While at the barn today I had to help treat some sick cows. Every now and again we will have a few members of our herd come down with an illness that needs medication in order to be treated. Luckily for our herd, we have a special pen to separate our sick girls that need to be monitored closely. Another benefit to having a separate pen for sick cows is the decreased risk of spreading infection to others. Today in the sick pen we checked a few for ketosis. We use a simple instrument that will measure the amount of ketones present in the body by having the cow urinate on a paper dipstick. The end of the paper dipstick will change color depending on the concentration of ketones present, and there is a scale printed on the container for reference. The darker the color of purple, the more ketones present in the cows body. If we get a positive reading for a large amount of ketones then the animal will need treatment! The dipstick in the photograph below was a positive reading so we quickly got medications to treat her. When a cow is positive for ketosis she essentially does not have enough sugar in her blood system so her liver will begin to break down fats which results in the overproduction of ketones throughout her body. Typically a cow suspected of ketosis will look lethargic, have a decrease in her milk production, and in some cases they can have a loss in their body condition score. Our farm uses the urine dipstick to check for ketosis, but other methods include a blood analysis that can be obtained from a vein underneath the cows tail, or by testing the milk.
To treat our sick girl we need to restock her body with sugar! In severe cases we will administer an IV of dextrose to provide her body with an immediate source of sugar to encourage her liver to stop breaking down fats for energy. We will also pump a mixture of water, a specialized alfalfa powder, and propylene glycol which her gastrointestinal tract will digest and absorb. Our girl that needed treatment was very well behaved while I gave her an IV and we expect her to make a speedy recovery!
Today we shipped 5,551 gallons of milk, and had one newborn bull calf. 🥛🥛🥛
Very interesting learning about the things you do at the farm. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWeird question but is getting a cow to pee on a dipstick just a matter of waiting?
ReplyDeleteNot a weird question at all! Farm work can requires us to get our hands dirty sometimes and there is a technique that we can do which will make the animal urinate. It does not cause them any harm at all, it just requires some massaging of the bladder from outside of the body! The fuller the bladder the faster the process.
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