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”
I do hope it is something simple and that she is well soon!
It’s like flying by the seat of your pants, Celi. I so hope she’s ok and stays well.. xx
Good morning, c. How do your put a magnet down her throat? And then how do you get it back out again?
Evidently the magnet goes down on a tube and after some time she will poo it and anything it has caught out. It all sounds pretty dicey to me however it is a common enough practise I guess.
Keep her away from the metal fencing! She might be stuck to the fence, and milking tins, and hair clips …. matchbox cars,… poor darling, Daisy. 😦
Oh dear, can you imagine!! (laughter!).. c
I have my fingers crossed- I hope she shakes what’s ailing her. I am always so moved and inspired by how you care for your Farmy folk. Thank you for sharing these ups and downs with us.
She may have not understood all of it but I’m sure Daisy was trying to work with you to figure out why she was feeling funny… Hope she is bette today!
Good morning Celi , how very dreadful and scary lost one cow to grass fever not pleasant keep a tendful eye on her if a cow don’t eat some thing is really wrong blessings on you and daisy
SAINTS
and a really good sign is that she did eat some
have you given her a mag block yet?
She is milking and moving and eating well this morning. Normal bodily functions etc. I know it is better to give a cow the magnet when they are young but I never have, I will talk to our vet. It was a strange episode.. c
If only they could talk and tell us where it hurts!
I hope your Daisy is OK. She is such a funny cow. I like her.
she is normally so bad tempered, and still RUNS when she hears the bell, it is most unsettling when she is lethargic and slow.
Oh, Honey…it’s so awful to feel helpless, whether we’re talking about animals or children. I’ll be thinking about you and the Big Cow all day, and hoping for the best.
Oh poor Daisy! And poor you, Miss C, not knowing how to help. It sounds like you did just the right thing though, and took very good care of her. Look forward to hearing that she’s up and at ’em again.
Poor daisy. I hate it when an animal is unwell and we’re just guessing, I always feel somehow inadequate – and we don’t have anyhthing as big as a cow! It’s the same with babies and toddlers when they can’t speak to let us know where it hurts. Awful.
Christine
Get well soon Daisy 🙂
Hope Daisy is feeling better today —
Had a cow do something similar was at a total loss,, the vet was called and he informed me the cow had eaten a plant that causes a bloating.. which makes them uncomfortable and feel full… he poured a bottle of vinegar, water and olive oil mix down her throat… she farted like a trooper and belched like a bar maid and was further fine… it had apparently come in the lucerne that I had purchased to supplement the winter feed…
Ah, this may be the problem, she was not so bloated that I was concerned but she was looking hard and round, and as you know I have been buying hay IN. Well, she seems to be over it now, I might look up that mixture for any other problem like this.. good info.. thank you.. c
I agree with Bulldog – this also sounds similar to colic in horses. Except in horses you have to walk them all the time until the vet arrives with a long hose pipe and some hot soapy water (best case), or a very expensive operation (worst case). Usually caused by a plant eaten by animal that causes bloat, may not be be a physical blockage. Hope Daisy keeps improving. Laura
She is her normal self this morning, all operations normal, so whatever it was – it was mild… lucky.. she is often hard and round anyway as she is a big water drinker.. she walked all the way into the barn, next time i will keep her walking, thank you laura.. c