teats cut and bleeding

[MILKMAID62]

I am trying to rescue a Jersey . I bought her from a farmer who was tying her up so a calf could nurse.
Her rear teats are so cut up and scabbed that I can't even touch her to milk the back quarters. I have been doing udder balm and tried ambesol for pain. Are there some options here I don't know about?

She stands happily to milk out the front teats. I don't blame her for kicking when I touch the back.
Should I just dry up those back quarters so she can heal?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[dun]

I am trying to rescue a Jersey . I bought her from a farmer who was tying her up so a calf could nurse.
Her rear teats are so cut up and scabbed that I can't even touch her to milk the back quarters. I have been doing udder balm and tried ambesol for pain. Are there some options here I don't know about?

She stands happily to milk out the front teats. I don't blame her for kicking when I touch the back.
Should I just dry up those back quarters so she can heal?

Thanks for any suggestions.

You couldput the teat dilators in that have a little screw off cap on the end so that you don;t have to mess with them to get the milk out.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Basicly, you have two options. Milk them or let her dry up in those quarters.
If you want to milk her, put kickers on her or put a rope around her flank to keep her from kicking so you can continue using Udder Balm & milking her.
You are running into two problems. She hurts from the cuts/scabs PLUS she hurts from not being milked out. If they miss a milking their udder gets extremely sore.

 

[hillsdown]

The problem with the balm is that it is sticky and when she lays down dirt and crud will stick to her teats and possibly cause infection. I wouldn't use the dilator's as that can lead to mastitis a bigger problem than she already has.
You couldn try and get a better prescription ointment from your vet or you could strip them out and insert cefi dry or another product and dry those two out.

It's up to you what you would like to do. A couple years ago Angel calved in Feb and the cold weather and wind left her rear teats very sore and cracked, I used some leftover salve I had from Bo's skin condition and then sprayed blue spray on it. Did this 2 or 3 times a day and by day 3 she was letting the calf drink from the back quarters again and had no further problems (not even a hint of mastitis).

I would give them another shot with a stronger, medicated ointment..

Good luck.

 

[regolith]

If you're milking the back quarters you might ask your vet for a strip of teat bandage. It helps support the skin during milking so that the manipulation of the teat doesn't cause the wound/cracks to break open and bleed.

Unfortunately you still have to handle her to get it on - and off, if you want to apply balm after milking.

 

[MILKMAID62]

Thank you all so much for your input. I had forgotten about the cinch. That helped immensely and at least we got those back quarters almost emptied last nite and this morning. She didn't seem too upset by it either, which I found surprising. I think the ambesol helps with the pain and she is starting to realize we are not that awful calf. I have the vet coming tomorrow afternoon and I'll see if he has something better for pain/healing and maybe that tape. My hands are really sore already from doing the 3 finger thing below the scabs! What's lfe without a challenge or two!

 

[GMN]

Thank you all so much for your input. I had forgotten about the cinch. That helped immensely and at least we got those back quarters almost emptied last nite and this morning. She didn't seem too upset by it either, which I found surprising. I think the ambesol helps with the pain and she is starting to realize we are not that awful calf. I have the vet coming tomorrow afternoon and I'll see if he has something better for pain/healing and maybe that tape. My hands are really sore already from doing the 3 finger thing below the scabs! What's lfe without a challenge or two!

Best thing for udder sores is the Corona ointment, the thick white pasty stuff, use this for a week and you will see a notable improvement.

GMN

 

[TexasBred]

I am trying to rescue a Jersey . I bought her from a farmer who was tying her up so a calf could nurse.
Her rear teats are so cut up and scabbed that I can't even touch her to milk the back quarters. I have been doing udder balm and tried ambesol for pain. Are there some options here I don't know about?

She stands happily to milk out the front teats. I don't blame her for kicking when I touch the back.
Should I just dry up those back quarters so she can heal?

Thanks for any suggestions.

If you think she really has a future, I'd probably go ahead and dry her up completely. Give the teats time to heal and wait for next lactation. (I'm assuming she's bred).

 

[mnmtranching]

Seems like bar far the easiest solution is to dry her up, let the teats heal.