CARE OF DAIRY COWS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 456, 11 September 1928, Page 16

CARE OF DAIRY COWS

TROUBLES AT CALVING TIME Press Association WELLINGTON, To-day. The troubles of the present calving season, for the dairy farmers in some parts of the North Island, said Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director of Agriculture, toc>ay, owing to the number of cases of illness following calving (occasionally preceding it), has been considerably greater fhan usual. The great majority of dairy cows affected have suffered from what is I commonly known as milk-fever, which ' generally attacks heavy-milking ani- j mals, and comes on from three to 14 days after calving. The method of treatment adopted for several years past, consisting of inflating the udder with air, brings about a quick recovery. In the great majority of cases where the trouble is somewhat similar in the onset and course to milkfever has occurred "before calving, the udder inflating is worth trying, though not so sure as to its results. Apart from these, however, there have been this season quite a number of cases where cows nave gone down after calving, showing symptoms different from those of typical milk-fever, the most characteristic consisting of more or less violent convulsions, the animal evidently being also in considerable pain. This condition is usually referred to as parturient eclampsia, and the animals do not respond to treatment by inflating the udder with air, and, owing to their violent movements and inability to swallow properly, it is difficult and dangerous, when they reach this condition, to attempt to administer medicine in the usual way by the mouth. It is probable that milk-fever and parturient eclampsia are closely allied. It has been suggested that a septic condition is responsible, but there is nothing to show this is the case, and the results of post-mortem examination all go to disprove the idea. Dietetic conditions probably constitute a predisposing factor. It is an accepted fact that cows most prone to milk-fever are heavy milkers, which have come to calving in good condition and, while full statistical information is not yet available, it will probably be found that the same applies to parturient eclampsia. There is nothing contagious about either milk-fever or parturient eclampsia, and the only serious matter is that there are far more cases of both this season than is usual. Management may help to ward off attacks, and the following preventive measures are useful: (1) If the cow is in high condition ■ prior to calving, keep her short of t feed for a time so that she comes to her calving in good, healthy but not high condition. (2) A few days before calving give her a drench containing from 12 to j 14oz of Epsom salts. j (3) Twenty-four hours after calving j

give her another drench containing It ounces of Epsom salts. (4) After she has calved do not milk the udder right out all at once. Take a good quantity out at a time three or four times a day for the first 48 hours, or, what.is preferable from the point of view of the cow’s health (though admittedly inconvenient from other points of view), let the calf suck her for the first two or three days. (5) If a cow is seen showing th© earliest symptoms of eclampsia, and is still able to swallow properly, give her another 16oz of Epsom salts, but give *it very carefully as if the medicine gets into her lungs it will probably kill her.