Jersey Cow/New Calf/ Area of Milk Bag Hardening

[psayre]

Hello Everyone.
My Jersey gave birth to a little bull yesterday. Her milk bag is huge of course, however two teats I can't get anything out of them. I little clear liquid and a pasty creamy white comes out, but very little of anything. When I mash on her milk bag it is kind of hard ...it kind sinks in a comes back out slowly. Is there anything I can do. her other teats seem to be fine, even a little button nipple I manage to get milk out of it.
:???:

 

[M-5]

It needs to be stripped if you can , sometimes they are hard to get the plug out. If you cant do it find someone that can like a vet or maybe a dairy close by

 

[dun]

Mastitis. Needs treating now.

 

[farmerjan]

Where did the cow come from? There is a big chance it is mastitis, and it could actually be that the 2 quarters are just no good from previous problems. The reason I ask this is if she was a cull from a dairy, then she could only be a 2 quarter cow due to previous problems.
Try milking what ever you can get out of it. And I mean really working on the quarters, massaging the udder, trying it several times a day for a day or so. Clear fluid could be an indication of coliform mastitis, or worse klebsiella. If you are not worried about drinking the milk yourself right now, try treating the 2 "bad" quarters with a mastitis medicine that you infuse into the quarters. If there is any saving them, it might help
Is she running a temp? Or are her ears cold? Also signs of major problems, either would require a vet visit and I would not wait. If the other 2 quarters are showing normal milk, maybe a little yellowish since it is colostrum, make sure the calf gets the "good"milk.
One other thing, there are a couple of udder cremes that have mint in them. They help to work the edema (swelling) out of the udder, and are better than something like plain bag balm. The mint type are used in most all dairies now, it increases the blood flow to the udder and makes it warm, but it does help to get the udder to soften and be more pliable and all that helps the udder health.

 

[psayre]

Where did the cow come from? There is a big chance it is mastitis, and it could actually be that the 2 quarters are just no good from previous problems. The reason I ask this is if she was a cull from a dairy, then she could only be a 2 quarter cow due to previous problems.
Try milking what ever you can get out of it. And I mean really working on the quarters, massaging the udder, trying it several times a day for a day or so. Clear fluid could be an indication of coliform mastitis, or worse klebsiella. If you are not worried about drinking the milk yourself right now, try treating the 2 "bad" quarters with a mastitis medicine that you infuse into the quarters. If there is any saving them, it might help
Is she running a temp? Or are her ears cold? Also signs of major problems, either would require a vet visit and I would not wait. If the other 2 quarters are showing normal milk, maybe a little yellowish since it is colostrum, make sure the calf gets the "good"milk.
One other thing, there are a couple of udder cremes that have mint in them. They help to work the edema (swelling) out of the udder, and are better than something like plain bag balm. The mint type are used in most all dairies now, it increases the blood flow to the udder and makes it warm, but it does help to get the udder to soften and be more pliable and all that helps the udder health.

Thank you so much!!!! Very helpful! :heart:
I have been talking with a local vet also and I have been working the teats, but one I am only get small amount of clear stuff.
I am definitely going to get the mint cream. I had just got through reading about it when I read your post. Thanks again!

 

[Son of Butch]

Where did the cow come from? There is a big chance it is mastitis, and it could actually be that the 2 quarters are just no good from previous problems. The reason I ask this is if she was a cull from a dairy, then she could only be a 2 quarter cow due to previous problems.

Is she running a temp? Or are her ears cold?

Very good post Jan. Online diagnosis is so difficult.

My gut feeling is she's a 2 teated cull and if no temp and otherwise healthy, nothing can be done, the previous
damage has been done and beyond repair. An experienced dairyman or vet could tell very quickly by checking her
in person. Depending on shape of udder, but if it's the 2 rear quarters and little milk production from the front 2
then it appears it will be a bottle calf and best to send the cow to slaughter.

 

[farmerjan]

So, What is the status? Is she a cow from a dairy or someplace that you don't know her previous status? It is near impossible to tell you without seeing the cow, it seems like the best bet for you to continue working with the local vet.
A 2 teat dairy cow can raise a calf, whereas a 2 teat beef cow would probably be short changing the calf in most cases. However, another thing to consider; if she is a 2 teat cow, and an older cow as opposed to a first or second calf heifer, the probability of her having a high somatic cell count is increased a hundredfold. High cell count is an indication of mastitis, and usually is either staph or strep. Honestly, you don't want to be drinking her milk, it won't necessarily make you sick, but it won't do you any good either. If she is a high cell count cow, she will be prone to mastitis all the time, many carry a low grade staph infection that will show up as thick milk, chunks of mastitis, and sometimes off smell, taste. You could give her enough antibiotics to "kill a horse" and never get rid of it. They are considered "chronic cases" and any dairyman will ship them as they cost them in lost revenue and will pass the infection to other cows through the milking machine.

Another thing about high cell counts, the milk is not as "clean" so the shelf life is much shorter. In other words, milk from a low cell count cow will keep 2 weeks or more in the fridge. Milk from a high cell count cow might keep 3-5 days before it turns. All cows have a certain amount of somatic cell, it is naturally occurring and there is no such thing as a somatic cell count free cow. Like we all have bacteria in our systems....but when it becomes a chronic problem, them the best thing for them to do is "have a big mac attack".
There are too many dairy cows that are not problems to keep the ones that are chronic.
All cows can get mastitis, and most times it is treatable, and that is the end of it; but a re-occurring problem is one to get rid of.

From what you wrote I am feeling that she is only going to be good in 2 quarters.

One other thing, if she is a first calf heifer, there is a possibility that her udder may have been sucked by other heifers or calves and it will ruin the quarters that were sucked before she matured and developed. There is a first calf heifer that is on a dairy I test for, and they caught her sucking other cows not long after she came in fresh. Seems there are 4 other heifers that were in the same group as her, that are 3 teat and one is only 2 teat. This heifer sucked the calves when they were growing, causing the quarters that were sucked to be damaged and have ruined those quarters on the other heifers for life. If she was mine, I'd cut her throat right now. So if this is a young cow, that is a remote possibility. The quarters will not "come back" they are ruined for life, but the other quarters should be okay. I would definitely see about getting a sample of her milk run for SCC and if it is high, then you need to seriously think about getting rid of her and finding a new cow.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

 

[francismilker]

Old post I know but I want to jump in with my two cents.

Some of my jerseys will have hard quarters when they first freshen. This mainly because the calf is only sucking the front two due to easy access and are getting more than enough milk. These hard quarters will soften up and come into milk if you keep stripping them out in my case. It's just a few days to make happen.

How did she end up doing?