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Post by mamatomany on Oct 22, 2014 17:10:21 GMT -5
I have a 3 week fresh cow, who has had problems with her udder a few times in the past 4 years. There is one quarter that has a smaller orafice and the calf doesn't drink too much on it. I milk it out every other day. Today when I milked her it was unusually congested, like a tire above her teat if that makes any sense? It is not hot to the touch, and her milk is fine otherwise. It appears to be tender to her tho? Any suggestions?
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Post by RedRidge on Oct 22, 2014 18:06:24 GMT -5
Message and use warm compresses... Any engorgement that is unusual can create more problems of not milked out. Message And milk frequently... And I would get a sample for testing of it were me - especially given her history.
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Post by kansasdexters on Oct 22, 2014 21:20:07 GMT -5
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zephyrhillsusan
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Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Oct 22, 2014 21:49:46 GMT -5
Also, I would milk that quarter out every day for now and check to see if you need to do it more often, especially if you don't want that quarter to decrease in production or end up with mastitis. And yes, I'd test, as Sheri suggested. Some calves can take up to six weeks (so I've been advised) to be able to handle all the milk, and if it's harder to nurse that quarter the calf is apparently not willing to work that hard as long as there's enough milk in the other three. So I think you need to empty it at least daily (if not twice, that would depend on how it's looking) until the calf starts nursing from that quarter, too.
I'll have to look into Udder Comfort, I'm not familiar with that one.
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Post by copperhead on Oct 23, 2014 20:53:50 GMT -5
I have one cow that has one huge teat and her calf never seems to get it down until at least a month or more.
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dexterlady
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Post by dexterlady on Oct 26, 2014 12:37:07 GMT -5
Copperhead, do you milk her down on that udder?....I have a cow that just calved and her udder is still hugh.....I am going to check her today and if she is still engorged, I am going to milk her down.....Thanks ....Donna
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dexterlady
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Post by dexterlady on Oct 26, 2014 12:37:40 GMT -5
Copperhead, do you milk her down on that udder?....I have a cow that just calved and her udder is still hugh.....I am going to check her today and if she is still engorged, I am going to milk her down.....Thanks ....Donna
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zephyrhillsusan
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Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Oct 26, 2014 15:50:53 GMT -5
How's her udder, Donna? Did you end up having to milk her, dexterlady?
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dexterlady
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Post by dexterlady on Oct 26, 2014 16:33:34 GMT -5
Yes Susan I did milk some out, she is just sooo full...One of her teats I could not get to unplug....I picked it trying to unplug it and got it bleeding....Just a little bit....I will keep a watch on it....Anything I can put on it so it doesn't get infected?....Thanks....Donna
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zephyrhillsusan
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Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Oct 26, 2014 23:46:37 GMT -5
You can use regular iodine in the strongest concentration you can get; you can buy it in a spray bottle so you can just spray it on. Be sure to get all around the teat. I'd actually recommend you put it on all four teats before milking her out, anyway, especially since the calf probably isn't nursing all four quarters, so no calf spit! Leave the iodine on for a full 30 seconds, then wipe off with paper towels or a clean cloth (turning to opposite sides and corners for each teat). Then you might try hot, moist compresses. You're a nurse, so you know how to do that--just as hot as you can stand to put your hands in. If you have any of these essential oils, you can add a few drops of any or all to the water: lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, thyme. You can use a clean dish towel and get it wet in the scented water, wring it out REALLY well (you do not want water running down the udder onto the teats), and hold it around one or two quarters for 5-10 minutes, reheating and wringing out as necessary. Then work on stripping each teat before you milk. You can especially work on the plugged one. It was two days after Ebony calved before my daughter finally worked the waxy plug in one teat down to where we could see it. We were both milking her, but my DD has very strong hands and got this tip of waxy stuff to just peek out of the orifice. It wouldn't come any farther, so I took hold of it and pulled--and out it came. She stripped some more until more appeared, and I pulled that out. More little clumps kept appearing for a couple days, but it was not mastitis. I had her milk tested once the colostrum was gone, and it was perfectly fine. If you have any mint balm like Dynamint or anything (or the Udder Comfort), you can massage that up on the udder. Here's the post on what we did for Ebony post-freshening. There's a photo of the waxy plug and the clumps that came out afterward. In re-reading it, I had forgotten that I was putting raspberry leaf tea on her grain twice a day to help with edema. If you have salt blocks out, you might want to briefly remove them from her reach. A lot of this fullness is edema rather than actual milk (thus the hot compresses, mint balm massage, raspberry leaf tea and removing salt temporarily). It will subside, and if you can get that waxy plug out, the milk should start flowing better from that quarter. If you have any questions, give me a call.
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dexterlady
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Post by dexterlady on Oct 27, 2014 11:53:04 GMT -5
Thank you Susan for all the info....I just got to read it so I am going to go try it....Funny you said take the salt block out, I just put a new on in yesterday....I will remove it...And bless you, thanks again.....
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Post by northshoretrapper on Jan 5, 2015 8:57:13 GMT -5
I had a calf born Christmas night... calf still isn't nursing off the front two teats. So I have been milking them out every other day. Its a pain. I have to get her in the lean to (takes some coaxing with grain and hay). Once I get her in there I just mixed some sweet feed in her hay to keep her occupied. Luckily, she has been good enough to just stand there while I do it.
Saturday morning it looked like she had finally started nursing off the front left one...front right was still full.
I brought up the stainless steel bucket with me and got 2 pints out of the one quarter... my wife made ricotta with it. No sense letting it go to waste.
Today my wife said both look as if the calf isn't nursing from them again...AGH! Not sure if they are too big for her to get a good latch on. That's why I have been milking them out.
Can I let it go? Or should I keep milking them out every other day??
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zephyrhillsusan
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Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Jan 5, 2015 9:53:33 GMT -5
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Post by dexterfarm on Jan 5, 2015 10:59:06 GMT -5
I would not remove salt. Not that dexters are prone to milk fever but it is an imbalance of minerals in the body. Do to milk production. Ok that is an over simplified explanation. Salt is essential to maintaining the balance of other minerals in the body.
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Post by raeleigh26 on Mar 24, 2016 21:41:59 GMT -5
Just a thought on the salt, I've been told that salt doesn't add to edema in lactating cattle. ... im not getting why it was suggested to take it out?
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