MILK FEVER 



161 



-with a brush, handle the udder and teats, and gently draw a 

 small quantity of milk. It is not at all infrequent for the cow 

 to transfer her affections from the calf absent to the man present, 

 to adopt him as it were, and to him yield milk as freely and as 

 gladly as she otherwise would have done to her own young. The 

 more intelligent and sensitive the cow and the man, the more 

 keenly true these facts. 



Milk Fever. — The disease known as milk fever, or parturient 

 apoplexy, which was the dread of high-class dairymen for a 

 good many years, is no longer much to be feared, for whatever 

 may or may not be the i*eal cause of the condition, its cure or 



Fia. 58. — A supply of good water constantly within reach of the cow is an aid in milk 

 production. (Courtesy James Mfg. Co.) 



prevention is now not difficult and reasonably certain by means 

 of the so-called air treatment. 



To prevent this malady so far as possible the heavy milking 

 cow should not be fully milked out at first nor for a couple of 

 days. The precipitation of the condition is closely associated 

 with the sudden and complete removal of the contents of the 

 udder. By removing the first milk gradually many mishaps 

 may be averted. Occasionally, however, precautions fail to 

 prevent and the cow comes down with milk fever. For treat- 

 ment, see page 202. 

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