Should I treat or wait and see?

[BlackWillowFarm]

My cow has been in milk for 15 months. I'm getting ready to dry her off. We're at about 1 gallon, milking once a day. I was planning on drying her this weekend, but Murphy's Law kicked in. This morning when she came into the barn, I noticed she had a hard rear quarter. Not the whole thing but more at the bottom where the teat is, probably about the size of a flattened tennis ball or smaller. And, her front quarter has swelling just under the skin and the teat is thick like it's swollen. I've never seen that before. She was extremely tender, more than I've ever seen. I milked the hard quarter by hand while the machine did the rest. She wasn't too happy, but I did get her emptied out.

Yesterday I was getting a good laugh at watching the cows in the field. The 12 month steer, who has horns, was rough housing with my milk cow. They were really going at it, butting heads, knocking each other around, almost like fighting, but I can't say for sure. They even took off running and bucking and I remember thinking my cow should take it easy or she'll hurt herself.

For the last few days the cow has not wanted to go back into the field with the steer. Her 13 month heifer is in there too, but they get along really good. I don't see them butting heads like the cow and the steer do all the time.

So I guess my question is, could this hardness and swelling be from playing too hard and will go away on it's own, or should I just treat for mastitis just to be safe?

She had a mild case of mastitis in that quarter once before almost three years ago.

[myersfarm]

I guess my question would be you said it all milked out......did you find any string milk as in mastitis if you did would treat.....if all came as good milk would wait

maybe even milk again tonight instead of waiting till morning...since you only milk once a day

[Callieslamb]

I think you should just give up on Polly and send her to my house. Too bad that cow just doesn't want to quit milking. I think I'd treat her - what about Tomorrow - the dry cow med? Would that help?

[BlackWillowFarm]

Miss Polly was a lot better this morning which reinforces my thoughts that the swelling was from playing too hard in the field. I'll keep my eye on it, but it looks like it will go away on it's own.

Callie-I think I'll keep her a little longer, but you're first on my list when it's time for her to go.

[Callieslamb]

No more recess for Miss Polly.

[springvalley]

Most of the time if I have a cow get mastitis it is from the cows butting one another from playing or trying to eat. Another reason to not have horns on cattle, unless your cattle need horns for protection, they should come off. Alot of times if a cow is bumped while playing or whatever, a little lineiment or menthol cream should be all you need. I have a question, is your cow bred? And if not why dry her up? I hate seening cows dried up and not bred, and remember once dry and can`t get bred she may never get bred again , then she is done, nothing more than a pasture pet from there on out. > Thanks Marc

[BlackWillowFarm]

Originally Posted by springvalley

Most of the time if I have a cow get mastitis it is from the cows butting one another from playing or trying to eat. Another reason to not have horns on cattle, unless your cattle need horns for protection, they should come off. Alot of times if a cow is bumped while playing or whatever, a little lineiment or menthol cream should be all you need. I have a question, is your cow bred? And if not why dry her up? I hate seening cows dried up and not bred, and remember once dry and can`t get bred she may never get bred again , then she is done, nothing more than a pasture pet from there on out. > Thanks Marc

As always, good thoughtful advice Marc. This morning she was even better than the day before. I did the CMT test and it showed nothing in that quarter but there is still some swelling. The other swelling that was under the skin seems to be gone. She's still tender and a bit touchy this morning. I have Dynamint I can use. Thanks for the suggestion.

My cow has been in milk for 15 months and yes, thankfully, she's bred and due to calve on St Patricks day. Unfortunately, or fortunately, she's bred by mistake to a Brown Swiss bull. My AI guy is a very nice neighbor who grabbed the wrong straw by mistake. You should have seen his face when he realized what happened. Of course, this time she conceived. That's Murphy's Law if I ever saw it. We had tried two times prior with Jersey bulls of course.

Believe me, I don't want horns on my animals. I'm too intimidated by them. I'm just a little old lady who handles the cows all by herself. I'm scared of horns. LOL I bought him from a different neighbor who is a good fellow, but probably not the best animal caretaker in the world. I basically bought this steer to get him out of a bad situation. Now I have an 900lb youngster in the field who loves to use his horns on everything. Between my neighbor not living up to his promise to dehorn for me, my DH's opinion that it's cruel and they should be left, to my vet saying at this point leave the horns, that's where I'm at.

He won't be around too much longer so I've decided to just live with it. I can separate him from the cow if I have to.

[willow_girl]

My AI guy is a very nice neighbor who grabbed the wrong straw by mistake. You should have seen his face when he realized what happened.

I'll bet!

Oddly enough, cows who don't breed back easily sometimes can be coaxed into settling by using semen from a different breed. One of the top herds I tested had even resorted to using Angus semen in desperation! They were milking an Angus-cross heifer who had resulted from one of those breedings ... while she wasn't going to set any records for production, her Holstein genetics were so top-notch that she was holding her own.

[springvalley]

Carla, glad your cow is doing better, I think I would seperate your young guy, not worth getting your cow hurt. Best of luck.> Marc