stringy milk

[Marlene]

This morning when I milked my Jersey I had a little bit of stingy stuff in the milk.
Is this usually a sign of mastitis? She still has a calf on her and I am only milking once a week for household milk. The calf is old enough to wean but I wasn't ready to milk twice a day yet. What do I need to do to resolve this problem? Marlene

[dosthouhavemilk]

Originally Posted by Marlene

This morning when I milked my Jersey I had a little bit of stingy stuff in the milk.
Is this usually a sign of mastitis? She still has a calf on her and I am only milking once a week for household milk. The calf is old enough to wean but I wasn't ready to milk twice a day yet. What do I need to do to resolve this problem? Marlene

Yup, that is good indicator of mastitis.
Was the quarter hard or hot to the touch? Is the calf nursing from that quarter?
I would suggest milking out that wquarter as often as possible if the calf isn't nursing from it. I believe every four hours is the best way to beat mastitis without going to anitbiotical treatments (we have pretty much stopped using these and haven't seen much difference in the time it takes a cow to recover).
There are so many types of mastitis it is hard to tell what this one is. Some are just flare ups and are gone within a quick time. Some, like what a couple of our cows are dealing with, last awhile.
Hopefully someone else who leaves the calves on the mothers will be able to help more.

[Ronney]

Hi Marlene,

As Roseanne has said, mastitis. This often comes about with a high producing cow with only one calf at foot that isn't taking anything like the amount of milk that she is producing. I have just recently bought a Friesian/Jersy X with a 4 month old calf at foot. It was two weeks from me seeing her to her arriving on my farm and when she arrived, she had full blown mastitis in two quarters. Both quarters have been treated but she is going to lose the ability to produce milk out of them because of the amount of scar tissue. This cow produces 10lts out of two quarters (sorry, have forgotten what that is in gallons but is half a bucket ) so she was a high producing cow with a calf that wouldn't have made a dent in what she could produce.

I go the antibiotic way because I want to kill the bacteria causing the problem and not be left with sub-clinical mastitis. But there is nothing stopping you going the way that Roseanne has suggested and I know of many that do with varying results. If unsure, I would have a chat to your vet and see what they suggest.

If you don't want to milk her every day, next time she calves get another calf to put on her or failing that milk her once a day rather than once a week. Have your thought about getting a pig and feeding the excess milk to your up and coming porker?

Cheers,
Ronnie

[cloverfarm]

I think if you keep stripping it I think that will help. Our vet used to give fluids and vitamin C to perk up their immune system in addition to other meds as needed.

If the milk gets worse -- looks like clotty orange juice or heaven forbid all serum -- if the cow runs a fever you might want to check with the vet.

I guess you didn't want to do antibiotics ... but ... sometimes after the cow was dried up FIL would dry-treat mastitis cows -- inject into the teat.

Really might be something to run by the vet.

Good luck.

Ann

[myersfarm]

Originally Posted by Marlene

This morning when I milked my Jersey I had a little bit of stingy stuff in the milk.
Is this usually a sign of mastitis? She still has a calf on her and I am only milking once a week for household milk. The calf is old enough to wean but I wasn't ready to milk twice a day yet. What do I need to do to resolve this problem? Marlene

i have the jersey's i put calfs on...i have a few thoughts....have you changed the cows feed ? are you feeding her more then before ? is the calf sick not eating? are you feeding the calf grain trying to wean it ?sounds like mastis to me but don't know why she would get it after as you say calf is ready to wean and you only milking once week...the calf should be taking more milk now then it did when it was born..thats when mine get mastis......if i was treating i would give shot of a L A 2 00 famliy of drugs milk her every 4 hours and milk till my hands hurt....also i would use the medicine called ...today....pull claf from her to let the medicine stay in a least the 4 hours then put calf on her then milk out whats left then put in more ...today...keep calf away at night also so medicine have time to work...also stop on the feed just hay and all the clean water she wanted

[Marlene]

Originally Posted by myersfarm

i have the jersey's i put calfs on...i have a few thoughts....have you changed the cows feed ? are you feeding her more then before ? is the calf sick not eating? are you feeding the calf grain trying to wean it ?sounds like mastis to me but don't know why she would get it after as you say calf is ready to wean and you only milking once week...the calf should be taking more milk now then it did when it was born..thats when mine get mastis......if i was treating i would give shot of a L A 2 00 famliy of drugs milk her every 4 hours and milk till my hands hurt....also i would use the medicine called ...today....pull claf from her to let the medicine stay in a least the 4 hours then put calf on her then milk out whats left then put in more ...today...keep calf away at night also so medicine have time to work...also stop on the feed just hay and all the clean water she wanted

Thanks for all the info everyone. I called the vet and got the antibiotics but then I talked to a friend who knows alot more about cows than I do. He asked if her udder was hot or hard and I said no. Also asked if the calf was drinking. She is draining her dry all around. So I penned the calf up over night and checked the milk again. I could not find the stringy stuff, so maybe I panicked.
I will keep watching her and if need be I will use the antibiotics. Thank you again for all the help. Marlene

[JeffNY]

Originally Posted by Marlene

Thanks for all the info everyone. I called the vet and got the antibiotics but then I talked to a friend who knows alot more about cows than I do. He asked if her udder was hot or hard and I said no. Also asked if the calf was drinking. She is draining her dry all around. So I penned the calf up over night and checked the milk again. I could not find the stringy stuff, so maybe I panicked.
I will keep watching her and if need be I will use the antibiotics. Thank you again for all the help. Marlene

String cheese! Aside from the slight joke, im glad to see she is fine.. Nothing like having a pet cow get sick..


BTW, check this site out they sell a test that detects mastitis levels. Its simple, but it might be helpfull..

This explains it.
http://www.infovets.com/demo/demo/dairy/D100.HTM

This sells it.
http://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/cgi-l...html?E+scstore

Thats one site, but its an idea!


Jeff

[Valmai]

Glad to hear your jersey is ok (she wouldn't be black by any chance would she??? :haha: ) Since you were milking her once a week she may have had mastitis for a few days and the calf had almost cleared it up by the time you got round to milking her again. All things being equal a vigorous calf is the best cure for mastitis.