regolith
Well-known member
Whether because of it or by coincidence, every cow except one who suffered from metritis last year either finished the breeding season open or is now dead. That one cow is 260 who is in the thread on hip lifters.
This year right at the start of calving I had a heifer deliver twins, retain her cleanings and three days later she was sick, reluctant to walk. The vet treated her for a uterine infection with a caution that she might also have a twisted gut, and she recovered slowly. Within a few days of that a three year old who I'd assisted with a backwards calf was also off her milk and sick. It looked like another nightmare about to start and as a precaution, every cow after that with an assisted or particularly difficult calving got a course of penicillin. One with an apparently normal calving started producing pus all over her tail and I treated her with intra-uterine antibiotics four weeks after calving.
The vet has just been to do some pre-mating blood checks and sample the mucus at the cervix of the 'at risk' cows to identify any infection. I put up 24 'at risk' cows (assisted calvings, milk fever, retained cleanings, twins, delivered dead calves or have been seen with nasty discharges) and also checked the cows I'd drafted for blood testing. Out of the 31 cows checked we treated one for a very mild infection, all others were clear.
That's a good start to this year's mating preparation. As for the 13-month bulls... it appears they've already got a calf on the way. One of the heifers is obviously in-calf but doesn't look like it's going to be soon and the vet figures the likely date suggests my bulls did it. I know she was in calf before she was brought home in April but she may have lost it shortly after.
This year right at the start of calving I had a heifer deliver twins, retain her cleanings and three days later she was sick, reluctant to walk. The vet treated her for a uterine infection with a caution that she might also have a twisted gut, and she recovered slowly. Within a few days of that a three year old who I'd assisted with a backwards calf was also off her milk and sick. It looked like another nightmare about to start and as a precaution, every cow after that with an assisted or particularly difficult calving got a course of penicillin. One with an apparently normal calving started producing pus all over her tail and I treated her with intra-uterine antibiotics four weeks after calving.
The vet has just been to do some pre-mating blood checks and sample the mucus at the cervix of the 'at risk' cows to identify any infection. I put up 24 'at risk' cows (assisted calvings, milk fever, retained cleanings, twins, delivered dead calves or have been seen with nasty discharges) and also checked the cows I'd drafted for blood testing. Out of the 31 cows checked we treated one for a very mild infection, all others were clear.
That's a good start to this year's mating preparation. As for the 13-month bulls... it appears they've already got a calf on the way. One of the heifers is obviously in-calf but doesn't look like it's going to be soon and the vet figures the likely date suggests my bulls did it. I know she was in calf before she was brought home in April but she may have lost it shortly after.
