304 THE STOCKFEEDER'S COMPANION 



Common Ailments of Cattle. 



Milk Fever. It is called "milk fever," because in 

 the earlier stages the udder is affected ; and " parturient 

 apoplexy," because in the later stages of the disease 

 the brain is affected. It is not, strictly speaking, a 

 fever at all, seeing the temperature does not rise above 

 normal. It does not usually attack a cow till her 

 second or third calf. The following preventions are 

 important. 



Cotton cakes and other highly concentrated foods 

 should not be fed too freely to in-calf cows. If a cow 

 is in too high condition, she should be kept on short 

 rations and given occasional bran mashes, or, if 

 necessary, Epsom-salts. If out at grass, it will be 

 necessary to bring her up, and keep her short of food 

 for a few days before calving. It is a good plan to 

 clean the udder out once a week for a month before 

 calving, and it is not wise to remove more than half of 

 the milk each time the cow is milked during the first 

 day, as it gives the udder a rather sudden chill. 



Abortion. Cows should be isolated, and both the 

 cow and the box kept carefully disinfected. Mr 

 Peters, Berkeley Castle Home Farm (Gloucs.), found 

 that it was an advantage to give cows which had 

 aborted J oz. crude carbolic acid daily in a bran mash, 

 in addition to the recognised precautionary measures 

 for external disinfection. 



Retention of the Cleansing. With cows that calve 

 somewhat prematurely, the " cleansing " or " afterbirth " 

 may be retained beyond the usual four hours. In such 

 cases the simplest treatment is to give the cow ij pints 

 of cod-liver oil. This usually has the desired effect 

 within twenty-four hours. Another specific is i Ib. 



