CARE OF THE COW AT CALVING. 201 



three or four heaping tablespoonfuls of ground ginger mixed and dissolved are 

 given. Especial care is taken for a few days not to let the cow get chilled. 



"If the udder is badly swollen I continue the aconite night and morning for 

 a few days, and apply hot water slightly salted, and afterwards apply lard and 

 kerosene oil mixed equal parts. If the udder is very painful to the touch, 

 steep hops in water and apply. Warm milk rubbed on the udder after each 

 milking is also good. 



<% I have usually been very successful with my cows at this period, but occa- 

 sionally one does not clean. In that case I try to get the cow to eat a good 

 grain ration at once, give her a little Golden Seal in each feed, and an ounce of 

 saltpetre once a day for a few days, and in from seven to nine days she will 

 clean, and usually do well." 



S. N. Wright, Elgin, 111 : 



"In times past the losing of cows with what is commonly called here milk 

 fever has been a very serious matter with me, as well as with many other dairy- 

 men in this great dairy section. I often called on the cow doctor to save my 

 valuable cows, but in almost every case when the cow was down and too late. 

 I came to the conclusion that I had got to do something before the cow came 

 in. and I adopted this simple mode, and have not lost a cow since. I commence 

 about ten days or two weeks before she is due to drop her calf, and give her 

 about four quarts of wheat bran in two feeds one at night, and one in the 

 morning. To this feed I add at first a large tablespoonful of cream tartar, 

 increasing this to double the amount just before she comes in. About four or 

 five days before she comes in I add to the above feed about two pounds of good 

 linseed meal to each mess and continue this for a week or ten days after she 

 has dropped her calf, or until all danger has passed. If in hot weather, I give 

 her to drink cold water, a little at a time and often. Use cow sense, and keep 

 her out of the heat of the sun. If in cool weather, I take the chill off of the 

 water she drinks." 



Aug. Knorr: "Whatever the season, I always have the cow calve in the 

 barn, giving her a comfortable, airy box stall, well bedded. I stay by her until 

 her labors are over and calf delivered, leaving nothing to chance.* A well-kept 

 Holstein cow is of such rugged health that she will rarely need assistance. 

 When the cow is in good condition previous to calving, nature will do the rest. 

 If on winter rations, I withhold constipating food, and give liberally of oil 

 meal, bran, beets, or occasionally a bite of winter pasture. The process of 

 labor loosens the placenta as delivery progresses. Too early or too hasty assist- 

 ance at this point removes the calf without loosening the afterbirth from its 

 attachments, and the next thing you have on hand is a case of retention of the 

 afterbirth. Occasionally a young cow will have difficulty in calving. The 

 ounce of prevention in this case consists in using only young bulls on the heif- 

 ers. As soon as the calf is born I give the cow two pailfuls of thin bran and 

 oil meal gruel. Then she is left alone, giving her absolute quiet and rest. Dur- 

 ing this she will pass the afterbirth, which is promptly removed. Then I look 

 after the udder. When feverish or congested, starvation rations are indicated, 

 a wisp of hay and a couple of beets, if necessary, for days. Put back on regu- 

 lar rations very carefully. After twenty-four hcurs the calf is taken frcm the 

 dam." 



H. F. W. Breuer, Charleston, S. C.: 



"When my cows pass the fourth month of pregnancy I feed them very lib- 

 erally of concentrated food, ground oats, wheat bran and corn meal. To a cow 

 weighing 1,200 pounds I generally give eight pounds of oats, eight pounds 

 wheat bran, and four pounds of cornmeal daily, divided into two feeds, and 

 what hay or grass they will eat; a smaller cow a little less, a larger one a frac- 

 tion more. 



"Next I dry them off if possible sixty days before calving. About ten days 

 before calving I take them off pasture, and put them in a lot where grass is 

 thin and poor; also, take the corn meal out of their grain ration. Three or 

 four days prior to calving, as near as I am able to judge, if the cow is matured 

 and not over ten years old, I administer two pounds of Epsom salts and one 

 quart of common molasses at one dose; if cow is over ten years old, one pound 

 of salts and a quart of molasses. 



"With this treatment, which I have pursued for a number of years, I have 

 had little or no trouble from milk fever or retention of placenta. The advan- 

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