had a cow have a still born calf 9 days ago all has been going well till today i found her with some dark red discharge. Do you all think she is still cleaning out ? how long can this last ? she is acting normal still eating well.
how long will a cow clean out ??
- Thread starter andrews29
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TexasBred
Well-known member
andrews29":c6gednyy said:
She's most likely already infected and what you see is old blood and rotting flesh. She probably already stinks to high heaven as well....If you don't know how to manually clean her out and infuse her with bolus' you better get her to a vet.
The vet has the correct answer. If it doesn;t stink and the blood isn;t bright fresh blood it;s just nature taking care of things. I've occasioanlly seen them still have a bit of detrious at the first heat cycle if they cycle within a month or so.andrews29":1q6ipsp9 said:
cypressfarms
Well-known member
Good to check with a vet - he's obviously correct. Having said that I would be concerned of all of my cows went 14 days before they discharged everthing. The norm should be 1 - 2 days or less.
You might be surprised at how long they actually still pass a little of the goop (that's a technical term) Unless you watch them closely you might miss that occasional glop (another technical term) of goop that will slip out and get lost to sight on the ground. The whole process of the calf bed returning to it's original size and shape (involution) takes around 45 days. That's one of the reasons that very early heats frequently won;t result in the cow settling.cypressfarms":1etq43fl said:
TexasBred
Well-known member
Guess we all have our own ways of doing things. I've always gone inside and checked when I saw anykind of discharge. Better safe than sorry. A few clots of blood is not unusual but if she's retaining afterbirth you may end up with a serious infection. As for smell...by the time she smells you've already got a problem. Just my 2 cents worth.
andrews29
Well-known member
maybe i should have gave more info in my first post. she did pass the afterbirth the day she had the still born what im seeing yesterday and today is small amount of blood. looks alot like when a cow is in heat (dark blood on tail and rear end finding small amounts on ground and in her urine)
TexasBred
Well-known member
andrews29":3vsew8iv said:
Sounds like she's doing fine. Best of luck to you.
pdfangus
Well-known member
TexasBred":2kdmh0wt said:
TexasBred,
I use to do a lot of that stuff til I found I got better results just treating them with long acting oxytetracycline.
I have had it clear up some pretty nasty ones. Usually a couple of treatments and they are on the mend.
Ocassionally will hit one about 40 to 50 days later with a shot of luyalyse just to be sure.
TexasBred
Well-known member
pdfangus":246fo42z said:
Sounds like it's worked well for you. Mine were dairy so I didn't want any antibiotics in them and since then the habit has always just sort of hung on. I can't stand to see a cow with afterbirth hanging out. With the dairy cows every cow was checked and if there was even any off color mucous we infused her and often gave a shot of lutalyse.
pdfangus
Well-known member
Another similarity between us.
I did not know you had a dairy background.
I worked for quite a few years for a milk marketing cooperative in a series of positions. and then had another career selling dairy cleaning and sanitation as a factory rep over a seven state area.
believe me I can testify about antibiotics in milk.
I did not know you had a dairy background.
I worked for quite a few years for a milk marketing cooperative in a series of positions. and then had another career selling dairy cleaning and sanitation as a factory rep over a seven state area.
believe me I can testify about antibiotics in milk.
TexasBred
Well-known member
pdfangus":jw6j4vg9 said:
Dumping 6500 gallons of milk is not a pretty sight. :cry2:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
I know we have different opinions on this subject, but all the latest research says you should NOT clean out the retained placenta. Cattle left alone settle sooner than those that were manually cleaned out.
I understand that in the South with the heat, things have to be handled a little differently.
Discharging blood is a normal cleaning process. If the cow shows signs of infections and is healthy, a shot of Lutalyse works very well to help her clean out.
I understand that in the South with the heat, things have to be handled a little differently.
Discharging blood is a normal cleaning process. If the cow shows signs of infections and is healthy, a shot of Lutalyse works very well to help her clean out.
TexasBred
Well-known member
Small bloody discharge is one think.....rotting chunks of meat left inside that I can easily remove is something else. Sterilize, work easily, don't draw new blood and get that crap out. I would always infuse with Nolvasan boluses or the tubes and get the cow cleaned. I understand the hesitancy of some to do this but I'll always be a firm believer in it. And breed back was never a problem. Many people are just too lazy to take that extra time and a little bit of money to take care of a very expensive cow that makes a living for you.Jeanne - Simme Valley":3o275iz2 said:
