Cow that wont milk

[Crowderfarms]

Got a good one for yall. Just got back from a friend's farm and he's got an 18 year old Angus cow, sound condition that had a real nice calf Monday A.M.He called me to try and bottle feed the calf, as he's an older fellow that had a stroke, calf wants nothing to do with the bottle, wont suck, but runs around the lot buckin, and feeling good. I tried to milk the old cow that's as gentle as a puppy, her bag looks good, but I can't get anything out of any teats. You can feel she's got milk, but cant get a thing. I've never had this problem before, do you think the milk will "drop"? should the calf be pulled and separated from the cow? To be fed? I saw evidence of miconium on the calf, Like I said, he seems alert and spunky... Any suggestions would be more than appreciated!!!

 

[jerry27150]

if you are sure there is milk there, you should be able to get it to come out with enough pressure. she may have masititis with big chunks of garget plugging the holes or she may not have any milk. you could try a teat tube to see if it will come out of that. what is miconium, never heard of that

 

[Crowderfarms]

Her bag feels firm, teats are normal size, The fellow that owns the cow, says yesterday he got clear liquid out of 1 quarter.I got not a drip. I'd say mastitis is a player, but don't you usually see large irregular teats? Calf acts full of energy, Miconium is the first feces.THANKS for the response. I'm just trying to help some good old folks, who have a few cows, and their health is stopping them from being able to do for themselves.

 

[jerry27150]

no lots of times the bag will look & feel normal, sometines it will be hot but not always. some mastitis will be a clear liquid & others will be chunks. if you think that is what it is i would get some tubes of mastitis treatment to put in each quarter or give her 20 cc's of penicillin for a couple of days, if milk starts coming the calf will then suck & keep it cleaned out so it will straighten out

 

[Crowderfarms]

Thanks Jerry, I'll go in the A.M. and give her 20ccs, we'll see how it goes from there. Appreciate your help.

 

[milkmaid]

ToDay is a lot better for mastitis treatment than penicillin..........or so it's said. ;-) If you treat intermammary you'll put that antibiotic right where it's needed. Now, I've seen cows treated intermammary with both (one cow with pen, one with ToDay), and neither cow recovered. One died of related complications, the other ended up "growing wheels" several months later because she only milked out of two quarters. Penicillin didn't help the other two quarters.

Even if it is mastitis, you should be able to get something from those teats. It may take a lot of strength, or the teat ends may be covered in manure. And if it is mastitis, you'll want to make sure you get that stripped out soon, or she's going to lose those quarters.

 

[certherfbeef]

You can even put the penicillin in the infected quarter like you do the today or tomorrow. I don't remember how much though and it is not a recommended pratice :shock:

 

[jerry27150]

milkmaid , i would have to disagree. i have used both today & every other brand you put in the quarter & even if you get it worked up in the bag good it never gets to every cell. i always preferred a shot or two of penicillin in the muscle to knock it completely out. i was a dairyman most of my life

 

[Crowderfarms]

I'm going to try the Pennicillin this morning. Plus I don't have any Today meds.Not disagreeing with anyones opinions, All I have is Pen. I appreciate all the input, and knew I'd get help with this problem here. Thanks to all! I'll report back later with good or bad news. My elderly friends with the cow, appreciate it too.

 

[Big D]

We use excenel, it has been very effective. Plus it does not have withdrawl time, so if she never milks send her down the road.

 

[jkwilson]

Some cows aren't very good about letting down their milk without the calf being there banging around. 5cc of oxytocin IM will help get the flow going about 10 minutes after the shot, or immediately if IV.

 

[sidney411]

That cow is so old anyway, why doesn't he sell them as a pair at the next sale? How many more calves does he really think he will get out of this cow? This may be the beginning of the end or her productive years.

 

[mhill]

Why would you try to sell them as a pair and have someone else buy a worthless cow.

 

[sidney411]

The cow should go no matter what, the calf should go so he doesn't have to bottle feed the baby, Crowderfarms said the guy that owns the cow is to elderly to take care of such a problem, some one else may be able to. What do you think other farmers do with their dud cows? People sell them at the auction.

 

[Farminlund]

calf wants nothing to do with the bottle, wont suck, but runs around the lot buckin, and feeling good. I saw evidence of miconium on the calf, Like I said, he seems alert and spunky...

Could it be that all is ok with the calf & it's ability to nurse (the the cow's milking capability)? If I encounter a "spunky" calf that doesn't want a bottle - I think full belly. Why does the gentlemen feel the calf has not nursed?

I say this because a couple weeks ago I could not get anything from the front large teats on my cow - I posted on the board as well, & got many insightful suggestions - one of which was to do nothing - which I followed. Well guess what? A few days later, the calf had nursed down one of those large teats that I could nothing from (doesn't say much about my skills). Anyhow, just another thought based on your "spunky" comment - my experience says a 2 day old calf that hasn't nursed is not "spunky".

 

[Crowderfarms]

My thoughts are like yours, farminlund, how could he be so spunky, and full of energy? Followed up on Cow & Calf today, printed all responses to my post, and the old fellow decided to put a set of General radials on her, and roll her towards the sale barn tomorrow. For some reason, he's bound and determined to raise the calf on the bottle. I suggested to at least sell the calf locally, or sell as a pair.He just doesn't want to put any more effort into the cow.He's had her for 18 yrs.Guess he's ready to throw in the towel. THANKS to ALL of you for your responses and suggestions.Easy to lead the horse to water, hell to make him drink! Not my stock, so I can only say so much.

 

[mhill]

What I meant was that you should sell them both seperately, but not as a pair. There are people out there that try and sell their junk as cow/calf pairs.

 

[dun]

I've even seen people pair up wet cows with bottle calves and sell them as pairs.

dun

 

[Linda]

I'm a little late with this reply, but I have a beef cow that I milked for a couple of months. She didn't want to let her milk down for me, although her calf got plenty. I finally compromised and let her calf nurse on one side while I emptied the other side each evening. I was getting a gallon each milking. She weaned a 615# bull calf, so I guess he didn't suffer from lack of milk.

There's a good chance the cow you were asking about just wouldn't let her milk down for you.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Linda, I also felt that the cow would not let her milk down.And to respond to a couple of other responses, a Cow is a lot like buying a used car at an auction or a car lot, sometimes another's junk is there to be disposed of.Again, IF the cow and calf were mine, I could be in charge of the situation, and would have tried the advice you good folks responded with!! thanks again.