Update on Rosie (And Her Injured Teat)

Well it's been two months since Rosie's no good, horrible, very bad day.  In this post: Watch Where You Step! you can see what happened.  For two months now, we've been having to milk out her one quarter once a day since she kicks and won't let her calf, LuLu nurse from it.  It has healed so that there is only a small scab.  She's come a long way, baby.  So you would think that she would let LuLu nurse off it now.  But, no.  She kicks her off.  Perhaps it is habit as we can't understand that it would still be that painful after two months' healing time.  Or the calf is too traumatized to even try after being kicked for two months each time she tries to suck off of that injured teat and now she doesn't even try.

Whatever the reason, we have to put an end to this.  Here's the plan and how it unfolded.  We figured that we would separate LuLu from Rosie all night so she was good and hungry.  Prior to putting LuLu with her, we would cover Rosie's other three teats, leaving the (slightly) injured one exposed, forcing LuLu to go after it.  Sounds like a good plan, right?

We used Tricia's flannel shirt draped over Rosie's bag as the barrier.

We worked to cover up the three uninjured and very full teats so that LuLu could not get to those.

We got some baling twine to tie the shirt tightly to keep it in place.  Not a pretty or professional job, but hopefully a workable one.

Here's where we test things out.  We let LuLu out of the stall.  She runs to her momma, at first confused by the shirt covering up her breakfast.  There's only one teat instead of four.  And it's the one that Rosie doesn't let her nurse on.  What a dilemma!!  Tricia helped to direct her to it.  Rosie kicked.  LuLu kept trying.

It was at an odd angle, so LuLu switched around to the back.  At this angle she was able to get it.  She nursed for a while and it worked!

Unfortunately, the very next morning we found that LuLu DID NOT nurse on the injured quarter.  We'll have to continue working with her.  Hopefully, we'll see a breakthrough soon.

Three Weeks Later...

Tonight an update on Rosie.  We discussed her terribly tragic torn teat three weeks ago.  It is a painful story to tell.  Our cows loathe summer time.  The sit in the shade and lay in the mud in order to cool themselves.  They only eat in the early morning and late afternoon.  They lose some weight during the dog days of summer.  

Rosie is like a pig.  You can see her below in all her muddy glory.  Well, the best we can figure, after laying in the mud all day, it was time to get up.  She reached her back leg underneath her and lifted herself up.  Except her hoof was on top of her teat.  When she stood up it tore 1/4 of her teat off, exposing the 'meat.'  It didn't help matters that we had just trimmed her hooves so they were sharp.

Now, before you scroll down, I want to warn you: the photo below is graphic!  It shows the injured teat a full 3 weeks after the event.  She doesn't allow LuLu to nurse on that quarter - only the other three quarters.  Each afternoon for 3 weeks now, to prevent mastitis, Tricia and I are engaged in a bit of a rodeo.

We catch Rosie, who is VERY reluctant at this point to come into the barn, and we tie her up, pick off the scab that covers the opening in the teat, lubricate it, and milk out all of the milk, emptying it to prevent infection and save the quarter.  Rosie is not happy with any of this.  She expresses her displeasure vehemently and vociferously.  Once we are finished, we spray the teat with iodine and set her free.

HERE IS THE PHOTO:

I warned you, didn't I?  That makes me feel really bad for the old girl.  Our hope is that it will heal (SOON) and she will allow LuLu to nurse down the injured quarter.  This would eliminate the need for our afternoon routine with Rosie.  Up to this point, however, LuLu is promptly kicked away when she tries to nurse on the hurt teat.  We will keep doing what we're doing and try to learn more fully the virtue of 'patience!'

Not For The Squeamish or Faint of Heart

Rosie is the matriarch of our little herd of Jersey cows.  She's the oldest, the leader, the bell cow.  Her breed, Jersey, tells you she is from the Island of Jersey, which sits in the English Channel right off France.  The temperatures are much nicer there.  Rosie is not real keen on the tropical climate in south Louisiana.  She gets very hot.  She pants.  Her tongue hangs out.  Often, we'll spray her down with water. 

She has a spot that she likes to sit in.  It is on the east side of our barn under a roof.  It is shady and cool.  Here is a photo of Rosie's shady oasis, where she seeks respite from the heat.

Rosie is mom to LuLu.  LuLu is two months old, so Rosie is very much in milk.  She has a nice big udder.  Well, here is the uncomfortable story of Rosie's latest adventure.  Rosie sits in the mud to stay cool.  Her body is sprawled out to get cool.  When Rosie went to stand up, she stood with her sharp hooves ON HER TEAT!  Ouch!  When she lifted herself, there was a big problem.  She continued to rise while standing on her teat.  Something had to give.  Rosie's sharp hooves sheared off a portion of her teat.

When Tricia and I went to the barn for evening chores, Tricia noticed that one of Rosie's quarters had not been emptied out by LuLu.  We looked and thought that there was mud on the teat.  I told Tricia, "Well, that's why LuLu won't nurse on that quarter.  I'll go spray it off."  So I took her outside, turned on the water hose, set the nozzle to the "jet" setting and began to spray off the 'mud.'  Rosie began kicking violently.  The 'mud' would not come off.  I quickly discovered that it wasn't mud - it was a big scab.

We tried to milk the quarter out, but Rosie was some kind of mad.  No success.  If you can't get the milk out, mastitis will set in.  Tricia visited our vet and got some antibiotic.  We gave Rosie a subcutaneous injection last night.  

Today, however, we needed to give it another try.  We don't have a head gate or a squeeze chute.  Using redneck engineering, we did the best we could, tying Rosie to a post and used two swinging gates to sandwich her between.  Note the purple lead rope that pulls the two gates together.

Then, we used a dog leash to hobble Rosie's leg.  This is crucial to keep her from kicking.  If you don't do this, she will kick you into next week.

Here is where I brag on my wife.  I can butcher chickens with reckless abandon.  It doesn't bother me.  However, an injured animal, bleeding and hurting really bothers me.  Tricia is strong.  Once Rosie was in our homemade squeeze chute and hobbled, Tricia tried to milk out the quarter, but no dice.  The scab covered the opening to the teat.  She then began the uncomfortable task of peeling the scab off of the teat.  Let's just say Rosie was not pleased with this medical procedure.  It is interesting that Tricia and I are different.  The things she's good at, I am not.  And vice versa.  We complement each other.  I am proud of Dr. Tricia's excellent work on Rosie.

You can see the damage to the teat below.  Eye Yie Yie!  But Tricia successfully opened the teat.

She began milking out Rosie's injured quarter.  You can see the infection from the mastitis she was able to get out.  It is the yellow globs of stuff below that looks like cottage cheese.  It is important that we get this out.

Finally, we emptied the quarter.  Thank you, Lord!  Tomorrow, we will do it again.  Saturday and Sunday we will repeat it numerous times. It was a stressful, painful afternoon.  As if to counteract the ugly task, God gave us a beautiful sunset to insert a little peace and stillness to the afternoon.  

It is good to finally have a peaceful afternoon after a rough go at it.  Rosie seconds that motion.  

That's Gonna Leave a Mark

Tonight Tricia told me it was quite a coincidence that I blogged about Rosie's "winter coat"  the other night.  She had been observing that, too. 

Rosie's winter coat

As you can tell from the photo below, she grows thick hair, even on her udder, and it gets in the way when we clean up her bag in preparation for milking time.  Tonight Tricia brought the clippers out to the barn, plugged them in and gave her a haircut on just her udder.  I'll have to get a photo of the change.

Rosie is one that gets real nervous when the clippers get turned on.  The noise of the clippers turning on must be like the noise of a dentist's drill to us.  I guess it is from all the years of being shown in livestock shows.  We'd clip her to get her groomed and ready for the shows.  Rosie never liked it one bit, especially trimming around her face and ears.  Rosie does a funny thing when she gets nervous - she poops.  Tricia told me that when she turned the clippers on, Rosie pooped all over the place.  What a mess she made in the barn.  She finally got the job done, and it will be easier to milk her from now on.

Cleaning up Rosie's udder prior to milking

I wanted to show you something interesting about Rosie's udder in a photo I took this past Saturday:

This picture makes me cringe!

If you look above at one of Rosie's teats, you'll see a big, jagged scar.  Three years ago, I think it was, Rosie stepped on her teat when getting up from sitting down one day.  It made a big cut on her teat.  I know it must have been excruciatingly painful, but over time it healed up.  I remember we were real worried about it at first.  It doesn't negatively affect milk production from that quarter at all - just the stream of milk doesn't come out as tight as it once did.

We always hobble one back leg closest to us when we start milking and then 'strip' out one or two streams of milk from each teat to clear out any bacteria on the plug.

Then we put the bucket that is lined with a cloth "filter" to keep out dust, hay, hair and mosquitoes and flies, and begin milking.

When it is really cold outside, the milk coming out will be steaming! 

Annie's Time Is Coming Soon

Annie is our Nubian Goat that gave birth to triplets back in early March 2016.  We named the little trouble-makers Buckwheat, Darla, and Jane.  They are fun to watch, but like we always say, they are like having some bad little kids around.  They are always getting into trouble.  The little family of four has entertained us time and time again.

Tricia let me know that she noticed that Annie is "bagging up."  This means that Annie is pregnant and will be kidding again within the next few weeks.  During all this rain, we've kept her in the barn where it is warm and dry and there is plenty of dry hay to serve as bedding.  She's really not fat at all, so I don't think she's having triplets again.

The expectant Annie giving you "the eye"

But here's the proof of the pregnancy and soon delivery of at least one kid:

Goats are different from cows in their lactation equipment.  A cow has 1 udder with 4 quarters.  There is a teat for each quarter.  If you watch a calf nursing on his momma, it will go from teat to teat until all are empty.  A goat also has four quarters, but has only 2 teats.  1 teat drains 2 quarters as there is an opening in each quarter that empties into the teat.

Regardless how many teats Annie has, they are filling with milk and we'll have another little one on the farm soon!  We will keep you posted.

Rosie's Young Bull Calf

Rosie's little bull calf is three days old now.  He was born on 9/11.  It will be easy to remember his birthday.  We've separated Rosie and her calf in the "bull pen" away from the rest of the herd.  Chuck, the bull, was head-butting him and we figured it best to get Rosie and the calf away from him.  In fact, we've made an appointment to have the bull processed in October.  Our inventory of beef in the freezer is down to only a few soup rounds.  We'll work with the bull to try to get him into the trailer between now and then.  That is going to be quite a task.  He is not friendly and can get aggressive.  I think I'm more hard-headed than he is, though.  I'll find a way to get him in the trailer.  Beef.  It's what's for supper!

Back to the calf.  The little guy is very healthy.  He drank Rosie's colostrum and is nursing on all four quarters throughout the day.  In the evenings, I bring them into the barn and feed Rosie some dairy ration and alfalfa.  While she's eating, I milk her out.  There is still some colostrum in her milk.  It is a dark yellow color.  Pretty soon that will be gone and it will just be pure milk.  We will do what we always do - we leave the cow and the calf together all day and then separate them in the early evening.  The next morning all the milk will be ours.  Then we will put the cow and the calf together and he'll get all the day time milk.  We share with each other.

So, while I milk Rosie out, I also check out her torn teat.  We have posted about her stepping on her front teat and tearing it.  It is healing and she let's us milk her, but the cut is still open.  In fact, it bled on me a little bit today.  Each day we put iodine on her teat to help keep infection out, but truthfully, I think the calf keeps things clean as much as he's nursing.  Yesterday afternoon, we couldn't find the calf.  We started to get a little concerned, but Rosie had him hidden in the grass.  He was hiding.  I picked him up and threw him over my shoulders, carrying him behind by neck holding two legs with my left hand and two with my right.  He's already getting heavy.  Thankfully, he didn't pee on me.

I got him back to the barn and Rosie moo'd at her baby.  In learning about cows, we read that cows will tend to step on their teats if their hooves get to long.  Her hooves aren't that long, but I figured I would give her a pedicure.  Too keep her from kicking me, I used a device that I blogged about in our Kow Kant Kick Post.  I positioned that over her back and got some tin snips and was able to trim her back hooves today.  I'll try to do a better job tomorrow.

Rosie's milk hasn't fully come in yet, but after milking her out in the evening for the last two days, the calf is getting most of the milk .  The little bit of milk/colostrum mix that we did get was fed to the chickens.  Do they ever love to drink fresh milk! Pretty soon, we'll be drinking fresh milk again, too!

This Must Hurt!

I walked out to the pasture to check on Rosie.  Rosie is our Jersey cow that will be calving within the next few days.  When the time for delivering gets close, we like to keep on top of the situation to ensure that things are going well.  While observing Rosie, I saw something that was concerning to me.  Rosie had a big tear on her front right teat!  That must really hurt.

We try to do a good job of picking up debris in the pasture that the animals could step on or cut themselves on, so I'm not really sure how this could have occurred, but I have a pretty good idea.  I think she stepped on it.  Ouch!  You can see the tear in the photo below:

So i got her into the milking stall in the barn and distracted her with some Dairy Ration mixed with alfalfa.  While she was eating I got a wet rag and did my best to clean it.  During the heat of the day, the cows lay in the cool dirt and of course, the wound was dirty.  Rosie didn't like this at all!  She started kicking toward me and I finally had to hobble her to avoid catching a back hoof to the head.

We decided to do a little veterinary work ourselves and keep close watch on Rosie.  If we see signs of infection, we'll call out our veterinarian to come have a look.  In the meantime, we took some First Aid Antiseptic and mixed it with some vaseline petroleum jelly and dabbed it on the would.  The vaseline helps it to stick versus drip off.  Then we filled a small yogurt cup with the antiseptic containing iodine.

Using extreme caution, I dipped her teat into the cup of iodine several times so that the entire affected area was coated.

We will repeat this process daily and pray for healing.  We will have to wait and see how this goes. This is very concerning to us as pretty soon, Rosie's bag will be filling with milk and her calf will need to suckle on the teat.  We need it to be healed up as there will not be a convenient way of relieving the quarter of milk if she doesn't allow the calf to nurse or allow us to milk her out.

We were really hoping that the calf would come soon, but now that this happened we hope the calf is delayed in coming to allow Rosie to heal up.  It is always an adventure, but we'll get through this.