TROUBLES OF COWS

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 3262, 12 October 1928, Page 8

TROUBLES OF COWS

HANDLING THE HERD.

COMBATING DISEASES.

Mr M. A. Carter, of Netherton, whose farm at Awaiti, on the Hauraki Plains, is stated to have yielded the record output of butterfat per acre for unmanured pasture, gives the following particulars regarding herd treatment:—

Thirty-six hours after calving, let the calf suck one teat /while milking the cow dry, and rub the udder well and strip out again after; repeat at 48* hours, and the two following milkingi.' Tie calf at cow's head while milking to see that cow gives milking down thoroughly.

Cows should never be dogged or made to go faster-than a walk at any time.* For good .returns, the quieter cows are handled the better, and even talking, except when absolutely necessary, should be barred in a cowshed^ or about one, except in low tones, for although some cows do not mind, no highly strung cow likes noise of any kind, and in big herds there are always' a number of these.

To prevent milk fever, watch the cow at calving time, and if possible tie the calf up before it breaks milk flow, and do not milk cow or break milk flow for 24. hours after calving, and then never milk more than half milk from heavy producers.

CAR.E WITH UDIKEJR TROUBLES. A good cure in a bad case of milk fever, if cow is down or even unconscious, isj first, cut into tail about five | inches front, body by drawing sharp knife across inside of tail to the bone. Then pump up udder as tight, or a little tighter than is the pressure oh a full udder of milk. Then rub the back ■ from the horns to thle root of the tail ; with witches oil, rubbing in a full bottie; if hands.are wet before rubbing in '< the oil, the oil will not burn hands. • This done, stand by and assist the cow ; to get on her feet when .she tries, and : in every instance "I have known the. cow was on her feet within one hour.^ The most common udder trouble, and that which causes the greatest production loss is that of hard quarters, , which is common in all herds. It can easily be cured if treated after- the. first milking. If not treated immedia- \ tely thick milk appears in the quarter, and it takes time to cure, and often leaves the quarter light.. The last 30 or 40 hard quarters I have found in my herd I have treated in the way I recommended, and not in one instance did a quarter get thick, milk. There were a few strings the. second and third milking, but by the sixth milking the quarter was back to full normal conditio*.

The treatment is to mix half and half lysol and water, Which forms a jelly. I keep a bottle of this mixture always in the cowshed.'.<

CURE FOR HARD QUARTERS. When a cow comes in with a hard quarter, milk out, then rub this mixture on to the quarter thoroughly and cover the surface of the whole quarter right to the body; do this quickly and turn the cow out in a hurry, for she will then run round the paddock and kick all the time as the lysol will burn all the skin off the quarter. If the swelling is not completely removed, give a second application the second j milking from the first application. One note of caution: I never allow a rag to be used in Washing cows' udders, as they become, the greatest germ carri: ers. Always wash hands thoroughly after milking a cow with bad quarters before continuing milking. The only wash I have used for the past five years is as follows: —-One part of lysol to 60 parts of water, which is one teaspoonful to a cup, mixed in boiled water cooled to blood heat. For bad cases where any corruption is shown, use one part lysol, to 40 parts water. I wash all cows and bulls about two weeks before putting bull with cows. I also wash all cows and heifers in calf five months after putting the bull out, and again at seven months. I would like to state that in past years I have never had less than 50 cows per year, and this year have 150 cows and heifers, and at no time in the past five years have I had trouble with more than about 5 per cent. of my stock which, as any practical farmer knows, will happen from all •■ sorts of miscellaneous causes. . -j

A HOUSE FOR CALVES. In handling calves the best way 1 have found is to have a calf house about the si_e that half a dozen calves can lie down in. This house is best

■_■—■—■——■__<—^_——■■—_———■» • ; : : ■ ~, .. / •'":■ - r ~~ '■ - i •:■,!. ■ ■ .. built on runners, so that it can be easily moved aboutl It should be placed with the door opening on to the concrete of yard, so that getting calves in or out is very - little troubled Bog: chains are most handy for these calves, for, when wanting a calf, clip '■- the dog ; chain round calf's neck and clip oft when finished with ealf; by this meancalves can be handled quickly and with very little trouble.

iAn item of more importance than; most farmers think is having a small yard, about 10ft. by «ft. i's sufiicienti but it should be extra high and strong. This is.for the purpose of keeping cows in that are on season. Wben the herd is brought into the yard all cows in this condition should be put in this yard; as they do more harm than most people think by^ upsetting the other cows.

| In seasons that bulls are not being used, a cow should be locked up from one milking to the next in this yard, if or if running in paddoek they would not feed .and would upset cows anil [prevent them from feeding; and therefore cause loss of production.