INJECTING UDDER WITH ATMOSPHERIC AIR 203 



Preventive Treatment. — Heavy milking cows should be kept 

 on a spare diet at least one week before calving and for four 

 to five days after calving. Free access to salt and water are 

 beneficial, as they tend to keep the bowels in good condition. 

 One to one and one-half pounds of epsom salts may be admin- 

 istered twelve to twenty-four hours before calving. In case this 

 procedure is neglected, salts should be given soon after the cow 

 calves and the labor pains have ceased. Daily exercise is of 

 much importance. Rich feeds should be avoided. 



Another preventive measure consists of allowing the suscepti- 

 ble cow to retain in the udder for twenty-four hours following 

 parturition all the milk except the quantity which is required 

 by the calf, which amount should be taken, if possible, part from 

 each quarter. 



Air Treatment. — The treatment of milk fever by the injec- 

 tion of sterile atmospheric air into the udder has proved to be 

 simple, practicable, and highly efficacious and results in no harm 

 to the udder when properly performed. If antiseptic precau- 

 tions are not observed and the injections performed in a careless 

 way, disease-producing bacteria will often be introduced into the 

 udder, causing mammitis (caked bag), a condition that may re- 

 sult in the loss of one or more quarters of the bag and at times in 

 death. The method of injecting filtered air into the udder is a 

 comparatively easy procedure, requiring but little time, and is 

 readily accomplished by the use of milk fever apparatus. A 

 milk fever apparatus is inexpensive and if cared for carefully 

 will last for years. 



Technique for Injecting the Udder with Filtered Atmos- 

 pheric Air. — The teats and udder should be washed with soap 

 and water, and then carefully disinfected with a three to five per 

 cent solution of carbolic acid, lysol, creolin, or some other good 

 antiseptic. A clean towel or sheet should then be placed under 

 the udderto prevent the teats coming in contact with dirt or 

 filth. The hands of the operator should be thoroughly washed 

 with soap and water. The milking tube with the lower piece of 

 hose of the milk fever apparatus should be boiled fifteen to 

 twenty minutes before using. The milking tube is then inserted 



