Aureomycin for Late Gestation Heifer

[TexasBred]

I'll never forget an online class that I took from a big university that I won't name since overall it was a good program. A student had a registered HO cow that had some huge type score with contracts for embryos to one of the big studs (not abs ) The entire purpose of taking that class for that student was to learn how to either manage that particular cows scc to make it look better or to learn how to dry her off without effecting her reproduction so as to not jepordize her contract potential. The instructers of that particular class were happy to tell just how to "fix" her so that she could stay in service... Made me sick.

Now that I've re-read the thread, I see that I failed to include the main point I was trying to make. That particular cow had severe mastitis in all four quarters for each of her two previous lactations. The rest of the herd didn't have a problem with somatic cell counts, it was just THAT COW and instead of culling they made her a donor cow.

In effect they did cull her. She won't be putting any more of that high cell count milk into the tank.

 

[Chuckie]

I'll respond to this while I am awake. Here is one of the articles on mastitis in the beef herd:
http://www.angusjournal.com/ArticlePDF/ ... stitis.pdf
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ll/faq8106

Dear Cow Pollinator,
Just because I keep my cows in good condition and minerals out, does not mean that I would consider culling a heifer with a light case of mastitis. After I have gone to all the expense and time with these heifers of letting them tie the land up to graze on, keeping the pastures up with lime and fertilizer, keeping mineral out, giving shots, worming, and making sure they have something to eat when it turns cold, I am not going to see what "Mother Nature" has in store for her.
If she had a balloned case of mastitis, yes, she would have to go. But this is not alarming, but something I see that I can take care of. I do pay attention to my heifers.

Mastitis is spread by the same flies that spread Pink Eye. We sure wouldn't want to wait to see how well our nutrition program was working when the flies brought in Pinkeye. Another "Mother Nature" problem we like to cut off at the pass.
If you have a cow/calf operation, I think if you ask anyone doing this, they will tell you that they want quality milk for the calves. From what all that I have read, (type in "heifer mastitis" in Google) there is a lot more mastitis in heifers, dairy and beef, than people thought for. So I guess beef and dairy people are wanting the same result. Quality Milk.


There are several articles wrote about how mastitis is passed from one cow to the other and the damage it causes farms and dairies. Just as the flies go from one cow to the other, they carry the germ. And calves do cross nurse. If one quarter is infected, and the calf checks each quarter out,
then it can infect all four quarters.
It states as long as the teat becomes unsealed, about a month before the heifer is due to calve, they are capable of contracting mastitis.
Chuckie

 

[Chuckie]

Dun, Lucky_P; how would you two treat if this was your heifer?
Chuckie

 

[TexasBred]

Dun, Lucky_P; how would you two treat if this was your heifer?
Chuckie

Chuckie you didn't ask me but I'll respond. If thsi is mastitis treat it and keep the heifer...but buy a good mastitis tube (One that must be purchased from a vet), infuse the infected quarter, apply a barrier teat dip which will reseal the teat end and watch !!! She should straighten up. Keep in mind that their are several strains of mastitis just as other infections....streph, staph, coliform etc..and some do not respond to one antibiotic as well as another. Some can be deadly..(You don't have that I don't think). You may have to re-treat the infected quarter....you're only talking about a couple bucks each time you treat her.
As for calves nursing other cows. It doesn't happen that much. A calf nursing it's mother often gets it's on saliva up into the teat canal, the cows immune system detects it, sees it as invasive bacteria and her and attempts to fight it. In doing so she also fights the mastitis. That's one reason why mastitis is far more prevalent in dairy cattle than beef cattle. The calf only gets to nurse the dairy cow a couple of days and from there on it's mechanical milking whereas the calf on a beef cow keeps the udder basically emptied at all times, no pressure build ups and the "foam and saliva" dries and helps seal the end of the teat. You'll still have some mastitis in beef cattle but the odds are in your favor.

 

[cow pollinater]

Dear Cow Pollinator,

Sorry Chuckie, I got drug off into a dairy rant since I support my beef cow habit with dairy work. I didn't mean to turn your thread into a dairy rant. My original point was just that prophylactic treatment just because there was mastitis around shouldn't be necesary in a beef herd. I'm not sugesting that you let the animal die if she DOES develop mastitis, I'm just saying let the cows handle it until there really is a problem to treat.

 

[Chuckie]

Cow Pollinator, I am fine with the dairy discussion. They have more experience in this area than the beef cattle people as a whole. Any help, or ranting, is welcome.

The heifer that had mastitis calved this morning. She had a heifer, and I did not think she was quite ready to have it. She had not relaxed as much as I thought she should have before the calf passed, and only the last two quarters were filled. The front two quarters were empty. I went to the vet's office and picked up a shot of Oxytocin to see if that would help her produce milk. I am going to go check on her and the calf in a few minutes, to see how they are doing. If nothing has changed, I will go back out there with a bottle of colostrum. The calf is getting something out of the two back quarters, but it doesn't look like very much. I am going to make sure that she is getting enough.
Chuckie

 

[alisonb]

I went to the vet's office and picked up a shot of Oxytocin to see if that would help her produce milk. I am going to go check on her and the calf in a few minutes, to see how they are doing. If nothing has changed, I will go back out there with a bottle of colostrum. The calf is getting something out of the two back quarters, but it doesn't look like very much. I am going to make sure that she is getting enough.
Chuckie

Chuckie - Don't be too disappointed when she does not produce more milk, Oxytocin will not help her produce milk but rather assist in her 'dropping' her milk should she be holding back. Good idea on the colostrum .

 

[Chuckie]

alisonb,
I was hoping that this would stimulate her hormones to tell her body that the calf is out, and I am hoping that all of the placenta has passed. She had it really early that morning, and I had not expected it. I could find no sign of placenta on the ground; I am sure she ate it, so I hope she is not retaining anything. Retained placenta can keep a cow from having milk. I will stay ahead of this until her milk kicks in. I will give her a bottle today, and each day until I see Mom is milking.

I am trying to come up with a reason that she didn't have milk. Her dam and grandam were good milkers, so I am hoping it is just the heifer in her. I hope the mastitis didn't mess her up. It was such a light case of it.
Chuckie