Lump question

PrettyPaisley · #1 07/14/12, 04:27 PM

I found 3 different spots on my dairy cow's udder today while milking. They almost seemed topical; they were on the skin of the udder but not on the actually sack that is the udder-if that makes sense. (I'm far from an expert-she's my first and only cow!)

It's a mass that's smaller than a 1/2 dollar and I can pull it away from the udder and almost isolate it. There were two on the backside of the udder it's self and one at the top of the udder, almost on the under side of her belly.

She's 4 years old, on 7 acres with goats, gets some sweet feed and cattle feed mix each day when I milk her and was exposed to a bull last November but I have no idea if she is pregnant. I don't milk her everyday because she makes so much milk I don't know what to do with it all.

Any ideas on what this is or what I should do? Thanks!

Judy in IN · #2 07/14/12, 07:26 PM

Let me see, you have a milk cow, that you don't milk every day. Do you have a calf on her?

Seems to me that you are setting yourself (and the poor cow) up for mastitis if you are the only outlet for her milk.

topside1 · #3 07/14/12, 08:18 PM

How about horse fly bites....Not picking on you, but anyone who has a family milk cow and has no outlet for the excess milk ought to consider the excellent flavor of goat's milk. If chilled and handle correctly it's amazing. One average milk goat can give well over one gallon per day during her peak. I've had two jersey milk cows and was instantly swamped with milk, good thing I enjoy raising replacement heifers or else owning those cows was pointless. Just thought I'd mention that a family milk cow was a great concept when families averaged 6 or more per household....Just my thoughts....Topside

Judy in IN · #4 07/14/12, 09:43 PM

Sorry if I sounded harsh. If it were me, I'd buy some bottle calves for all that milk. Or possibly you could raise pigs with it, after you've skimmed the cream....yum, butter!

PrettyPaisley · #5 07/15/12, 09:43 AM

It's okay. I'm learning.

I have goats-but I love raw milk. I just don't have the space to keep it. We only have 1 spare fridge and 1 small spare fridge. I've got gallons upon gallons of milk souring so I can experiment with it. I did have a bottle baby goat but we lost him.

She didn't have a calf, she was the last one from the dairy that closed in TN and I thought if I didn't milk her, she might regulate the way I did when I nursed my two babies-as they began to ween. I must not be thinking right.

I will start milking her daily and call a vet out to see what these lumps are. They could be fly bites-I noticed a spot on her neck that had some fresh blood on it - but these don't have a place where it looks like the fly took hold. It's a knot-I'll try to take a picture of it when I milk her later today.

And I'll put the ice cream maker in the freezer. The girls do love the ice cream her milk makes!

Cliff · #6 07/15/12, 10:15 AM

You can slow her down, We've done it successfully many times - with x dairy cows also. It is better if you milk her once a day. Not good for her udder to have gallons of milk sitting in there till you decide to get it. Anyway, cut any type of concentrated feed way way back. She will have a hard time slowing down getting concentrates. In fact we used to milk just one half to one gal/day with the cows only on pasture or hay (gave just a small amount of alfalfa pellets at milking time.) Then milk her daily but don't empty her. Leave a good bit in her to encourage slowing down. It may take a couple weeks to get there but it will happen.

kycrawler · #7 07/15/12, 10:44 AM

Do not use the milk form this cow till you get the vet check . Mastitis is a bacterial infection of the udder and i m sure you dont want to be giving your kids a bacterial soup mix . I second the put calves on her put 2 bucket calves on her and let them stay when you need milk pen the calves up the night before and milk that morning then turn the calves back on her when you have enough

Judy in IN · #8 07/15/12, 06:24 PM

What are the milk laws in KY? Could you sell this milk for pets?

I would definitely have her checked for mastitis AND TB.

You could let the milk clabber and feed it to the chickens, if you have any. That's what farmers did before commercial chicken feed came along. They love it!

Madsaw · #9 07/16/12, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topside1

How about horse fly bites........Topside

I agree with you Topside. They are bug bites of some sort. You guys got the biggest meanest ---- horse flys I ever seen. I still got a scar from one of them demon spawn from 6 years ago when I was down west of you.
Shannon please milk her everyday and regulate her feed to slow down her production.
Bob

topside1 · #10 07/16/12, 06:30 AM

Some of my areas horseflys resemble small aircraft...

springvalley · #11 07/16/12, 07:59 AM

Shannon, sorry to be nasty , but you need to milk this cow everyday, how long has this been that you only milk her every so often? Get some pigs, bottle calves, chickens do very well on milk. I am very surprised you have no mastitis problems, man, some cows are so prone to getting mastitis when not milked regularly. I also vote for a real good milk goat, I had a goat that would give a gallon a day, and it was more than enough for drinking. > Thanks Marc

Judy in IN · #12 07/16/12, 08:06 AM

THE cure for horseflies==== Purple Martins.

Put up a pole of gourds. Once you get 4 breeding pairs of PM, you won't SEE any horse flies; dragonflies either. I wish they didn't migrate, but they are voracious bug eating machines.

Madsaw · #13 07/16/12, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judy in IN

THE cure for horseflies==== Purple Martins.

Put up a pole of gourds. Once you get 4 breeding pairs of PM, you won't SEE any horse flies; dragonflies either. I wish they didn't migrate, but they are voracious bug eating machines.

Judy,
My buddy and his dad both have gourd condos up for the purple martins. His dads place were the beef cattle are there must be a 100 nesting paris or more. But they still have tons of horse flys. Just one of those things the poor birds can only eat so much and still fly.
Topside. I agree about the small aricaraft. Them horse flys were about the size of our mesqitoes up here. Did you know they are considered the state bird of wi
Bob

francismilker · #14 07/16/12, 01:30 PM

Do you see any redness or hardning of the teats and udder area? If possible, try to milk the cow out everyday until this heals up. If it's topical, I'd go with topside's idea that it could be horseflies. Either way, keep her milked out and put some antibiotic ointment on it to see if it starts getting better.

When you milk her is it clotty and stringy? Does it have a "salty" taste? These can all be signs of mastitis.

I'd also agree with others a bottle baby grafted on to her would sure be a good way to keep her in line.

Judy in IN · #15 07/16/12, 11:11 PM

Madsaw.

Are these legions of horseflies in Wisconsin? If so, I think I'll draw a red ring around the state. It's horrible to think about that many flies AFTER 100 breeding pairs of Martins..

There IS the Ziti fly trap. I've got one, but haven't put it up yet.