Premature Calving

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 3, 15 September 1939, Page 235

Premature Calving

H.S. (THAMES VALLEY):— . I am having a lot of trouble with my cows this season, and would like to know if you could give me some idea of the cause of the trouble and the cure.

Five cows dropped their calves at about seven months, but the curious part of it was that they started to spring up some, time, before, just as if they were at the full time, and are milking just as well as if everything was normal. . Five others have dropped calves' at from 10 days to three weeks before due time, and also are milking as usual. : The first cow dropped her calf in May before the weather broke. For about the last two months the cows have little beyond plenty of good hay from a shed. The previous two seasons I had one cow which slipped each season and I washed hereout with Lysol. I have always buried all discharge I could find, and have used Lysol as a wash. The pasture has been well topdressed for years with super and ammoniated super, but I have used very little lime. Do you think a lack of lime would cause the trouble? Would' you advise me to wash all affected cows before turning them to the hull, and what would you recommend me to use? LIVESTOCK DIVISION:— The evidence suggests that your cows are affected with the disease of contagious. abortion, a disease due to. a

Washing out the womb daily or twice daily for the first few days after an abortion will assist in removing the cleansing and all discharges from the womb. A warm solution of salt and water, using three tablespoons of salt to the gallon of clean boiled water used at blood heat, will be found a useful douche for washing out the Womb. The tail and hindquarters Should be washed down with Lysol and water while any discharge is coming ■ away. The best time to wash out the womb is immediately after calving or an •abortion, when the womb is still open. If the cleaning up of an infected womb is left till the breeding season, it is 'then a matter for a qualified veterinarian, and even then good results are not always possible. . If the cows have been reasonably well cleaned up at the time of the abortion there is no need to wash out again before the cows are . put tc the bull. It is important that aborting cows should not be put to the bull until at least two months after all discharge has ceased. They frequently

appear in heat at a much earlier date, and this requires watching. Any animal showing evidence of a discharge should not be put to the bull ■■o— —mm— nu—nn—■«—»n

until, by means of washing out, you are satisfied that all the discharge has ceased. Although a lack of I me in itself would not be responsible for abortion or slipping, it is advisable to build up the mineral content and balance of pas : tures to ensure robust and healthy stock, which naturally are not . so. susceptible to disease as stock suffering from any degree of mineral unbalance or mineral deficiency.