Discharge

adne

I have a suckler cow that calved 10 days ago.
I now notice a white substance (thinged with red) on the ground and smeared on her tail over the last 2 days.
I have never seen this before, would this be an infection??

reilig

adne wrote: »

I have a suckler cow that calved 10 days ago.
I now notice a white substance (thinged with red) on the ground and smeared on her tail over the last 2 days.
I have never seen this before, would this be an infection??

Probably not an infection. I have seen it in several cows over the years. Might be best to keep an eye on her, make sure she's not slow or that her eyes are not sick looking. Its pretty normal so don't be too worried. But as anyone would advise you, if you are in doubt or it continues, get your vet to look at her.

pakalasa

Hey Reilig......."make sure she's not slow or that her eyes are not sick looking".

I remember saying this to a Vet once over the phone,describing a sick cow... that "I could see it in her eyes"......to which she replied "how do you mean you could see it in her eyes".
Don't feel so daft now !!

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

Hey Reilig......."make sure she's not slow or that her eyes are not sick looking".

I remember saying this to a Vet once over the phone,describing a sick cow... that "I could see it in her eyes"......to which she replied "how do you mean you could see it in her eyes".
Don't feel so daft now !!

But its true, if an animal is sick, especially a cow, you will see her with big wide open eyes, often a pale blue colour. If you are looking at her every day, you'll know its not normal.

Bodacious

Didn't want to start a new thread but could ye have a look at this?

This lady had a brute of a calf last year.. I had an awful job to take him due to his sheer size/muscle... Got vet to give her everything after and she got up almost same day but she 285days today and not that far off .. Don't like the yellow/buttery looking slimes tho

Genghis Cant

I don't like it either but I dunno what ya can do at this stage only watch her closely.
She's not forcing or anything?

Bodacious

Genghis Cant wrote: »

I don't like it either but I dunno what ya can do at this stage only watch her closely.
She's not forcing or anything?

No forcing .. She healthy otherwise .. I can just monitor I suppose.. She could go another 4 -5 days.

I'm hoping it's not an infection after last year.. Oh yeah no bad odour off of it either (stuck my head in near it - she very quiet)

She got oral tonics / course of Antibiotics after the hard calving/loss last year

Genghis Cant

Bodacious wrote: »

No forcing .. She healthy otherwise .. I can just monitor I suppose.. She could go another 4 -5 days.

I'm hoping it's not an infection after last year.. Oh yeah no bad odour off of it either (stuck my head in near it - she very quiet)

She got oral tonics / course of Antibiotics after the hard calving/loss last year

I'd be thinking last year is a long time back to harbouring an infection. Could there be a residue from back then? It would want to be deeply rooted?
We've all seen discharges of various types and most are normal, some would have ya worried but turn out fine. Any I saw that turned out to be a problem, I think I knew there was trouble straight away!
I dunno what else to tell ya, maybe worth a phonecall to the Vet if you're still worried.

Miname

I see it regularly in cows, dad reckons it a sign of a bull calf. Its a regular thing in the sucklers at home here anyway.

Brown Podzol

Seen plenty of it over the years, only a vaginal discharge I'd say. For some reason I associate it with IBR. Greysides or someone else on here may know more about it.

moy83

I dont know what it is but had it on a cow here last week and she calved a few hours later . It was a big calf . She didnt show much sign of calving apart from the bit of slime and only really bagged up after

onyerbikepat

I saw it on a cow this year too, but she calved ok, no problems.
One thing I started doing this year is feeding a bit of meal to cows before calving. One or two of the older cows that were starting to get a bit too weak for my liking, sore on their feet and all that. It made a big difference. I could see them getting better on their feet. By a bit, I mean no more than a 1Kg or so.

Bodacious

Not liking the look of this ;



Only shows at times when she lying down and full of silage .. Never showed before but this one had very hard calving last year

biddy2013

yes there is a bit of poaching there alright:D

biddy2013

Bodacious wrote: »

Not liking the look of this ;



Only shows at times when she lying down and full of silage .. Never showed before but this one had very hard calving last year

seriously though, we had an angus cow like that, the ball thing would move when she would go to calve

farmersfriend

Bodacious wrote: »

Not liking the look of this ;

[/UR
Only shows at times when she lying down and full of silage .. Never showed before but this one had very hard calving last year

We have one like that and she calves no bother each year. Only appears when heavy in calf and full of grub.

RobinBanks

Bodacious wrote: »

Not liking the look of this ;



Only shows at times when she lying down and full of silage .. Never showed before but this one had very hard calving last year

Prolapsed Uterus Bod. I got rid of a cow last back end because of it. It started off like that as shown in your pic but got progressively worse every year. I would not like to post a pic of my cow before she calved last year, because it would horrify you.

Vet told me it happens as calf grows inside the cow and can be a result of the cow being to fat. There is no cure for it that I am aware of.

moy83

Whats she in calf to Bod ? It would be nice if she calved sooner rather than later . Would inducing her save her a bit more pressure think ?

GrandSoftDay

RobinBanks wrote: »

Prolapsed Uterus Bod. I got rid of a cow last back end because of it. It started off like that as shown in your pic but got progressively worse every year. I would not like to post a pic of my cow before she calved last year, because it would horrify you.

Vet told me it happens as calf grows inside the cow and can be a result of the cow being to fat. There is no cure for it that I am aware of.

Are you sure you don't mean prolapsed vagina? Prolapsed uterus is when they put out the whole calving bed I thought. Had a few do it here and it's a messy job to get it back in.

Genghis Cant

GrandSoftDay wrote: »

Are you sure you don't mean prolapsed vagina? Prolapsed uterus is when they put out the whole calving bed I thought. Had a few do it here and it's a messy job to get it back in.

To me that's a pic of a cow with a prolapsed vagina.
We'd a PB Charolais like that, worse even, in the last month or six weeks of gest. When she came sick to calve it disappeared and she calved as normal. How far is she away from calving?

Bodacious

Genghis Cant wrote: »

To me that's a pic of a cow with a prolapsed vagina.
We'd a PB Charolais like that, worse even, in the last month or six weeks of gest. When she came sick to calve it disappeared and she calved as normal. How far is she away from calving?

she not far off now 1-2 days id say .. she 288 today to blonde kce, below are her first 3 calves


2011 FL22 Lm Heifer 286 2012 CF61 CH Bull 287 2013 JBS lm bull 289


did yours breed away again.. I killed cow this year for prolapsed uterus but not had this before.. she a very good 2009 cow PB AA X Rocky stockbull

Genghis Cant

Bodacious wrote: »

she not far off now 1-2 days id say .. she 288 today to blonde kce, below are her first 3 calves


2011FL22 Lm Heifer2862012CF61 CH Bull2872013JBS lm bull289


did yours breed away again.. I killed cow this year for prolapsed uterus but not had this before.. she a very good 2009 cow PB AA X Rocky stockbull

Yeah we killed her. As far as I'm aware there is a genetic element to it, or at least an in increased incidence can be hereditable.
I think there's links to certain breeds too.

tanko

I've seen that before and the cow calved as normal. My vet advised me to get rid of the cow as it would get worse every year. It's only when it starts coming out of the cow before she calves that it is a problem and the cow would need to be stiched until she calves. Can't remember what the vet called it but it was caused by a hard calving. You could keep the cow but the risk of problems increases every year.

ganmo

That is a bit of a prolapse, seen regularly in sheep carrying multiples.
has she been scanned?
That form of a prolapse(one that dissappears when they stand up) isn't the worst but if you want to get her stitched up talk to the vet it'll ease your mind a bit

greysides

Bodacious, the second picture explains the first. It's what most here have already alluded to. The size of the developing calf pushes outwards and the weakest point gives, the anal/vulval region. The reason for the discharge is likely to be bugs from the air feeding on the cervical mucus plug that acts as a sealant. That's the liquefied plug being discharged. If she's close to calving it will probably happen before the bugs can get in to kill the calf. That's the reason you cull the cow because it's very likely to occur earlier and earlier every year. Stitching is only a solution when it happens close to full term. The stitches themselves will cause problems if they are in there too long. Exactly the same thing happens to ewes and often results in dead lambs, a ringwomb and subsequently a dead ewe.

Don't let her go back in-calf and cull her!

The prognosis for a prolapsed uterus is actually better. I'd suggest keeping the cow. But she'd only get the one chance.

Bodacious

greysides wrote: »

Bodacious, the second picture explains the first. It's what most here have already alluded to. The size of the developing calf pushes outwards and the weakest point gives, the anal/vulval region. The reason for the discharge is likely to be bugs from the air feeding on the cervical mucus plug that acts as a sealant. That's the liquefied plug being discharged. If she's close to calving it will probably happen before the bugs can get in to kill the calf. That's the reason you cull the cow because it's very likely to occur earlier and earlier every year. Stitching is only a solution when it happens close to full term. The stitches themselves will cause problems if they are in there too long. Exactly the same thing happens to ewes and often results in dead lambs, a ringwomb and subsequently a dead ewe.

Don't let her go back in-calf and cull her!

The prognosis for a prolapsed uterus is actually better. I'd suggest keeping the cow. But she'd only get the one chance.

Gutted as she my best cow but thanks for your recommendation.

Should I get vet to induce her .. She 290 days tomorrow

If I did try her one more calf would u suggest inducing her shortly after the 283 days

Finally .. For such a young cow would you reckon the extreme muscled monster calf I couldn't get out in time would have caused this ?

greysides

Bodacious wrote: »

Gutted as she my best cow but thanks for your recommendation.

Should I get vet to induce her .. She 290 days tomorrow

Depends how long you think she might go....can't see her going much further... compare to others that have calved already for an
idea.
You can always ask your vet what they'd do. Personally I wouldn't. Likewise I don't think there's much else to be done... stitching for example. Even giving her a course of antibiotics to protect the calf as she should calve so soon.

A neighbour bought in a bunch of ewes that had a major prolapsing problem. He got good at spotting the early signs and we got quick at stitching them and giving antibiotics to those which had the cervical plug disturbed. It was very effective, medically and financially. We avoided a load of dead/weak lambs, lambing rotten lambs, ringwombs etc. He ended up with lambs and ewes to sell rather than bury (those were the days).

If you were to do something I'd give antibiotics but ask your vet.

If I did try her one more calf would u suggest inducing her shortly after the 283 days

My fear is that it would start to prolapse even earlier in the pregnancy. The stitches are foreign bodies and the body will react to them possibly putting down scar tissue around a bearing that needs to be able to expand. Personally I use a Buhner stitch which places a band like a lace around the bearing under the skin. It spreads out the pressure better than stitches which will pull through and tear the skin. But it will eventually cause an infection and scar tissue which means it can't be put in too early in the pregnancy. So you could end up with a cow 6-7 months in-calf that you should factory but have to try to keep going till she calves.
There may well be people who have a cow that does this every year and get away with it but the scenario above is so unpleasant to try to deal with I prefer to do all to avoid it.

Finally .. For such a young cow would you reckon the extreme muscled monster calf I couldn't get out in time would have caused this ?

Yes. I imagine there was a lot of outward force on the internal structures around the calf. Older cows get a similar situation where the cervix enlarges and gets very heavy and big and so tends to collapse out. You can keep a cow one pregnancy too many. It's just hard to know when to draw the line.

satstheway

Did she go yet.
we had a cow did this a few years in a row , the last year she was pushing out a fair bit. If I remember correctly she might have died calving in the end. Should have been sectioned.

Bodacious

satstheway wrote: »

Did she go yet.
we had a cow did this a few years in a row , the last year she was pushing out a fair bit. If I remember correctly she might have died calving in the end. Should have been sectioned.

She calved today, KCE kil money Bruce blonde heifer 293 days .. Small pull

moy83

Good stuff Bod . Will you chance bulling her again or is it the end of the line now ?

Mad4simmental

Nice, looks like a fine big calf!

Bodacious

moy83 wrote: »

Good stuff Bod . Will you chance bulling her again or is it the end of the line now ?

Not sure what to do yet.. We'll see how it goes

That calf could be a keeper if dam goes wrong on me

Bodacious

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Nice, looks like a fine big calf!

She is a big long rangy calf alright .. Flew out once I got head/shoulders

tanko

Good job Bod, that turned out well, fine calf. I had to get a cow stitched earlier. She had two feet of a vaginal prolapse, I was half thinking of putting up a picture but it wasn't a pretty sight. She is a sixth Calver , time up in seven days. Have to cut the stiches whe she starts to calve. The vet reckons she'll calve ok. It'll be her last calf for sure. I had to jack her second calf, a PAM bull out of her and I reckon that's causing this problem now.

Bodacious

tanko wrote: »

Good job Bod, that turned out well, fine calf. I had to get a cow stitched earlier. She had two feet of a vaginal prolapse, I was half thinking of putting up a picture but it wasn't a pretty sight. She is a sixth Calver , time up in seven days. Have to cut the stiches whe she starts to calve. The vet reckons she'll calve ok. It'll be her last calf for sure. I had to jack her second calf, a PAM bull out of her and I reckon that's causing this problem now.

Sounds similar to my escapade with this one last year a mas du Clo stock bull broke in and calf was a weanling coming out, she calved @25 months, 3, 4 and now 4th calf @ 5 years but it was the brute last year that done the damage

tanko

The cow I got stitched has just calved twins. I cut the stiches just after she put out the water bag. The calf was coming and a small pull got him out, thought he was small so i put my arm in and found another leg, calf was coming backways and other leg was twisted down. Got her straightened and out easy enough.

All looks ok for now. I wonder is it possible she might still put out the calf bed or seeing as she didn't put it out during calving is it unlikely to happen now?

greysides

Usually having very soon/immediately after the calving. But it's a different problem to a prolapsing vagina/cervix.