Cow won't give milk

[ChrisB]

I have a cow that recently calved and I noticed that the calf had not sucked. So I run the cow into the chute and try stripping some milk out before trying to get the calf on her. But I couldn't get any milk out of any of the quarters - the cow has a large udder which is very hard. The udder isn't warm and the cow doesn't seem to have any discomfort as she stands still when I try to milk her, I'm pretty sure there isn't any mastitis.

Does anyone have any tips,ideas, or explanations? I will cull the cow but I would like to get her to nurse her calf this year.

Thanks

 

[hillbillycwo]

Not an expert for sure but...Had a heifer that it took a day or two for her milk to come in so we tubed her calf gace the colostrum as per vet, she raised a nice calf. And had one that her bag was so tight she couldn't milk. My father in law had a dairy cow you would have to put the milk needle in her udders to get her milk flowing try that maybe? Good luck. Looking forward to hearing what folks like Dun say bout this one.

 

[alisonb]

Is it her first calf or has she nursed a calf before?
She could just be holding back her milk. Did you attempt letting calf suck when you tried to milk her? If not try and then see if she 'drops' her milk. Once you have ascertained she is not holding back milk you will have to consider mastitis etc...

 

[ChrisB]

I didn't try to get the calf to suck her. The calf wouldn't latch on in the first place so I figured if the calf didn't get immediate results it wouldn't stay on. But the thought did cross my mind. She is a somewhat older cow that hasn't had any problems in the past, and the calf was at least 24 hours old when I brought them in.

It's been a while since we milked cows but from what I remember - the bag would be hot from the infection and the milk would be real lumpy like cottage cheese. But I don't remember ever having a problem get bad enough that they would quit milking completely but I'm sure it was caught right away back then too.

I will look into the milk needle a bit and do a bit of research on mastitis also. Thanks for the quick help.

 

[hillbillycwo]

Did the calf act hungry? If it was 24 hours or so from birth till you brought it in is it possible the calf already sucked? were the teats clean? I would think that the calf sucked or soemthing is wrong with it if it didn't act hungry. More questions for my learning here than anything as I have limited experience. Thanks.

 

[ChrisB]

The calf did act hungry, the teats were still dirty. I watched the calf for some time and it spent probably 10 minutes sucking on the cows neck.

 

[hillbillycwo]

Well guess i have learned something then from some of the reading and listening to the old timers. Sorry to hear about the trouble did you get anything into the calf yet? I wonder if the calf maybe premature? Does that or could that have anything to do with the cow not coming into her milk yet?

 

[Suzie Q]

Calves naturally look up to suck, which is why the calf is sucking on the neck. Because the bag is so big it is lower and the calves don't naturally look down there to suck. So the calf ends up sucking on the neck, tail or anything else that is higher up.

I am sorry but I have not had the problem of no milk coming out. So I have no experience with that. But will say that I would cull the cow and any heifers you have from that cow. Yes drastic but that is what I do.

As someone above said the calf need colostrum and much better within 6 hours of birth or at least the first day. I have read that cows have 'plugs' that keep the milk from running until the calf is born. I have no idea how to remove them if they don't come out naturally.

 

[TexasBred]

I have a cow that recently calved and I noticed that the calf had not sucked. So I run the cow into the chute and try stripping some milk out before trying to get the calf on her. But I couldn't get any milk out of any of the quarters - the cow has a large udder which is very hard. The udder isn't warm and the cow doesn't seem to have any discomfort as she stands still when I try to milk her, I'm pretty sure there isn't any mastitis.

Does anyone have any tips,ideas, or explanations? I will cull the cow but I would like to get her to nurse her calf this year.

Thanks

Chris the mastitis may have occurred month ago without anyone noticing. Wha you're seeing now is the results. She may milk out after you open the teat canal with a canula but I doubt it.

 

[cow pollinater]

Try a dose of oxytocin.

 

[dun]

Couldalso be sever edema. There are a bunch of home remedys but a couple of shot of Lasix fixes it faster and easier

 

[hillsdown]

Couldalso be sever edema. There are a bunch of home remedys but a couple of shot of Lasix fixes it faster and easier

Maybe ,but usually you can strip them when they have edema once you get them to stop kicking the crap out of you.

I would try the oxytocin before a cannula, and see if you can strip her out. My guess is she had a bacterial infection when she was drying up and her teats were still open. I am thinking mastitis too. Good luck with her .

 

[TexasBred]

If you find anything in there I'm afraid it's going to be nothing more than "clabber".