56 BULLETIN 106, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to carry away any infections within the vagina which immediately 

 after the opening of the cervical canal of the uterus at the time of 

 calving may otherwise drop into the uterine cavity and there establish 

 disease. 



3. When the calf is born it should be received upon a clean anti- 

 septic sheet and at once carried to a clean calf stall and rubbed dry. 

 If it is desired to allow the calf to remain temporarily with the cow, 

 great care should be taken to see that the bedding is kept clean. 



After the calf has been dried, if not earlier, the stump of the navel 

 cord should be disinfected. It should not be ligated. Prepare a 

 warm 1 to 1,000 solution of corrosive sublimate, fill a goblet or cup 

 with it, and, having the calf held in a standing position, press the 

 vessel against the floor of the belly so that the stump of the navel 

 cord is submerged in the disinfecting fluid. Retain it in this position 

 for at least 10 minutes. Immediately afterwards dust the stump of 

 the cord over liberally with a disinfecting desiccating powder, as 

 alum and camphor, and repeat every 30 minutes until the stump is 

 dry. 



The body openings (mouth, nostrils, vulva of heifer, and sheath of 

 bull calf) should be disinfected with a 0.5 per cent Lugol's solution. 



4. Prior to drawing milk from the dam or other cow for feeding 

 the calf, or permitting the calf to suck, the udder and adjacent parts 

 of the cow should be thoroughly disinfected. The milk should be 

 drawn in a sterile vessel under the strictest cleanliness. If the milk 

 is from a cow not known to be free from tuberculosis, it should be 

 sterilized before feeding. Individual feeding vessels should be used 

 and regularly sterilized. 



When calves have reached 3 months of age, it may usually be 

 fairly determined if they are free from disease, in which case they 

 may be handled in groups. These, however, should be kept as small 

 as economically practicable until the heifers have calved and are 

 ready for the dairy. Even then the larger the number of animals in 

 one stable the greater the risk of infection and the more destructive 

 will it be if it gains entrance. 



5. When breeding time for the heifer grown under the foregoing 

 conditions is approaching, we would advise that her vagina be 

 douched once daily for at least three weeks before breeding, at first 

 with a 0.5 per cent Lugol's solution, and thereafter each second day 

 with a 0.25 per cent solution. The douching should extend over at 

 least one estrual period, or 21 days prior to breeding, and followed 

 for an equal time after breeding, or until it is determined she is 

 pregnant. The bull should preferably have been grown in the same 

 manner as the heifers he is to serve and his genitals douched in a 

 similar way. 



