Udder question?

[gertman]

I have a cow that had her first calf 2 weeks ago today, her udder was enormous and the calf didn't get the hang of nursing until the 2nd or 3rd day. Now her udder is alot smaller, but everytime I check the herd the calf appears hungry and is trying to nurse, yesterday he was nursing another cow. Could a udder that appears to have plenty of milk really just be tissue or fat?

 

[KNERSIE]

Its unlikely that th cow haven't got enough milk for a newborn. Usually newborns sleep most of the day, but when they get up they start nursing, hungry or not.

I think because you are concerned about this calf you just pay more attention to him and probably chase him up eveytime you get there and thats why he always tries to nurse when you see him. I wouldn't be too concerned, if he didn't get milk he most probably would have been dead by now

 

[dun]

I lean towards edema or possibly mastitis when she freshened, more towards edema. If it was mastitis the udder probably woldn;t have gone down much. If the udder has really gotten very much smaller, there is a possibility that the calf is a sneaky snacker and is getting it's groceries from any cow that will leth im nurse and the dam is drying up. Catch the cow and try to milk her, even better would be to separate the calf from her for 4-5 hours and then try. After that long of a separatin you may be able to see a difference in her udder thqat indicates that the calf has been nursing or not

dun

 

[Gale Seddon]

I'd be concerned if I saw a two-wk. old calf nursing another cow on a regular basis, raises a question about mothering instincts in its real mother to me (and you did say it was her first calf). We had a cow try to steal a calf from a first-time mother...calf still knew where to get his meals but the thief cow acted every bit the mother. I won't let that happen again cause I think it had a negative impact on the real mother's inclination to mother and protect her calf.

I like Dun's suggestion of separating them and watching her udder, but I would also keep the two separate from the herd for a bit as well.

 

[dun]

I'd be concerned if I saw a two-wk. old calf nursing another cow on a regular basis, raises a question about mothering instincts in its real mother to me (and you did say it was her first calf). We had a cow try to steal a calf from a first-time mother...calf still knew where to get his meals but the thief cow acted every bit the mother. I won't let that happen again cause I think it had a negative impact on the real mother's inclination to mother and protect her calf.

I like Dun's suggestion of separating them and watching her udder, but I would also keep the two separate from the herd for a bit as well.

We've had to cull cows in the past for being calf stealers. There is absolutely no good that can from those kinds of cows.

dun

 

[gertman]

I lean towards edema or possibly mastitis when she freshened, more towards edema. If it was mastitis the udder probably woldn;t have gone down much. If the udder has really gotten very much smaller, there is a possibility that the calf is a sneaky snacker and is getting it's groceries from any cow that will leth im nurse and the dam is drying up. Catch the cow and try to milk her, even better would be to separate the calf from her for 4-5 hours and then try. After that long of a separatin you may be able to see a difference in her udder thqat indicates that the calf has been nursing or not

dun

Dun, what's edema?

 

[dun]

Dun, what's edema?

Not scientific but the best I can describe it is a swelling of the udder not related to mastitis. Since the treatment for it is diuretics I guess it's a retention of fluids and inflammation in the mamarry tissue. The udder will feel fairly hard to very hard and only a little milk can be expressed. The milk is normal, not like mastitis, it's just that the sweeling prevents it from being able to be gotten out.

dun

 

[msscamp]

I have a cow that had her first calf 2 weeks ago today, her udder was enormous and the calf didn't get the hang of nursing until the 2nd or 3rd day. Could a udder that appears to have plenty of milk really just be tissue or fat?

If a heifer has been over-fed prior to breeding or calving, yes, that can cause fat deposits in her udder thus reducing milk production.