THE ADVANTAGES OF SPAYING CULL DAIRY COWS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1510, 7 February 1901, Page 51

THE ADVANTAGES OF SPAYING CULL DAIRY COWS

HOW TO DO IT

Qn goingi round dairy farms it may often be found that a lot of cows are kept, which not only do not pay for their own keep, but also eat up. some of the profits which their mates give. What to do with these, cows is a problem always perplexing the minds of the dairyman. When a cow comes in with only three teats, or another one turns out to give only a very small quantity of milk, or to have some other fault, his first thought is to get rid of these. On further consideration he reflects that they will not be of any more use to anybody else than they are to himself, and he would not be able to sell them for anything like tbe amount of money they stand him in. He then thinks the best thing to do under the circumstances would be to fatten them. But then the bulls have been running with the herd, and (wen if they are not in calf already they soon will be, as on very few farms is it possible to keep a few cows specially separate from all the others and the bulls. By the time they are fat the calf is pretty well matured, and they are of no use to the butcher. In very many cases the dairyman decides to sell these faulty cows as springers, puts them into auction sales, and says nothing about tlfeir faults. Sometimes even careful buyers are taken in with* these

cows, and when thej T again come into milk with their faults the same process gees on the following year. The consequence is there is always a lot of cows which are next to useless as far as dairying is concerned, to get clear of which there are only two ways open to the owner. He cannot milk them to advantage, nor when they are in calf can he get rid of them to the butcher. So he must either accept a price for them, far below what he originally paid, or else he must take somebody else in ivitli them. Apart from the fact that- the latter alternative is un-British and an undesirable system, the dairying community, as a whole, is in no better position. The faulty cows are still a drag on some one, and there is every probability of their continuing so under this system.

Now the natural end for a cow which dees not milk up to the standard which her owner considers payable, is to be killed for beef, unless, of course, she has some specially good blood in her veins, and her owner wants to rear calves from her. It is impossible to prepare her for the butcher if she is allowed to get in calf; and, as the way our dairy farms are worked, it is not convenient to keep a few cows separate from the hull, tne only way to eliminate these cows from our herd's is by spaying them. The risk from spaying is considered by experts to be very slight, and has been proved by them to entail a loss of not more than 2 per cent. Spayed cows fatten readily, and their beef is eqquai in quality to that of steers. The best- time to spay a cow is about six weeks- after she has calved, and if she has to get in calf again before she is spayed it is almost a certainty, though not absolutely so, that the. operation of spaying will cause her to abort. She will be quite herself again in a week or ten days after the operation, and with good feed will start to fatten right away. She is, when spayed, no more trouble than a steer, and, as with steers, if her owner finds it necessary, although fat, to hold her over for a few months to await a good market, he can do so without fear of her getting in calf and becoming unmarkeoable.

me universal adoption by dairymen of a system of spaying all cows which they know are not worth milking would prove a boon not only to the individuals, by rendering their useless cows able, hut also to the dairying community as a whole. If the so-called dairy cows which are not really fit for the dairy are prevented from breeding it would seem that the only heifers reared would he those bred from the cows which are really profitable to milk, and it is much more reasonable to suppose that heifers bred from the good milkers will turn out good milkers themselves than those bred from culls. So that any dairyman who, when he finds out a cow .'s a cull, spays her, gives himself a chance to get rid of her, and at the same time confers a benefit on the community by preventing her from going on producing culls.

It is no more necessary to obtain the services of a qualified veterinary surgeon to spay a cow than it is to castrate a steer. In most dairying districts men can be found who can perform the operation in an expert manner. The cow*s to be operated on should be kept for twelve hours without food immediately before! the time the operation is to be performed. An ordinary milking bail is quite sufficient to hold dairy cows. A sapling or piece of quartering tied to the bail and extending along the off side of the cow can be held by a man standing some feet behind her, and will keep her qquiqte secure. It is a mistake to tie a cow up with ropes, as directly she finds she is fast she will try to lie down. Perfect cleanliness should l be observed during the performance of the operation. A bucket of water with some disinfectant should always be handy to keep the hands and the wound thoroughly cleansed. The incision is made in the triangular hollow between the last rib and the hip, and should be about 4in long and about parallel with the last rib. When the hide is cut through the muscles are nicked until the transverse muscle, which may be known from its name and the transverse way in which it runs, can he observed. Then the hand is bored through the rest, care being taken with the inside lining, known as the peritoneum, which is elastic, and may recede from the hand. It will be known when this has been bored through from

the fact that the air rushes in and causes an unmistakeable sound.

The next thing is to find the ovaries, which may he done by pushing the hand hack, as if between the two hips and close to the backbone. The end intestine will be found pendant, just under the backbone. This may be followed along backwards, until the hand is in a sort of pounch, known as Douglas’s pouch. Then the womb will he immediately under the hand. By bringing the hand forward the womb will be found to divide into two spiral-like structures called cornua, or horns. These are supported by a tough membrane, called the broad ligament, just at the end of which and at the end of each horn will be found the ovary, a small hard substance varying from the size of a pea to that of a. pigeon’s egg. When one ovary is found tne long, curved spay ing knife may be inserted with the other hand, and by holding it with or.e hand and cutting with the other the ovary is cut short off. The same is then done with the other. Care should bo taken in sewing up the incision to only take in the hide. Plenty of Stockholm tar, wixedi with grease to prevent it from blistering, may bo used, and the stitches will fall out in due course by themselves. A very good plan for any man intending to try spaying is to give himself a few lessons by carefully examining the anatomy of a. cow which has died or been killed. ' Review.”