mix morning and evening. She was down from almost 3 gallons to less than 1/2 that last night and again tonight. I imagine from stress and shock and dehydration and a negative energy balance and... well whatever...
So my question is... is there anything I am missing that I should be doing now to help her recover... and how do I get her back up to speed on her grain and production or should I just consider it a permanent loss? The good thing about death is you either is or you aint and she aint and that's good enough for me! So if the production is permanently lost it's just not that big a deal in the scheme of things. Still if anyone has any insight on what to expect I'd sure love to hear.
Thanks!
Melissa
I found her down and blown up like a balloon when I got home at 5pm. I forced her up by tying her to the tractor and then push/pulled her to the stanchion... I only milk OAD so she is pretty full at night... I drenched her with oil... then with baking soda and water and then milked her and then walked her till I almost dropped. If I left her alone for even a minute she would lay back down and it was a major tug-o-war to get her up! I tied her mouth open with bailing twine and pushed her to walk some more. She was shooting diarrhea out the rear but couldn't seem to burp.
I finally put Zoe (my cow chaser dog) on her and sent her for about a 30 minute lope around the pasture. She will move a cow so gently... never nipping or scaring them... just moving them where I want them to go. After a while Butter began farting and burping up a storm.... good thing too since I was just a moment away from sticking her. I can say for sure that if your cow ever bloats you will have no trouble knowing where to stick her... the rumen sticks up like there is a large watermelon right where there is usually a hollow under the short ribs... I am thinking it would have been easy even in the dark... fortunately the other stuff worked and I didn't have to spend today wondering if she would get peritonitis from the stick.
Today she is still passing loose and spatly poo but her rumen looks normal. I have fasted her from grain until tonight and then gave her only a handful after her probios and plenty of grass hay tonight. She usually gets 6 pounds of dairy mix morning and evening. She was down from almost 3 gallons to less than 1/2 that last night and again tonight. I imagine from stress and shock and dehydration and a negative energy balance and... well whatever...
So my question is... is there anything I am missing that I should be doing now to help her recover... and how do I get her back up to speed on her grain and production or should I just consider it a permanent loss? The good thing about death is you either is or you aint and she aint and that's good enough for me! So if the production is permanently lost it's just not that big a deal in the scheme of things. Still if anyone has any insight on what to expect I'd sure love to hear.
Thanks!
Melissa