cow down

Henwin

Last Sunday week I went out 2 the cubicle house and there was a cow down that wouldn't get up. We brought her iover to the shed where she is lying down. She hasnt stood since. We got the vet and he gav her an injection but it made no difference. Have ye any advice for me. we roll her twice a day from 1 side to the other so her legs dont get numb. do ye reckon she'll ever get up. shud she be out in a field?

Ford4000

Is she in calf?

Henwin

she calved 2 weeks ago. a cow pucked her before she calved but she got up straight away and had no problems calving. after she calved she got bad scour for a few days. then she went down. I dont if its a good or bad idea to lift her up, even if its a good i dont know how to go about it. Maybe she mite be better off out in the field?

whelan1

i would lift her every day to get the circulation going tbh that is a long time to be down without lifting her

John_F

let her out to the field if you can at all, our vet clinic has a cow lifter that lifts by the hip bones, youd want to be doing it to get circulation going as whelan1 said, we had a heifer either fell or got pucked before calving about a month ago, swelled up the backside of her, cellulitis the vet called it, got high temperature and losed calf, still not right, vet said they had to put one down last week because of the amount of pus / infection there,

Has the cow any big infection / swelling

itsallaboutheL

You've had a cow down for over a week and you left her in the cubicle shed??:eek:

Whatever confidence she'd have to get up, leaving her on concrete is not going to help.

And she'll end up making **** of her teats if she does start trying.


Or am i missing something here??

kfk

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

You've had a cow down for over a week and you left her in the cubicle shed??:eek:

Whatever confidence she'd have to get up, leaving her on concrete is not going to help.

And she'll end up making **** of her teats if she does start trying.


Or am i missing something here??

I gathered from the first post that she was moved to a different shed?

I would prefer to have a cow inside with lots and lots of soft bedding. She needs to be lifted every day though.

whelan1

once the knees get sore shes a gonner

wiggy123

put her out to field..fresh air--also u can handle her better out side..
surround her with bales of straw..and give her food+water

Henwin

Ya she is inside in a cosy shed with loads of straw. it aint concrete. we lifted her twice during the week and we r lifting her again tomoro. she stood on her back legs but not on her front 2. the vet said there are no beraks or swelling. where cud i get 1 of those special lifters. its fierce awkward awkward without one.

Henwin

i forgot to say that its not a cubicle house but a hay shed. she is on her own. She is eating and drinking no problem and has a good apitite. we were tinking about taking her out in the field during the week but it was fairly cold and we thought she cud get cold fairly quickly lying down. If she is lying down on her right side, she is well able to turn over to her left side or vice versa. Thanks 4 all the comments. Its my first time posting a thread on the farming board. im looking for advice on behalf of my dad, i dont know much about farming- i'm only a woman!!!!:)

John_F

Henwin wrote: »

Ya she is inside in a cosy shed with loads of straw. it aint concrete. we lifted her twice during the week and we r lifting her again tomoro. she stood on her back legs but not on her front 2. the vet said there are no beraks or swelling. where cud i get 1 of those special lifters. its fierce awkward awkward without one.

http://www.magentadirect.ie/proddetail.php?prod=MAE0045

http://www.farmrite.co.uk/product/150062/Vink-Cow-Hoist

http://www.farmrite.co.uk/product/9417027020668/Daisy-Lifter-Cow-Sling

Farm rite is up the north so prices in sterling and also there price excludes vat. Best of luck with her

blue5000

The farm relief service used to hire out a harness for lifting downer cows. I know this is probably a bit rough, but if the cow isn't making progress it may be better all round to shoot her, especially if she has been down so long. If she does eventually get up, don't breed from her, cull her this summer.

its baltic

Same situation happened us a few years ago, now for the life of me I cant remember where we got the hoist, think it may have been the farm relief or local farm store but we had it anyway,

Had her outside and lifted her with hoist and front loader at least twice a day, keep her supported with the loader over a period of ten to fifteen minutes, gradually letting her down and trying to stand on her legs, when she gets tired just lift the loader again and keep her supported. doing this for short periods often will really help her and she should stand after about five to seven days.

boredmeeting

what age is the cow, she could stay down for weeks looking like she`d get up any day, and when she`s enough ate and cost ye alot of cash she`ll die

mossfort

if you dont have a harness you could look to see if you could borrow one from a neighbour who might have one because they cost from 300 euros upwards.
you dont want to spend that kind of money if things dont work out as you will be enough out of pocket with the cow. try giving her a bit of ivy as well as long as her legs arent splayed out to her sides she might have some chance of recovery.

poor farmer

bring her out to dry sheltered field have often lifted thm with proper harness but cant say it helped. cover her at night with old blanket

gingerGiant

We try not to lift cows with hoist anymore, they don't like it very much.

Two years ago we had a cow went down in cubicles about a week before she was due, took her out to a bedded shed where we thought she would be up before the evening as she was in good order.

She stayed down after 3 days we got a harness and lifted her, this seemed to depress her and turn her off her food so we didn't lift her again as she could move from side to side herself.

She calved while she was down and we minded her for 3 weeks and 4 days and were about to get her shot as we were sure she was a lost cause, even though she was still in good order and had no sores from lying all the time.

Went out one morning to give her her morning meal and there she was standing inside the door waiting on me and she's still going strong and had two more calves since. So mind her well and she might still make it.

Ford4000

gingerGiant wrote: »

We try not to lift cows with hoist anymore, they don't like it very much.

Two years ago we had a cow went down in cubicles about a week before she was due, took her out to a bedded shed where we thought she would be up before the evening as she was in good order.

She stayed down after 3 days we got a harness and lifted her, this seemed to depress her and turn her off her food so we didn't lift her again as she could move from side to side herself.

She calved while she was down and we minded her for 3 weeks and 4 days and were about to get her shot as we were sure she was a lost cause, even though she was still in good order and had no sores from lying all the time.


Went out one morning to give her her morning meal and there she was standing inside the door waiting on me and she's still going strong and had two more calves since. So mind her well and she might still make it.

Good to hear a good outcome, cows down can be a pain !!!!!!

snowman707

gingerGiant wrote: »

We try not to lift cows with hoist anymore, they don't like it very much.

ditto here we havn't lifted a downer in over 25 years, only causing hassle to man and beast . roll the animal once or twice a day and if they are going to get up they will

have heard of cows with a broken pelvis from lifting before she was fit to get up

whelan1

the hoist we have is padded where it goes on to the hip i prefer to lift them each day to get the circulation going

snowman707

whelan1 wrote: »

the hoist we have is padded where it goes on to the hip i prefer to lift them each day to get the circulation going

when a cow is hanging from her hips she will tense up as it is not a natural state for her to be in. blood will not circulate in a tensed up animal , imo far better to roll her and spend 10 minutes giving physio to the affect limb

whelan1

snowman707 wrote: »

when a cow is hanging from her hips she will tense up as it is not a natural state for her to be in. blood will not circulate in a tensed up animal , imo far better to roll her and spend 10 minutes giving physio to the affect limb

shes not hanging from her hips she has all four legs on the ground and there is no pressure on the hoist , the hoist just lifts her u , its great to lift her and move her from where she has been lying but everyone to their own

John_F

true for whealan there, they arnt hanging, they are lifted and the hoist is dropped a few inches to get some slack and leave the cow stand, Alot better as after a few days she will start walking. When we used to lift a cow, after a few days we could leave her standing in the field wih out the hoist and be walking around, its the getting up is the hardest part of the cow and she will waste a savage amount of energy doing it,

You could also use a cradle type that lifts under neath

Henwin

Good news. The cow is now able to get up herself. we lifted her every day last week but then yesterday she stood on her own for 40 minutes. Her front left leg seems to be the trouble. she doesnt want to put any pressure on it. It was shaking a lot. I didnt think she would ever get up. She was lying down today and we put a bit of ration in a bucket a few feet away from her. She got up and walked over to it. She was exhausted after it.

pajero12

Henwin wrote: »

Good news. The cow is now able to get up herself. we lifted her every day last week but then yesterday she stood on her own for 40 minutes. Her front left leg seems to be the trouble. she doesnt want to put any pressure on it. It was shaking a lot. I didnt think she would ever get up. She was lying down today and we put a bit of ration in a bucket a few feet away from her. She got up and walked over to it. She was exhausted after it.

Great to hear that!

FineFilly

Hi I know this is an old post but I'm thinking of lifting a cow is a sling better than a hip lifter and do farm relief still hire them ?

Pacoa

Great series of videos these from dairyoz on downer cows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REadbA1xz0I

blue5000

FineFilly wrote: »

Hi I know this is an old post but I'm thinking of lifting a cow is a sling better than a hip lifter and do farm relief still hire them ?

Apology accepted, I'd say all the cows mentioned above are dead now anyway.
Heard of the local knackery being called out to shoot 2 downer cows, after he shot the first one, the other one got up and ran away. Good job he shot the worse off cow first:D

patsy_mccabe

It's like the farmer firing a shot through the roof after he'd shot an intruder. When asked why did he do that, his reply - 'Thats the warning shot'.

FineFilly

ah I wont shoot her yet lads shes making a better effort yesterday so heres hoping ,has been a rough week on luck

einn32

FineFilly wrote: »

ah I wont shoot her yet lads shes making a better effort yesterday so heres hoping ,has been a rough week on luck

Hip lifter is most efficient and easy to use. You can drive along if she wants to walk too. Get her muscles going. Just make sure its on firm and not loose or really tight. What's wrong with the cow?

FineFilly

einn32 wrote: »

Hip lifter is most efficient and easy to use. You can drive along if she wants to walk too. Get her muscles going. Just make sure its on firm and not loose or really tight. What's wrong with the cow?

She calved a fair calf lastweek and put out her bed,lost calf and all

einn32

FineFilly wrote: »

She calved a fair calf lastweek and put out her bed,lost calf and all

An ordeal so. Had a cow with calfs head twisted back but was still alive. Pure hardship to get her out but she was dead. Cow died few days later. She was calving a while I'd say.