Pregnant Cows + Milk cow hasn't been milked in years

[LHRanch]

Hey everyone, new to the forum and new to owning cows so I had a few questions.

First off, we've only owned 2 cows in the past 3 years and they were steers for butcher. A friend of ours recently ordered for a divorce and she has 14 cows and a bunch of other llamas she has to sell. We got 3 cows, a brown swiss and 2 black angus. Supposedly all 3 are bred - the brown swiss is at our place currently and she seems to be underweight but I can defintely see a baby in there... Especially when it kicks.

She is a sweet cow, old (I'll find out age today), but had been a milk cow for like, 3 years than raised babies since. She hasn't been milked in 2+ years and has just been having babies.

My questions are:

Is it healthy to milk her once in a while?
She has rubbed out hair marks on her hind end, could she have lice?
She has lived in a mud pen for about 4+ years and is caked in mud, her udder included. Any easy ways to clean her off in the cold?
What is safe to wash her udders with?
How do I know if she is close to calving?

I feel bad for her because she is covered in dried mud squares and it doesn't look healthy in the least - also, I would like to know what vaccines, worming, etc would be best for her. She is in our round pen right now where there is some snow but 3 round bales of hay for her to munch on and lay in.

When she gets close to calving, unless she already is, I am moving her into the barn. We picked her up yesterday and didn't want a mad cow on the loose so she is hanging out with our steer as company. She has a sweet disposition and I gave her some oats yesterday to keep her at bay.

Thanks for any help!

Also: I'll get pictures today if they will help!

[Judy in IN]

Wow! Lots of questions. On the weight thing--could you post a picture? A dairy cow is going to look skinny next to a beef animal, so hard to say whether she needs condition without seeing her.

If I were going to milk her, I'd have the vet out to test her for TB. He or she can also tell you what vaccinations are needed for your area. I'd start with that.

If you can see the calf kicking and you want to milk, I'd be making friends with this cow NOW. Treats, scratches, and brushing her will go a long way. Do it now, before she calves and her hormones are messed up.

If you can handle her, I'd take some warm, soapy water out and wash her with a rag. I don't know where you are, but some old dry towels after you wash her would be great. If it takes more than one session, that's OK too.

Is her udder full? Get some pics of her hoo ha if you can. Gotta go haul hay; I'll be back.

Congratulations! Brown Swiss are very nice.

[haypoint]

Treat for lice, won't hurt and lice can drag a cow down. Give her ivermectin wormer. Injection if you can do that. Otherwise paste in mouth or squirt into her mouth.

If a cow isn't milked out twice a day, they are susceptible to Mastitis and that becomes serious. You can figure out a plan that works for her and you. Some let the cow's milk production drop by only letting the calf suck. Some leave the calf on from 7am to 7pm and then hand milk every morning. Real dairy folks milk every 12 hours without fail for about 305 days, giving a protion to the calf for a while.

I'd be giving an injection, to the cow, of BoSe, selinium that aids the calf in surviving and nursing.

[LHRanch]

I was told she has Mastitis once before. I have some pictures uploading so I'll post them real soon. And sorry about all the questions! We raise horses, not cattle, so this is a bit new to us.

I'll treat her for lice, I'll pick up some lice dust (if that'll work) at BigR tomorrow morning. Is the Ivermectin shot I can buy from a vet or store? Given shots hundreds of times so no worries if I have to inject her.. Best spot would be in the neck, right? I'll pick up selenium also... Right now she has a sulfur block in with her, would a selenium + mineral mixture be good also?

[LHRanch]

Picture overload if you don't mind.

She is a real sweet cow. I can walk up to her at any time, she is a bit "head shy" but I assume it is from being smacked in the nose a lot when she didn't listen. (Witnessed it..) I can walk up and scratch her without being kicked however touching her udders is another thing... She tucks her legs up under her so I can't. If I have to I can put her in the stall so she can eat and put up a panel as a "barrier" until she gets used to me. If she doesn't have to be milked I will not bother her with it and raise babies off her instead but it would be nice to be able to get some milk from her.

Basically, she was put in a 200x100 lot with 14 other cows in a 2-3 foot deep mud hole and fed 3 round bales of hay a week. The mud is my biggest concern and if it will cause more of an infection than what could already be started. Everytime I go out I start pulling chunks off her but it takes it off to bare skin. I know she is a cow but I really don't want to hurt her..



















Mud mass on neck and belly + belly shot:

[Judy in IN]

You can use pour-on Cydectin on a milk cow with no withdrawal. If you use Ivemectrin, you'll have to throw out the milk for a number of days.

Lice powder should be fine. It sounds like she's fairly tame.

She needs loose mineral; Redmond's is the best. Kelp will also help her. If you are feeding her any grain, pour a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar over her feed. Otherwise, you can add some to her water tank.

Where are you located? You'll only need a BoSe shot if you're in a selenium deficient area.

Go here to see pictures of cows about to calve, and get lots of info. http://familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi

[LHRanch]

Eastern Washington. We have to give our horses selenium shots because we don't have enough in the soil here. Would rotational grazing be alright for her and her *hopefully* live calf during the spring time? I'm not sure of the grasses we have, we just moved in September and the old owners had 300+ goats that destroyed the lands.

ETA: Waiting for my post with the photos to be approved by a mod..

[Judy in IN]

Rotational grazing would be great! Just remember, dairy cows do better if they can have pasture AND hay, year-round.

Are you trying to go with grass based and no grain?

Check on fodder feeding.

[LHRanch]

Right now I'm not sure. Supposedly these pasture get really rich with protein in the spring+summer and they don't deteriorate until around October/Nov. I wanted to plant wild alfala in a 20 acre, 10 acre, and 5 acre section. She would have free range of that. The hay I feed our horses is alfalfa/grass 30/70 mix. I can put her on grain, I wanted to do either barely or corn until she has calved and maybe even 30 days past that just to help her out.

[gone-a-milkin]

If she has had mastitis before and then was relegated to raising calves,
chances are good that she will come fresh having mastitis still.

It really depends on how much of her udder has been damaged,
as to how 'milkable' she will be.
Those bacterial infections can leave a lot of scar tissue,
which may make it difficult to get the milk out of the affected quarters.

Getting her out of the mud and currying the patches of dry dirt off her
should be all you need to do to clean her up on the outside.

It sounds like this cow's luck has improved greatly now that you have her.

Looking forward to pictures.

[LHRanch]

Has anyone ever had to have pictures approved before? I thought for sure it would be done by now..

I had a couple more questions. IF she is milkable do I need to pasturerize the milk? Can she be put on a diet of liquid molasses with corn or barely once a day? She will have hay in her diet most of the time. Also, is mastitis something that is easily curable? We are calling our vet tomorrow to get him scheduled to come out and look at her but I'd like to be prepared for whatever needs to be done.

Really hoping the pics are posted tonight... Is there anyway I can post them again or will it have to be approved also?

[gone-a-milkin]

I dont know how the picture thing works for new posters.
They have this forum set up so you have to post for a while before they let you do that.
Trying to eliminate spammers and stuff, I guess.

Mastitis is something you will really want to read up on before you start milking and consuming raw dairy products.
There are several 'common' strains' and a few less common ones.
When in doubt of the cleanliness of the milk, I recommend pasteurizing it.

Also, do get the TB/Johnes testing done.
Better safe than sorry.

[LHRanch]

Pictures are uploaded! I will defintely getting her checked for TB. Is it a blood test?

[Judy in IN]

Aww, what a sweetie! She doesn't look too skinny to me. I'm not even sure she has lice. It looks like she's tried to scratch off some of the mud.

What are your daytime temps? I'd be tempted to tie her up and give her a warm bath. What a mess!

Cows adjust slower than horses. It takes awhile for them to learn a new routine.

Looking at her udder, it looks like the right front quarter will be blank when she comes fresh. That's probably where she had mastitis. Don't expect any milk from that quarter. Other than that, she has some nice hand-milkable teats. There are some dry cow treatments you can give, but it will be hard to tell if the other quarters have mastitis until she comes fresh.

It doesn't look like she's close, so you have time to make friends and clean her up.

I give warm water with molasses right after calving. It's quick energy and good for them.

[LHRanch]

Yeah, looking at the skin you can see where the mud has been rubbed off in chunks. Our day time temps haven't peaked above 30 degrees lately, nights going down to around 24-27. Today we had 40 degrees but it was really windy so it dropped temps to about 28-30. I would love to give her a bath I just think she would freeze! I have horse blankets but I don't know if one would fit over a cow!

Also, I think she is between 5-7 years, poss. older. Is there any way to estimate a cows age, like horses with their teeth? And I found out that she should calve between late March-April..

I will go out tomorrow and peel more mud off her.

And one more question, is she alright being in with out steer? We didn't want to move her to a new place with no company and she has been with him for two days now. I'm not so concerned about the lice but I will still dust the both of them because it wouldn't hurt.

[cathleenc]

My neighbor bred one of her heifers with some old world jersey semen I bought - and then brought the heifer over to calve in my barn. The heifer was not wild but never had been handled. I spent 4 weeks feeding from my hand, talking to her, and eventually pulling out the curry comb and little by little ripping off all of the mud chunks. Her coat grew in very quickly! I'd work on a 4" x 4" area, more or less, every time I gave her treats.

She was extremely tame by the time she calved and I could hand milk her out just standing - no halter, tie, or stanchion. She was a sweetie!

Congrats on your new cows and looking forward to happy stories and updates from you.

[G. Seddon]

Your vet can do the TB test; it requires two visits. Vet can also advise you on her age (teeth), the status of her pregnancy and how to get her in good condition. That dried mud is unbelievable and appears to have been there for quite a while.

Lucky cow to have found you and hope her rehab goes well. You'll see the results of good care soon! How good of you to take this on.

[LHRanch]

Thanks everyone for the help! I'll let you know more once the vet is scheduled and comes out.

[Judy in IN]

She'll be happier with company, so I'd leave the steer in there right now. You're doing great! Once she starts to bag up, you can move him to another pen, or her into the barn.
Maybe use warm, soapy water on a small area, and dry it with a towel after. That way she won't be all wet in the weather.

[myheaven]

Poor girl! I can't imagine having to be so dirty. I want to bring her in my garage crank up te heater and give her a warm shower! I'm so glad she has you!