I heard a meteoroligist on the radio yesterday saying that we have another 15 days of this cold weather. Well, I thought. I am not sure I can wait THAT long. So yesterday I started spring without her. 
Opened the barn doors wide even though it was only just above freezing.
It was great to feel the air blowing right through.
Then I took the lambies for a walk, which made Mama really mad and she growled at them and rounded them up and took them back into the barn. Blue Murphy is at my elbow as usual and not in the shot.
We brought compost in from the back for the raised beds. And spread more dirty straw in the salad-bar paddock.
And all along I was back and forth visiting Daisy, then was something not right about her, a lethargy. She has still been having the occassional bout of mastitis, and has recently had antibiotics straight into the udder to clear it up but yesterday she would not eat. Did you see her in the back of that shot with the lambs. She lay there like that all day.
Then at her dinner time she would not come in to eat. I took her feed out to her but still she would not eat. I made her stand up by pushing her up with my knees but still nothing. I gave her a carrot and she let it fall out of her mouth. She was burping and raising her back feet up and down, up and down. There must be a pain somewhere I thought.
I put a halter on her (which she let me do .. so unlike her) and with John’s help we were able to cajole her back to the barn and into her corner pen. She just stood there with her head down. There was no outward reason for this. I felt her all over, nothing stood out, her nose was cool her udder full. So, at a loss, I started to brush her. Up and down, up and down, along and along her belly and down around her back, across her flanks and down her neck. Her belly was hard, which is not unusual but I focussed on the roundness. Just like I do when my belly is poorly. She just stood and began to dribble. Her head low.
I brushed her entire body again and again until my arm ached, then I changed hands and brushed some more. I brushed her and talked to her for a very long time, as she stood and rocked back and forth, her head down. Then without warning she stretched her neck right out and coughed and choked and coughed again. She stood still. I held my breath – the brush in the air. She coughed again wheezing out the last of the breath. Slowly her head came up and she turned it all the way around to me on her necks pivot and looked back at the still brush, then she looked across and saw John shaking the good hay in her feeder and slowly like an old lady she walked across to the hay and began to eat. Later she walked herself into the milking parlour and slowly ate all her vegetable treats and beet shreds in there, (but not too much) then slowly walked back to her pen.
I just don’t know enough. To learn by trial and error with such a large and dependent animal is dreadful. It is possible that she picked something up in the field, cows can easily ingest foreign objects. Tomorrow I shall discuss putting a magnet down her throat in case there is something there that needs collecting.
But in all honesty I have no idea what happened. Or whether it will happen again.
So far she is OK. I checked her a couple of times in the night and she was resting normally and had resumed chewing her cud.
I will keep you posted.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Daisy was poorly yesterday”
Sending good thoughts that Daisy will work it out and be on the mend.
Oh Cinders, what a scare with Daisy that must have been…poor both of you but so glad she is feeling better today and so thoughtful and caring of you, even not knowing what was wrong to stay with her so long brushing and giving her some comfort, which I’m sure did a world of good. Daisy is so lucky to have such a loving, compassionate mama……
Glad Daisy is better today! It’s time like these one do wish animals can talk. But being so in tune with them helps as you see quickly when they are not quite right.
Love Leanne
I would say it would be smart to give her a magnet in-case of hardware disease. It couldn’t hurt, and it is cheap enough to do. If she keeps acting strange, you may want to call your vet to make sure it is nothing else. I noticed you have sheep. I don’t know how many you have, but sheep can transfer a parasite/ and or liver flukes to cattle if they share common pasture. Even if they don’t it’s easy enough to unintentionally track in feces. I know vets tend to not worry too much about this issue if you have a small flock, but it might be worth inquiring about, you never know.
Good luck and I hope you figure out what’s ailing your cow.
thank you annie, I almost always run sheep and cattle together, and we are small so the pastures are common for sure. She is back to normal today and happy as a lark, so fingers crossed it does not recur.. c
Good glad to hear she is happy!
Oh sorry I forgot to mention that magnets don’t pass through. They stay inside the cow permanently. I saw one of your responses and you seemed concerned about the cow passing it. You could also purchase “bloat ease” too if she has been showing symptoms. Bloat is also known as “foundering” and some symptoms are abdominal swelling and belching. If you are unsure if your cow has bloat, look to see if that little triangle/indentation that is located at the end of their ribs and beginning of their hip bone disappears, especially on the right side, it could be a good indication.
This is a good resource to read:
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex6769
Try backing off on any newly introduced feed and or treats too, it may help. It is all covered in the above URL.
Sorry for the lengthy comment.
No, no thank YOU for the lengthy comment.. it is most definitely appreciated.. i am on a steep learning curve and it is wonderful to get input! I shall find this bloat ease and store it for next time.. I will go now and read this info.. thank you.. c
I am so GLAD that Daisy is doing better. That sounds so frightening, but clearly the brushing helped and how smart of you to know to do that, in my totally cow uneducated opinion.
So I have a question about something you said about Mama…can and do sheep really growl???
she opens her mouth and mAAAA’s really loudly, but with a slightly or sound, her tongue right out all purple and angry and in a most unattractive fashion, she really really does growl.. and runs to and fro gathering them all up.. I was surprised that they were still not allowed out – so bowed to her superior knowledge and obediently closed the gate. oops i said.. she showed me her bottom.. c
Too funny. 🙂
This city gal can but read and hope as far as Daisy is concerned . . . but cannot believe how the lambies have grown and how handsome they look! Blue Murphy seems to be kind’of special, which will make the future just a tad sadder . . . life . . .
I know.. sucks doesn’t it, but to be sustainable we cannot overload the land by keeping every animal .. just cannot work that way.. still sucks tho.. life.. c
The furry and feathered ones are such a worry when they’re feeling off colour. They place so much trust in their human carers (although it seems Mama pulled rank on Miss C!) but I believe your intuition would be correct, and Daisy responded – relaxing her and those muscles was a wise response 🙂
Glad Daisy’s doing better . . . hope Spring arrives to you soon.
Hugs–first to you, then to Daisy. Wellness all ’round!!!
I’m about ready to have spring whether it arrives or not. I think I shall follow your example! Glad to see from the comments that Daisy seems to be doing better.
What a saga, first the story, then the comments, the advice, the anxiety, the relief, the best wishes. Well, you and Daisy have all mine too… hope all is well the next time you post
Poor Daisy, but your instincts were spot on! Such loving, persistent brushing. I guess that’s a cow’s version of having a massage, and it seems to have done the trick, as my dad would say. I’ve been away, and then so busy, and this is what happens when I’m not looking!
Oh my! Hopefully it will be warm enough so all can get outside and take a walk around – seems to “heal” many things.
absolutely, we are all right on the edge of our seats waiting for some warmth.. c
Celi, I am sorry I am always late to the party, but I have to comment today.
I grew up on a dairy farm. When the cows got into the alfalfa, they were herded up to the barn and drenched with mineral oil to break down the bloat. (I believe you call alfalfa lucerne. People have been referring to Daisy’s tummy troubles as colic, but we called it bloat.) We used an empty wine bottle and about an ounce or two of mineral oil. If you run the neck of the bottle between their cheek and their molars, you can get the oil far enough on their tounge that they have to swallow it. I remember that one grabbed the nose between the nostrils to get the cow’s head high up and their mouth open. It would be nice to find that a less harsh oil would work.
Anyhow, most times the cows got put in the stanchon barn and drenched with mineral oil, which burst the bubbles. The cows would put their front feet up on the cement divider between their manger and their stanchon so they could burp more easily. I understand that if you have something that you can lay in her pasture that will take her weight (like a railway tie), she would stand up on her own to relieve her minor troubles.
People are very right to be concerned. I saw a cow die with bloat. The gas bubbles are formed of sticky stuff which they cannot belch up and it crushed her lungs. My understanding is that the alfalfa is dangerous when it is actively growning. I had not heard of bloat with alfalfa hay.
Sorry for this being so long and for any spelling errors. (spelling is not my forte)
Leah
Thank you though Leah, I am very strict with the alfalfa, she only gets a flake at a time, no-onne has access to a whole bale, it is stored in the loft and their free feed is very boring grass hay. the idea of the railway tie in her pen is a good one, on occassion I have seen her stand on a brick and peer around a corner.. she is delicate wee thing, thank you for the advice.. i am always grateful.. c