OCR Text |
Show faCD i CARING FOR COW AT CALVING TIME Many of the complications and losses which occur In connection with calving calv-ing can be prevented by taking a few precautions, asserts Fred Gauntt. herdsman for the college of agriculture, agricul-ture, Rutgers university. Let the cow be dry from four to six weeks before, calving, to give her a rest and prepare her for the next lactation lac-tation period-Ten period-Ten days before calving time put her In a clean, roomy box-stall that has been thoroughly disinfected and supplied with plenty of bedding. The ration should be light and bulky, containing two parts of bran and two parts of ground oats with one part of linseed oil meal and about two tablespoonfuls of a good live-stock tonic. At calving time keep a close watch on the animal. If the cow needs help, care should be taken that the person In charge first thoroughly washes his hands In warm water which contains some good disinfectant, such as lysol, and soap. After birth see that the calfs throat Is cleaned of mucus and that breathing Is started. With an ordinary pair of scissors cut the naval cord and disinfect with Iodine. Give the new calf colostrum milk (the cow's first milk) as soon as possible from a 18-ounce nursing bottle bot-tle with nipple attached, as this milk Is nature's disease preventive. Next remove any cold drinking water from the stall and give the cow warm water to drink. After four to five hours give the cow a hot sloppy bran mash, blanket her and leave her. If after forty-eight hours the placenta pla-centa has not appeared it should be removed, but enly by an experienced person. The cow's ration at first should be the same as before calving time, and then gradually changed over to the regular milking ration. Keep the cow just a little grain hungry for the first two weeks, but give her all the hay she will eat In order to avoid a cold or milk fever, keep the cow away from and do not turn her out on the wet ground to lie down. |