heifer's udder problem

[jt]

i have a heifer that calved about 2 weeks ago. she is from a good cow and looked to be fine.
calf doing good, for now.

problem is, i noticed a couple of days ago that the calf as he nursed, kept changing teats. quicker than normal, because the heifer has a decent sized udder.

so i ran her into the chute and 2 quarters are hard and no milk. they are not hot, but feel to be at the normal temperature.

would this be possibly because the calf didnt nurse them quick enough, or is it probably something else. will this be permanent or if i keep her will she be most likely to milk ok the next time?

any info on this problem is appreciated.


thanks

jt

 

[dun]

Message the teat end and the affected quarter and see if you can express anything. Milk, blood, clots, whatever. Any of those and you'll know what you're dealing with, nothing comes out and I have no idea other then it's a dead quarter from some cause. The reason for messaging the teat is incase the plug in it is hard to get out.

 

[jt]

i did. and nothing. eventually got kinda tough with it and only a single drop or 2 out of one of them. then nothing more.

jt

 

[dun]

Maybe, and it's a slim maybe, a diuretic would held. If it's edema, which isn;t likely but when you're straw grasping, Lasix or something of that nature may help. Also messaging the udder with a warm wet cloth may help to break up the congestion if that's what it is.

 

[TexasBred]

Was that single drop that came out actually milk? If so sounds like she's got mastitis at best. Could be a tumor. Use to make an instrument you could insert up into the tit and cut a tumor or other material from the inside of the tit. I'd probably just get me a mastitis tube and see if I could insert it all the way into the tit (even use some force) and see if I could infuse it into the quarter. This will be a little invasive to her but gonna lose those two quarters without something being done.

 

[dun]

Was that single drop that came out actually milk? If so sounds like she's got mastitis at best. Could be a tumor. Use to make an instrument you could insert up into the tit and cut a tumor or other material from the inside of the tit. I'd probably just get me a mastitis tube and see if I could insert it all the way into the tit (even use some force) and see if I could infuse it into the quarter. This will be a little invasive to her but gonna lose those two quarters without something being done.

Good idea. I'm just reluctant to put anything in the udder that the calf will suck out and may cause a problem. But I tend to worry about that sort of stuff, probably unnecessarily.

 

[milkmaid]

If the quarters are not hot, very likely there is no current infection and no current milk production. She probably had an infection at some point as a heifer and both quarters were 'killed'. 99% chance you'll cause more problems than you could potential solve by trying to open up the teat canal. JMO.

 

[TexasBred]

If you don't at least try to open up the quarter you're guaranteed two dead quarters. Not going to hurt a thing if it's already dead. We're talking about infusing it with antibiotics anyway. Go for it.

 

[jt]

thanks for the replies. i am going to get up her again and take another look. hate to lose her, but i read on here somewhere along the way that "culling solves 75% of your problems" lol and she is all but a goner. i have other heifers to take her place.

i originally thought about giving her something for mastitis, but with the quarters not being feverish, i didnt think it would do much if any good and not enough for me to keep her. your replies have reinforced my decision.. thanks

best i could tell, the drop was milk. it didnt have an odor to it, and was not thick. lol, in the heat of the battle, she was kicking around some and i couldnt get anymore to really get a good take on it.

i will put her calf on a nurse cow and move her along the way.

thanks again,

jt

 

[simangus23]

On Heifers--- their teats open up about 2 weeks prior to calving--- so many times infection begins then--- I agree sounds like Mastitis to me -- in the future I would be sure and keep heifers in a clean place prior to calving. Mastitis ----- Pursue

If you take a milk culture and find out it is Staph aureus -- then you can use a teat infusion of 1 litre of hypertonic saline soln + 35 cc of 1% Iodine + 10 cc of Lidocaine--- or the stockyard is always an option

If her calf is a heifer she will more than likely be a carrier of the Staph Aureus til she calves-- so I would remove all female progeny from that line.

 

[GMN]

Can you feel scar tissue in the teat canal, try stripping it out, if it feels odd, and since no milk is coming out, my bet they are dead quarters. Sometimes they develop mastitis when they are pregnant, sometimes it flares up, the quarter get hot and hard, sometimes it doesn't. It may have gotten hard at sometime and it wasn't noticeable, and this is the end result now, 2 dead quarters.

If this is the case, no sense treating them, I'd ship her.

Gail

 

[TexasBred]

Can you feel scar tissue in the teat canal, try stripping it out, if it feels odd, and since no milk is coming out, my bet they are dead quarters. Sometimes they develop mastitis when they are pregnant, sometimes it flares up, the quarter get hot and hard, sometimes it doesn't. It may have gotten hard at sometime and it wasn't noticeable, and this is the end result now, 2 dead quarters.

If this is the case, no sense treating them, I'd ship her.

Gail

Gail, had that very thing happen to a holstein heifer only about 5 months bred. One quarter swelled, I checked her and that quarter sounded like cardboad when you thumped it. Decided to infuse it with a mastitis tube and it all ran out up on the side of the udder where it had ruptured and I hadn't noticed. Swelling went down eventually but quarter was dead.

Oh but if you want to do as Simangus said and infuse with 35 cc's of iodine you can probably go ahead adn kiss the quarter goodbye regardless. Would never tell anyone to put iodine of any strength inside the tit.

 

[GMN]

Can you feel scar tissue in the teat canal, try stripping it out, if it feels odd, and since no milk is coming out, my bet they are dead quarters. Sometimes they develop mastitis when they are pregnant, sometimes it flares up, the quarter get hot and hard, sometimes it doesn't. It may have gotten hard at sometime and it wasn't noticeable, and this is the end result now, 2 dead quarters.

If this is the case, no sense treating them, I'd ship her.

Gail

Gail, had that very thing happen to a holstein heifer only about 5 months bred. One quarter swelled, I checked her and that quarter sounded like cardboad when you thumped it. Decided to infuse it with a mastitis tube and it all ran out up on the side of the udder where it had ruptured and I hadn't noticed. Swelling went down eventually but quarter was dead.

Oh but if you want to do as Simangus said and infuse with 35 cc's of iodine you can probably go ahead adn kiss the quarter goodbye regardless. Would never tell anyone to put iodine of any strength inside the tit.

They use these concoctions, formalin/formaldehyde also to infuse up quarters that you want to be totally dead. I have never done it, but I remember my Vet saying once that is what people do, just so the cow loses the milk production in htat quarter permanently, where severe cases of mastitis are apparent, etc..

Gail

 

[TexasBred]

Gail I've seen them infuse the infected quarter with 35cc's strong iodine and then put a castrating band up on the teat. It will then fall off and be smooth. Sounds cruel but I guess some still do it.

 

[GMN]

Gail I've seen them infuse the infected quarter with 35cc's strong iodine and then put a castrating band up on the teat. It will then fall off and be smooth. Sounds cruel but I guess some still do it.

When we first started out, I had a cow with gangrene mastitis, blue bag on one side of the bag, caused by a E-coli bug, the two quarters were blue, the Vet came out and cut both quarters off, said she didn't feel it, and they were dead, and this way they could drain. next day she was dead, infection had gone into her system already. This was before we used JVAC, or even knew much about anything. It was gross.

GMN

 

[milkmaid]

I've seen them bleed to death that way too, Gail.

That said, I've seen the result of dozens of "amputations" and the cows were perfectly fine after they healed up. You get a rather lopsided udder, but still...

 

[GMN]

I've seen them bleed to death that way too, Gail.

That said, I've seen the result of dozens of "amputations" and the cows were perfectly fine after they healed up. You get a rather lopsided udder, but still...

I was going by what the Vet did, and like I said I had no experience with gangrene mastitis, then. I have never had the problem since then, and am glad, because it seemed a bit too gross for me. Can't really remember what came out of it, when he snipped it off, but I think what did it for me, was just the snipping off, seemed unnatural.

Gail

 

[JMichal]

Gail I've seen them infuse the infected quarter with 35cc's strong iodine and then put a castrating band up on the teat. It will then fall off and be smooth. Sounds cruel but I guess some still do it.

When we first started out, I had a cow with gangrene mastitis, blue bag on one side of the bag, caused by a E-coli bug, the two quarters were blue, the Vet came out and cut both quarters off, said she didn't feel it, and they were dead, and this way they could drain. next day she was dead, infection had gone into her system already. This was before we used JVAC, or even knew much about anything. It was gross.

GMN

UDDERLY DISGUSTING!!

 

[TexasBred]

JM, I agree but especiallty with gangrene mastitis you literally only have minutes to do something. I've seen a cow walk out of a barn totally healthy after being milked and in a matter of minutes have a cold blue udder with nothing but pure blood in at least one quarter. Have seen teats cut off and the cows heal. The quarter basically just turns roten and falls out then heals over. It is gross but the cow feels nothing and will die anyway without some kind of treatment.

 

[sodfarmer490]

well, since i lost my original reply, i will try and do it again.

i really thing oftimes flies have a role to play in giving these heifers udder problems, when they freshen. especially in the south states, where they are more of a problem. just my humble opinion, but based on what i saw. i have seen udders and teats covered with these blood sucking face and or horn flies on certain days, when they are more vicious, than other days. since they spread pinkeye, i would think they could easily spread bacteria up the teat canal, another reason to try and protect the cows on those really bad fly days............i had one heifer come up with this, and i really think the flys were the culprit.