HARD MILKING.

Shannon News, 26 June 1925, Page 4

HARD MILKING.

Hard milking is due to an obstruction or stricture, sometimes within the milk duct, but usually at the teat orifice. It may be brought about by a tenseness of the teat orifice, or by a scar formation following injury of the teat.

There are on the market several types of teat dilators, any one of which may be of benefit in correcing tnis condition. The dilator may be inserted an hour or two before milking but the instrument should be sterile and the teat thoroughly cleansed before the insertion. After milking, the affected teat should be massaged with petrolatum into which 10 per cent, of the fluid extract of belladonna has been incorporated. The alternate use of the ointment and the dilator should be continued until the condition appears to be corrected. When this treatment fails it may become expedient to resort to surgical measures for relief of the stricture, but this is done to better advantage after the cow has been dried off, involving a better prospect of prompt healing, and a less likelihood of causing a dangerous infection or a leaky, teat. The instrument used for this operation is known as a teat bistoury, consisting of a small shaft containing a concealed blade. After the bistoury is thrust well into the teat the blade is uncovered and the instrument is rapidly withdrawn, thus severing the obstructing tissues at one stroke. This procedure is usually repeated three or four times in each teat that is nard <o milk, turning the blade at different angles each time. Great care must be exercised to have the instrument sterile for this operation to avoid infection into the udder. A word of caution to be taken into consideration is that this operation may reslult in an excessively large teat orifice, and is sometimes productive of the unfominate condition known as leaky quarter