PREVENTION OF MILK FEVER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7823, 16 June 1909, Page 1

PREVENTION OF MILK FEVER.

As the season U. approaching (say» a, Canadian newspaper- of March 18, 1909) when the majority of cows will freshen, a, word of precaution for the prevention of so-called milk fever may be seasonable and 1 serviceable. In the first place, it may be said that the common name of the ailment is a_misnomer, as there is practically no fever accompanying it. It is & partial paralysis, and- is properly named parturient apoplexy, and is generally the result of milking the udder empty too soon after calving. It has been noticed that, m • the case of cows calving on the range, where the. calf does the milking frbm the first, and takes but a little at a time for the first few days, milk fever is unknown. The same is true, as a rule, m the case of the beef breeds, where the cows are allowed .to nurse the calves. The content of the udder, at calving is colostrum, a very different substance from normal milk, a substance which is intended by nature for a specific purposed—the moving of the bowels of the calf —and this, if suddenly removed, Causes a collapse of the tissues and glands, causing a' paralysis of the system. In proof of the correctness of .this theory, it is only necessary to recall that, m numerous cases, where the cows had been down, and unconscious for hours, and even days, the simple filling of the udder with, air has restored them to health, without the help .of : any medicine.- And m "ordinary cases'a complete cure has been effected within two or three hours. Prevention is, of course; better than cure, and if the calf is taken from the cow, to be raised by hand, the udder should he only partially milked out for the first three days. It is better for'the calf that it he allowed to suck for that time, but, not necessary if the dam's n&w milk fee given it m small quantity, and warm. There is very little danger of the udder heing spoiled by nature's provision, for the occasion, the colostrum contained. It will be noticed that, when m such case the udder is very large and cak'edj it is cold, and gives, no symptoms, of fever, and, by oiling- and rubbing it, the caked condition usually gives way 1 m the course of a week or two. "Furthermore;,' it is seldom, if ever, that milk fever occurs m the case of a caked udder. It_ rarely occurs m the case of a heifer with her first calf, andiseldom m a cow younger than four years. The proper course, therefore, is to prevent the trouble by partial milking for "three or four days. And if "this precaution has been neglected, and the ailment occurs, a bicycle pump, or a rubber-bulk syringe with a teat tube, disinfected by immersion m boiling water, should be used to fill each quarter full, of-air,-tying the teats with tape, and..• massaging, the .udder with the' hands to force the air, up into the system. A t bicycle pump is the most effective^ as it does the'work quickly and thoroughly. Do not allow dosing with taedicirie, 'as, when paralysed, tlje coW! cannot swallow, and the medicine will almost surely go into the windpipe and lungs, surely- causing' death. Hundreds of "--valuable cows have been killed by .dosing tinder: such circumstances^ ■: The use of pure oxygen or sterilised air for filling the udder is doubtless safer than common air, but if care is taken m disinfecting the milk tube, and gently placing it m the teat, there is very little risk of damage to the udder.' - ■ "