Udder Condition

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We have a good cow that just had her 3rd calf a month ago. On the first two, everything went fine and the calves turned out great. We kept one of the heifers to build our herd numbers. This calf is another good looking heifer and we hope to keep her. We've watched her calf nurse a lot over the last few weeks. My son noticed this past weekend that one or two of her teats look like they have dried blood on the outside. He also noticed her calf was nursing from another cow. (That's been a whole other discussion on this board) I have not had a chance to get there to see her for myself.

Question: Do any of you know of a health issue this could be other than dried and cracking from heat or scratches from brush? Could it be possible for her to keep her calf from nursing anymore because of soreness? Any suggestions before I get back up there on Friday?

 

[TheBullLady]

If you see dried blood, she's probably got an injury of some sort. And yes.. if it's sore and enlarged from not being nursed, she'll kick the calf off.

It would be best to put her in the chute and take a look at the teat. Milk her out by hand on that quarter.. that will take the pressure off. Then treat the cut or abrasion. It may take a few days of this procedure before she'll allow the calf to nurse it again.