homesteadjersey
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First time post, please excuse the not introducing myself first. Just a little worried about dear Bess.
We bought Bess in July, she calved at the beginning of September and has given us about a gallon of milk in the evening, as well as feeding her fast growing baby boy.
Earlier today I looked out in the pasture to see her standing around and then laying down the next. For some reason it struck me as odd, so I approached her and she was groaning a little bit. Made her get up(it's the horse person in me LOL) and she appeared to be fine, so I went to work. Came home and went to milk at 6, she looked extremely bloated(think fawn hippo on toothpicks) so much so she looked almost bigger than the day she calved. We didn't feed her, she milked half a gallon(half her usual amount). I thought maybe she was a little dehydrated, so I offered her some of her feed(50% wet beet pulp, a scoop of 17% pellets, and 1/4 scoop of whole oats and corn), I thought perhaps her wet beet pulp would help rehydrate her. When I realize she only ate a portion of her feed and then wanted to be let loose, I really began to worry.
She had the signs of a bloating cow. We walked/trotted her around the pasture, she defecated about 6-8 times starting out firm and then getting very watery toward the end. We then tied her in the stancion with her front feet up on cinderblocks to aid her in burping(read it online) which she burped many times. She is now back out on the pasture chewing her cud with her calf.
The only things I could think of was the trough was dry this morning and we've been slowly transitioning the 17% into her diet and phasing the whole oats and grain out. She gets good quality bermuda hay thrown to her twice a day, enough to have a little bit left over next time her hay is thrown.
Do bloating cows chew cud?
The lymph nodes on her throat are about the size of small eggs, are they swollen? (Never felt them before so can't compare)
:help:
What's going on with Bess? Bloated gut, milk production down by 50%, only eating a portion of her food and hay.
We bought Bess in July, she calved at the beginning of September and has given us about a gallon of milk in the evening, as well as feeding her fast growing baby boy.
Earlier today I looked out in the pasture to see her standing around and then laying down the next. For some reason it struck me as odd, so I approached her and she was groaning a little bit. Made her get up(it's the horse person in me LOL) and she appeared to be fine, so I went to work. Came home and went to milk at 6, she looked extremely bloated(think fawn hippo on toothpicks) so much so she looked almost bigger than the day she calved. We didn't feed her, she milked half a gallon(half her usual amount). I thought maybe she was a little dehydrated, so I offered her some of her feed(50% wet beet pulp, a scoop of 17% pellets, and 1/4 scoop of whole oats and corn), I thought perhaps her wet beet pulp would help rehydrate her. When I realize she only ate a portion of her feed and then wanted to be let loose, I really began to worry.
She had the signs of a bloating cow. We walked/trotted her around the pasture, she defecated about 6-8 times starting out firm and then getting very watery toward the end. We then tied her in the stancion with her front feet up on cinderblocks to aid her in burping(read it online) which she burped many times. She is now back out on the pasture chewing her cud with her calf.
The only things I could think of was the trough was dry this morning and we've been slowly transitioning the 17% into her diet and phasing the whole oats and grain out. She gets good quality bermuda hay thrown to her twice a day, enough to have a little bit left over next time her hay is thrown.
Do bloating cows chew cud?
The lymph nodes on her throat are about the size of small eggs, are they swollen? (Never felt them before so can't compare)
:help:
What's going on with Bess? Bloated gut, milk production down by 50%, only eating a portion of her food and hay.
