DISEASES OF DAIRY COWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIX, Issue 13153, 15 June 1903, Page 7

DISEASES OF DAIRY COWS.

WHAT THE COLONY LOSES. SEMABKS BY MB GILBUTH. -Mr J. A. Government Veterinarian, delivered a lecture ; in the rooms of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association on Saturday afternoon on “Diseases affecting Dairy Cows.” The lecture Was given under the auspices of the Association, and Dr Levinge presided. There was a largo attendance. 'Mr Gilroth said that the time was too short for him to deal with many of the diseases that dairy cows suffered from, and the best plan would bo to touch upon a / few of the most common. So far as this colony was concerned, the moat important was what was called milk fever. There were very few farmers who had not suffered loss through that disease. It was not a fever, strictly speaking, in’ spite of the name by which it was popularly known. It was associated with high condition in the animal, and was probably never found in animals in poor condition, and rarely in those that were not good milkers. The predisposing conditions were a plethoric condition, heavy milking, and a good milk supply. The age of the cow that suffered from‘the'disease-would" be about four 01fire years, as-ih-rarely! occurred .till after the third calf. Sonic people seemed to think.that the,cause was- a microbe, whoso existence, however,: had not ‘' been ; demonstrated. The symptoms- were, observed generally within from twelve to .thirty-six hours after Calving. -Tf the .calf'was left with the cow- the disease rarely . occurred, and it was seldom found .where the cows were comparatively wild and-.were unattended. If the .calving had . been difficult, also, the disease was not met with often. At finst;the’ animal vyas " restless _ and trembling, and the mills,, supply diminished. The" animal became weaker, and finally dropped down, in a semi-comatoso condition. It was difficult to get medicines down the throat, and there was danger in connection! with, swallowing, choking sometimes resulting. Occasionally acute pneumonia set in. .Various remedies had been tried. Some were satisfactory, and, some were nob. ’About four or five years ago there had been Introduced a treatment which he recommended. It was the injection of a solution of iodide <xf potassium into the udder, so that it would get into each quarter, while the udder was also massaged. The mixture was prepared ready for use, he believed,; by Messrs Kempthome and Prosser. , Mu Charlton, who, so far as the speaker knew, had as much Experience of the treatment as anyone, recommended its use. From what Sir Charlton and others bad told him, he judged that the results had been very satisfactory indeed. In the North Island, and also in the South Island, several dairy factories had taken in a stock of ■ the materials that should ho used, so that they might be available for farmers who wanted to use them. He urged that in districts where the factories had not done, or would not do, this, tiie farmers themselves should' keep stocks, as it was better to spend a little money than suffer heavy loss through the disease. As to prevention, the best method was not to permit the animals to get intoi too high a condition before calving.’ 'they might be taken in the afternoon and lefti . - in the stock-yard Trithoufc food until the morning, bo that the food supply should be limited; or the animal might be given a laxative two days or so before calving. Mr Gilruth also dealt with contagious abortion, and showed how rapidly it had spread since it had first com© under hia notice in Taranaki in 1894 or 1895. Very little had been done to prevent the spread of the disease,, with the .result, that at the present time tens of thousands of pounds were lost to the colony. The symptoms wefe very . few. The animal seemed to bo excited for a day or two," and restless. Abortion generally took place about the third /or fourth months. If nothing occurred then, it might _ not take place until the. seventh or eighth month. It was then more in the nature of a premature birth than a real abortion. Very frequently the cow- returned-.to the bull in - three,'four, or six-weeks after.service. After making inquiries, ho concluded that the disease was due to a microbe. He was referring, not to casual cases of abortion, which might be due to a blow, or somewhat' similar_accidental cause, but to the contagious g disease. He combated _ the theory that it was attributable to ergot. There were several causes of the spread of the disease. One was the presence ofthe foetus in the pasture, and another was by the bull. Some time ago, he had stated that the colony might lose £IOO,OOO annually by the disease. He believed thatthat sum. would: be lost next year, as hundreds of cows in all parts of the colony 'were suffering from the. disease, and consequently would, not be in . milk next season. It had now been found that the disease was very prevalent in the South Island-. Only the other day he had received a letter from a farmer in the Ellesmere district, telling him that his cows, and those of his neighbours, were suffering from contagious abortion. It was a very serious matter for the farmer. It was difficult to say when the ravages would be stopped, if • farmers continued to view the matter with their present apathy. The only thing that he could do was to warn the farmers against tie consequences of their present course of action, as legislation would be useless. The ; treatment was simple. The method that | should be adopted was set out in full in a | “leaflet ” which was' issued by him last j v-ear, and which could: bo obtained from j any Inspector of Stock. The particulars . had been published in the Press, and the 1 leaflets had! been circulated broadcast. ! Yet, strange to say, he was continually receiving applications for information on the treatment. In almost every instance, so far as the Department know, if the treat- j inent was carried out on anything like the lines laid down, it would have been success- ; ful. The Department had stocked the tabloids it recommended, and large numbers of applications for them had been received, especially from the North Island. Few complaints had been made; so far as he knew, any failures were, due to carelessness. At anvrate. the complaints were very rare. : About 20,000 tabloids had been sent but by , the Department. I Another disease that he touched upon was ! a species of inflammation of the udder that is contagious. It generally effected the cow when in full milk. There were little heat, pain and swelling. The milk, as a rule, was more or less suspended. There might be no fever whatever. The ndder gradually became harder than usual, and resulted ■n a small swelling at the base of the teat. The milk had a tendency, after settling, to display a dirty white deposit, which con- ; tained' the cause of the trouble. , Until quite recently, the presence of the disease was unknown in the colony. Milk from a cow suffering from the disease might ba . highly injurious to hitman, beings, especially "to infants, as the cause was a streptococcus .similar to that of erysipelas. The methods of treatingthe disease were very unsatisfactory.: The best way was to , inject into the udder an antiseptic solution, j such as a solution of boracic acid 4 per : cent. The. ordinary method of bathing the udder seemed to have very little effect, j There was little doubt that the disease had j appeared in several parts of the colony. It made its appearance so insidiously that the farmer sometimes did not know it was | present, and did not notice any change in the condition of the milk until far advanced. _ If the spread of the disease was not checked, Incalculable harm would be done to farmers, and to the colonyls reputation in regard to its butter. In reply to Mr M. Murphy, Mr Gilruth said that if cows suffered from contagious abortion once, they were almost sure to abort again. The bull often carried the disease to another cow.

In reply to Dr Levinge, he said he did not recommend the destruction of the cows.

but urged that they should ba treated in the manner set forth; In some cases it was necessary to try the treatment more than once. It was better to take precautions than run risks, as it was better to be sure than sorry.

A vote "of thanks was passed' to Mr Gilruth, on the motion of the Chairman. I The Chairman announced that the next lecture would be given by Professor Lowrie, on July 4, when he would deal with his impressions of farming ini Canterbury, and on July 25 Mr Charlton would lecture on “Hereditary Diseases of the Horse.”