What to do if a cow calves, but there is no milk and what means to treat
Calving a cow is a crucial event even for an experienced farmer; for novice owners, everything connected with this causes quite understandable anxiety. A cow has been healed, but there is no milk, what can be done - the answer to this question is often tried by people who do not have many years of experience in communicating with Burenki. Let's work together to understand the reasons for low milk yield and correct the situation.
Causes of milklessness
There are a lot of reasons for a significant decrease in milk yield or a complete cessation of milk production, each should be dealt with in detail in order to understand how to solve the problem.
Breeds
There are several varieties of cattle breeds: meat, meat and dairy, dairy type. The dairy breeds are the most yielding, meat and dairy breeds give less milk, meat breeds have enough milk only to feed calves. In Russia, the meat and dairy sector is the most developed, since animals are universal, more adaptable to our harsh climate.
Dairy cows give less milk than their dairy counterparts. To get a lot of quality product from an animal, you need to carefully choose a pet when buying or take care of it from a calf age. This requires additional costs, as first-calf heifers produce less milk than other animals and must be milked properly to produce a productive cow.
Food quality
Especially affects milk yield. If the animal does not receive enough feed, it is of poor quality, there will be little milk. Productivity will be low if Burenka's drinking regime is disturbed (she drinks a little, there is no access to water) or she receives a lot of dry food. In the summer, the cow definitely needs pasture, the grass provides her with the necessary substances, and her productivity increases.
The winter diet should contain:
- hay;
- silage;
- roots;
- vitamins and mineral supplements (containers with salt and chalk are left in the barn);
- a small proportion of compound feed.
Oil cake, fish oil, meat and bone meal, brewer's yeast must be added to the feed. These components make it possible to meet the animal's need for vitamins and minerals. A cow drinks at least 70 liters of water per day, the consumption rate is 110-150 liters for each animal. When the barn is crowded, weaker animals receive less water, then the cow does not give milk, it simply has nothing to produce, because the product is 88% water.
Content quality
Another important aspect affecting milk yield. If animals are poorly looked after, they are dirty, kept in a damp, uncleaned and unventilated barn, where there is almost no light and little space, you should not expect productivity from them.The room for pets should be dry and warm, each animal needs 6 square meters of area. Feeders and drinkers are washed and doused with hot 2% baking soda solution for disinfection. Pets are placed on a thick straw mat.
Pregnant cows, sick animals, bulls are kept separately from the main livestock. They carry out routine vaccinations of animals and regular preventive veterinary examinations. If the cow has begun to give less milk under the usual conditions of housing and nutrition, a veterinarian should be called.
Improper milking
A common cause of decreased productivity. It is necessary to monitor the condition of the udder, handle cuts and scratches. Before milking, the udders are washed with warm water, wiped dry and smeared with cream. The heifer is milked dry so that milk residues do not stagnate in the udder. Sometimes a cow clamps milk if she feels a calf nearby.
Be sure to test for mastitis, massage the organ to avoid milk stagnation and inflammation. Cows are milked 2-3 times a day, depending on the productivity of the animal. Milking should be done at the same time.
Age
For the first time, a cow is covered at 15-18 months. If you do this earlier, the animal will not have time to grow and develop, the milk yield from the cow will be low. Then the amount of milk gradually increases until 4-5 years old, and then begins to decline. A 10-12 year old cow is considered old, usually does not give much milk anymore, although some cows do not reduce milk yield at 12-15 years. It all depends on the characteristics of the animal.
Seasonality
The productivity of the animal depends on the season. Animals calving in late autumn and winter produce 10% more milk than those calving in summer. This happens because the peak of productivity falls on 2-3 months after calving, and when the animals move to pasture, milk yield still increases. This does not happen in cows calving in spring or summer.
Stress
Milk yield is greatly reduced when animals are stressed. It is caused by a change in owners or a familiar room, a change in diet, changes in temperature and humidity in the barn, noise or sharp sounds. Heat stress occurs in cattle at temperatures above +26 ° C, the animal tries to move less, breathe more often. Under stress, a cow has an empty udder, she can moo, struggle, refuses to eat or drink.
Diagnostics
Inspect the udder before milking. It should be symmetrical, with elastic skin, without bumps and seals. Redness, severe swelling of the udder or nipples, impaired milk outflow is a reason to contact your veterinarian.
You need to inspect each share. The udder is palpated before and after milking of the animal. It is better to entrust this to a doctor or a person with experience in animal husbandry.
What to do if a cow runs out of milk
In the case when Burenka's milk yield decreases, a set of measures should be taken to restore lactation:
- Call your veterinarian to check the animal. Mastitis, foot and mouth disease, udder or nipple injury should be excluded. Treat if necessary.
- Monitor your diet and drinking regime. Introduce a vitamin complex into the diet after consulting a doctor.
- Provide the cow with the ability to move, organize walking.
- If lactation is disturbed due to stress, try to exclude negative factors. Treat the animal with care and affection, give it a few days to calm down.
There are folk remedies for increasing lactation: you can give the cow nettle (fresh or dry), do not forget to massage her udder.
Important: experienced owners advise removing the calf from the cow immediately after she has licked it, and milking the colostrum with your hands and giving it to the baby from a bottle or bucket so that the cow does not squeeze the milk, leaving it for the cub.
If, immediately after calving, the cow does not completely give up milk, oxytocin is injected intramuscularly or subcutaneously. The dosage is determined by the veterinarian, taking into account the weight and condition of the animal.
If the decrease in milk yield is not caused by illness or age of the cow, lactation can be restored. But it is better to prevent a decrease in productivity by resorting to the help of preventive measures.
Preventive actions
In order for a cow to always give a lot of milk, several rules must be followed. Yields will always be high if:
- A highly productive animal was selected upon purchase.
- The correct conditions for keeping and feeding livestock are observed.
- The cow is treated kindly, before milking, they are treated to something tasty.
- They keep the animal clean, milk it correctly, wash and lubricate the udder with cream before milking.
- They treat in time, worms and vaccinate livestock. They carry out preventive examinations.
Only a set of measures and knowledge will help the owner not to make mistakes at the initial stage. You should not save money by refusing the services of a veterinarian. Disinfection should be prepared in advance for calvingcuring agents, medicines, arrange separate places for the cow and calf.
Veterinarian advice
It is necessary to examine the animal after calving in order to prevent inflammation of the genitals. There are several types of mastitis. This disease is the main factor in the decline in milk yield after calving. Express milk tests and laboratory diagnostics allow detecting the disease at an early stage. Before each milking, the udder and teats should be carefully examined.
If the cow is treated responsibly and carefully, the milk yield will always be high, because Burenka will definitely respond to love and sincere care. And you can learn the intricacies of animal husbandry and replenish your own knowledge by consulting a veterinarian, communicating with more experienced neighbors.
