Is this Colostrum?

[Countrygrl3]

Sorry all, rookie question comming up

my Jersey cow is due in June, she has begun bagging up and her udder is pretty full, it seems kinda early to me but the vet said that some cows will do that. my main question is one of her quarters has a thick, (almost chunky) yellow liquid in it. is this colostrum that is beginning to form? or is this something else? any advice would be appreciated! Thanks,

Sue

[myersfarm]

are you milking her now every day or did you just kind this big tit and fine the yellow chunky stuff in it ???? if you only found it now.... and not milker her ...... i would think if the quarter is hard you have mastitis in that quarter....it will look like a thing i call....string in a can when it comes out.....thick string and most time yellow or white ...will come out and hang on the tit....be real hard to milk and hurt the cow when you milk will feel hot also....john

[Countrygrl3]

the guy i purchased her from is pretty confident that she is due in june, but i guess cows are famous for this stuff

She doesnt have any discharge, but her udder is so full it looks like an inflated rubber glove.

i am not milking her, she was dry when i bought her, i was washing her because she is rather famous for lying down in the largest pile of manure in the field. and as i was washing her udder, i noticed the yellow discharge.

it is kind of like what you were describing, string in a can, it is just like thick string. the quarter isnt hard, or at least isnt when i compare it to the others. are these all the call signs for mastitis? if it is should i strip it out? thanks so much!

Sue

[dosthouhavemilk]

Does she have a history of mastitis in that quarter?
If it is clumpy and not smooth then she will quite likely calve with mastitis. I wouldn't do anything about right now. Just keep it in mind when she calves and get to work on that quarter pretty quickly after.
There is also another form of mastitis that is a bit more serious than normal masitits and they lose the use of one quarter and every once in awhile have a blow-out or some really chunky, nasty discharge from their teat or part of the infected quarter. It is a constant infection type thing but doesn't necesarilly kill the cow and the cow can function quite well.

If she is sacked up tight my guess is she is going to go before June. When was she bred? Was it natural (with a bull) or AI?
Another question. Did the previous owner dry treat her? there is a new form of dry treatment out that end up coming out in a string type manner. Though it is generally white in color and looks like plastic. lol

[myersfarm]

i would just wait till she has calf if the bag is not hard...and make sure the calf sucks on that teat and you milk the others will help it clear up but i do think it is mastaits...john

[Countrygrl3]

i think found the problem...a thorn about 1 cm long was almost completely lodged in her teat, ouch! it probably was in there for a bit and once she started bagging up it provided a place for the infection to grow, at least thats my guess.

Anyway my vet advised me to strip out her quarter until all the infection was out until i get normal milk again. i think the best idea after that is to treat her with some dip to keep her clean and hope for the best. what do you all think?

She doesnt have any history of mastitis, the guy i purchased her from said she has never had any health issues. She arranged her own "date" with the neighbors bull, so i guess thats pretty self-explainatory

Thank you guys so much for all your advice, my family says that i worry way too much about my animals

Sue

[dosthouhavemilk]

An outside object would do the trick and cause an infection.
Every person has their own thoughts and feelings about stripping an animal for she calves, kids, lambs, etc.
If your vet is suggesting it and he knows what the case is (she is dry and is "due" in June) then I would urge you to follow his lead. He is the one you will go to for help when you need someone in the flesh. It is best to keep a good relationship with your large animal vet as they are few and far between. :no:

You could strip her out, dip her and then keep a close eye on it when she calves.
I dunno. It is up to you. When our cows are dry we don't mess with them until they calve.

I am also overly anxious when it comes to our animals...sometimes it is nothing and then there are times when you know something was happening but you didn't want to get pegged as overreacting and then something goes wrong (lost our oldest doe this year, that way...).
You know the animal and you can sense when something is wrong. Follow your instincts...can't say it enough.