Hey everybody. I'm new to the forum and stumbled across it a few days ago. Seems like their are a lot of knowledgeable folks on here that have some great advice. So here goes. I have an angus cow that just calved this afternoon. She had an 80# bull calf unassisted. This should be her second or third calf. My concern is that her two front teats are huge, at least twice the size of the front two. Should i wait for the calf to get up and milk and then get her up to the chute and milk her down or just wait and see if the calf will be able to do it on his own?
Udder Question
- Thread starter J.R.
- Start date
buckaroo_bif
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
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- 1,291
Might just observe for now J R . See which teats the calf nurses whether or not he is nursing the
bigger ones or not. Without seeing the cow it's hard to picture what you mean by huge.
bigger ones or not. Without seeing the cow it's hard to picture what you mean by huge.
give it some time, i have let them go 2 weeks with no ill affects. i had one i sold last year that every year it just gets worse. 1st one teat then two and then the third one. once they got a hold you would never know it was that bad. she raised a good calf.
I can't help you much with this question...but as you can see, there are many others who can. Hope all works out with her.
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Thanks everyone for the replies. This afternoon I decided i had better get her in the chute and check things out just to be on the safe side. The two front teats were even bigger. They were swollen so big that I could barely wrap my hand around them. Probably around five to six inches long. The milk was fine. No discoloration or odor and the two front quarters felt fine I just think they were so big because the calf couldn't nurse them. I milked the two front quarters down for a while and they would just keep filling back up. You would think that this angus cow was a holstein after seeing all the milk in the bottom of the chute. :shock: I finally got most of the pressure off the two quarters and the teat size down a little smaller. The back left quarter was the real problem. It was hard as a rock and I could only get a few drops out of it. I gave it a dose of Today and took a sample from the other three teats to take to the vet tomorrow. The last quarter, the hind right, was normal sized teat and felt normal with average milk. I think the calf has been nusing off that one quarter only so far. He seems to be doing fine so far.
Anybody have any other suggestions about the oversize teats or rock solid hindquarter?
Anybody have any other suggestions about the oversize teats or rock solid hindquarter?
Only thing I'll add is that I would have taken a milk sample off the quarter you were concerned about (before treating - too late now), NOT the three that appeared to be good. Now, you could have pulled two samples - one on the questionable quarter and one on the other three - but I would certainly have done one on the questionable quarter.
Vet suggested this udder balm once - minty scented stuff - we tried it and I can't say as it did a thing. lol. Vet also said we could use DMSO on the udder - very fast tissue-penetrating, improves blood flow to the area - but not exactly labeled for food producing animals. I haven't tried the latter but I'd be willing to bet the stuff would work most of the time. Just wouldn't want to send the cow to auction for awhile.
Sometimes those hard quarters are due to a LOT of milk in there that isn't being milked out (been a day or so since calving, hasn't it?), sometimes it's due to mastitis, clinical or subclinical. Sometimes it's just the way the quarter is, or due to mastitis on a past lactation that left the cow with scar tissue. Hard to say unless it's been cultured as "clean" or infected.
Sometimes those hard quarters are due to a LOT of milk in there that isn't being milked out (been a day or so since calving, hasn't it?), sometimes it's due to mastitis, clinical or subclinical. Sometimes it's just the way the quarter is, or due to mastitis on a past lactation that left the cow with scar tissue. Hard to say unless it's been cultured as "clean" or infected.
That's what I wanted to do but the quarter i'm concerned about i could barely get a few drops out on my hand and wasn't sure that it would be enough. How much does it take for the vet to effectively do the culture? I put a bunch in a small tupperware container from the other teats and put it in the fridge.
We brought the calf to the chute but he wasn't interested. I think he was pretty full because he was nursing off the one good back teat right before we brought the cow in, but we didn't exactly try force feeding it to him either.
J.R.":30sthp7k said:
Just a couple drops worth. Picture sticking the end of a pencil in a glass of milk, and then making a short line on the countertop with that milk. That's about how much they need. Just a thin film of milk in a squiggly line over an area slightly larger than the bottom of a glass.
Did you check the end of the teat to see if it's scabbed over or plugged up?
