The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: VSS on May 08, 2012, 10:15:11 pm
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Daisy, one of our house cows calved on Thursday morning, around dawn. She looked fantastic. In good nick, and a lovely udder. Had a creaking LimX bull calf. Calved easily in about an hour and a half.
Friday morning, looking a bit peaky, and a bit subdued.
Friday evening - definately not a well cow. Had not eaten or drunk all day.
Saturday morning - still nothing taken. Called vet who diagnosed e-coli mastitis. Left us with some hefty antibiotics to administer and advised us to strip the affected quarter four times a day.
Monday morning - antibiotics all gone. Cow still poorly. Calf hungry. Mastitis now spread to all four quarters. Vet again. Prognosis poor. :'(
You never know what is around the corner with stock :'( :'(
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Sorry to hear that, what a worry, fingers crossed for her.
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:bouquet: Fingers crossed {{{hugs}}}
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Poor daisy. :bouquet: hope things pick up. It must be a worrying time ( hugs )
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Sorry to hear about your cow. Hope she gets over it. :bouquet: :bouquet:
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Oh no. I hope she mends and doesn't lose any quarters :cow:
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Fingers crossed for Daisy and her calf :(
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Don't know if this would help but I read about it recently
Source - http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/prize-winning-schoolgirls-take-quantum-leap-from-babies-bottoms-to-dairy-cows-udders-192610.html (http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/prize-winning-schoolgirls-take-quantum-leap-from-babies-bottoms-to-dairy-cows-udders-192610.html)
Prize-winning schoolgirls take quantum leap from babies’ bottoms to dairy cows’ udders
By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Two Co Limerick schoolgirls have found a widely-used cream for soothing babies’ bottoms is a great remedy for dairy cows with sore udders caused by mastitis.
Meabh Mulcahy, aged 16, from Coolcappa, Rathkeale, and Mairead O’Donnell, also 16, from Ballingaddy, Kimallock, yesterday won a schools science award for their discovery, which could save farmers huge sums of money.
Both girls, transition year students St Mary’s Secondary school in Charleville, did their research on the family farms run by their dads, Liam Mulcahy and David O’Donnell. They found that a tub of Sudocrem costing €4 can clear mastitis in a dairy cow just as quickly as widely-used veterinary injections which cost €60 per treatment.
Meabh said: "Not alone is the Sudocrem treatment cheaper, but the cows milk does not have to be discarded as it is not an antibiotic.
"At home on the farm we always liked to come up with home remedies to treat our dairy herd, and we came across this almost by accident when we applied the Sudocrem to cows when they began to show the first signs of mastitis in their udders.
"After every milking, two times a day, I applied the cream, and over five days the cows got better. Mairead and I found from research that zinc oxide in the Sudocrem had very strong healing powers."
Yesterday their discovery won first prize at the Scifest exhibition run at Limerick Institute of Technology, which attracted over 100 projects from 16 schools in Limerick city and Counties Cork, Clare and Tipperary.
As part of their research, the girls consulted scientists at UCC’s food and science laboratory, as well as Limerick veterinary pharmacist Sadie Ryan.
The girls are embarking on further research to come up with their own cream to treat mastitis.
Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/prize-winning-schoolgirls-take-quantum-leap-from-babies-bottoms-to-dairy-cows-udders-192610.html#ixzz1uMRqabBc (http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/prize-winning-schoolgirls-take-quantum-leap-from-babies-bottoms-to-dairy-cows-udders-192610.html#ixzz1uMRqabBc)
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I've always used Sudocrem on goats and sheep udders for sores and spots, works a treat. Interesting to hear that it can help mastitis.
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Oh bloomin' eck Dot, so sorry - and yes, you just never know when something like this is suddenly gonna crop up. Fingers crossed :bouquet:
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Just finished plastering it on one of our ewes' udders. We've always used it on animal sore bits.
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Marvellous stuff use it on pigs too, it the Aspirin of the lotions and potions world!
mandy :pig:
Ps hope Daisy is on the mend.
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Have even been known to rub it on my sore bits: there seem some days to be more sore bits than healthy bits.
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Oh 'eck, flippin' livestock always keeping us on our toes. We also use Apple Cidre vinegar mixed in with feed or water to clear up mastitis. we see this as the additional aspirin of the 'stock world (that and Diotomascus earth which is awesome and also useful in the event of nuclear fallout...)
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Two courses of antibiotics and a course of anti inflammatory injections, plus oxytocin to assist stripping the affected quarter - no improvement :'(
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did the vet give you a pessary to insert into the udder? When we first got Betty she had a horrendous case of mastitis, those combined with apple cider vinegar and feeding the milk back to her cleared it up.
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Feeling for you Dot :bouquet:
I've heard that feeding the mastitic milk back to the cow can have a miraculous effect - stimulates her immune system against the specific bug. Worth a try if conventional meds and treatments aren't working?
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She seems a bit brighter today and has started eating a bit.
I think the antibiotics have probably pushed the infections and toxins back to the seat of the infection. Udder is still a mess.
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Well. she is better in herself. but her udder is knackered. We have turned her out with her calf (she should be giving us 5 gallons a day :( ) and she will have to go once he is weaned.
Such a shame. :'(
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So sorry to hear this :bouquet: you could only but try your best, so sad it didn't work out well. ((hugs))
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:( :bouquet:
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That is rubbish - sorry to hear.
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So sorry you weren't able to save her udder :bouquet: But at least she is rearing her calf. {{{hugs}}}
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What a shame,