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<Ib'  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  22,  1923 
Ailing  Animals 
Answered  by  Dr.  A.  S.  Aelxander 
Torn  Teats 
Two. years  ago  my  cow  had  the  end  of 
one  teat  torn  off,  including  the  milk  duct, 
probably  by  her  stepping  on  it.  We  had 
great  difficulty  in  getting  her  through,  as 
the  wound  closed  up  between  milkings; 
we  resorted  to  a  milking  tube,  and  finally 
to  wooden  plugs.  Since  the  wound  lias 
been  fully  healed  she  has  been  leaking 
milk  much  of  the  time.  She  seems  likely 
to  be  a  valuable  cow  could  we  stop  the 
leak?  L.  A.  w. 
< )hio. 
In  a  normal  teat  the  milk  is  kept  from 
leaking  out  by  the  action  of  fibers  of  uu- 
striped  involuntary  muscle  around  the 
orifice  of  the  teat.  The  muscle  fibers  act 
as  a  sphincter,  somewhat  like  the  draw 
string  of  a  tobacco  bag,  but  are  not  un¬ 
der  control  of  the  will  of  the  cow.  When 
amputation  of  a  part  of  the  tip  of  the 
teat,  including  the  sphincter  muscle,  has 
occurred,  the  orifice  of  the  teat  remains 
relaxed  and  leaking  consequently  occurs. 
It  is  unlikely  that  the  missing  muscle 
fibers  will  be  completely  restored;  there¬ 
fore  that  teat  will  always  be  likely  to 
give  trouble.  If  you  care  to  let  a  calf 
suck,  so  that  the  milk  is  stripped  away 
frequently,  the  leakage  will  be  less  seri¬ 
ous.  If  you  do  not  care  to  do  that,  then 
try  the  effects  of  flexible  collodion,  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  tip  of  the  teat  after  each 
milking  until  it  causes  some  irritation 
and  swelling.  Collodion  hardens  or  dries 
on  (he  tip  of  the  teat,  like  a  varnish,  and 
causes  retention  of  the  milk.  The  result¬ 
ant  swelling,  temporarily  at  least,  may 
have  a  like  effect.  It  will  not  be  likely 
permanently  to  remedy  the  relaxed  con¬ 
dition.  If  poor  results  follow  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  collodion  we  should  advise  you 
to  swab  the  lining  of  the  orifice  of  the 
teat  very  lightly  with  tincture  of  iodine 
applied  on  a  little  swab  of  sterilized  cot¬ 
ton  twisted  on  a  toothpick.  Repeat  the 
application  until  swelling  tends  to  close 
the  orifice ;  then  discontinue  the  treat¬ 
ment  until  again  seen  to  be  necessary. 
That  method  of  treatment  works  fairly 
well  in  an  ordinary  case  of  leaking  of 
milk  due  to  weakness  of  the  sphincter 
muscle  fibers  and  may  have  a  beneficial 
effect  in  the  more  serious  condition  you 
describe.  If  it  fails  the  only  recourse 
will  be  to  fit  a  rubber  thimble  upon  the 
teat  between  milkings,  if  that  can  be 
managed  without  shutting  off  or  seriously 
impairing  the  circulation  of  blood.  If 
that  plan  fails,  let  a  calf  nurse  or  dry  off 
the  milk  secretion  in  the  affected  teat. 
When  a  teat  plug,  dilator  or  milking  tube 
has  to  be  used  in  a  cow’s  teat,  remember 
that  it  is  imperative  to  sterilize  the  in¬ 
strument  by  boiling  for  15  or  20  minutes 
and  to  smear  it  with  carbolized  vaseline 
each  time  before  insertion,  else  it  will  be 
certain  in  time  to  cause  infection  and 
ruinous  garget. 
Chronic  Indigestion 
I  have  two  mares,  nine  and  15  years 
old.  Their  hair  keeps  long  and  rough. 
Can  you  tell  me  what  to  do  to  make  their 
coat  smooth?  I  am  now  feeding  six 
quarts  of  whole  oats  and  about  12  or  14 
lbs.  of  Timothy  hay  a  day.  They  had 
worms  a  while  ago.  They  sweat  easily, 
and  as  their  hair  is  long,  it  takes  a  long 
time  for  it  to  dry.  w.  R.  H. 
New  York. 
The  mares  in  question  evidently  suffer 
from  chronic  indigestion,  of  which  intes¬ 
tinal  worms  may  still  be  the  chief  cause. 
As  they  sweat  profusely,  which  is  a  com¬ 
mon  symptom  of  chronic  indigestion,  the 
first  step  should  be  to  clip  off  the  coat. 
If  your  stable  is  not  a  comfortable  one 
and*  the  mares  cannot  be  kept  blanketed 
in  the  stable  and  when  outdoors,  after 
clipping,  it  would  be  better  to  clip  par¬ 
tially.  Clip  the  hair  from  the  legs  above 
the  knees  and  hocks  and  from  the  belly 
and  sides  to  a  line  with  the  straps  of  a 
breast  collar  and  breeching.  This  will 
stop  the  sweating  in  the  stable  and  alone 
is  a  wonderfully  effective  remedy  for  in¬ 
digestion.  To  expel  the  worms  it  would 
be  best  to  withhold  feed  for  36  hours  and 
then  have  a  veterinarian  administer  four 
or  five  drams  of  oil  of  ehenopodium  (pro¬ 
nounced  kenopodium)  in  (gelatin  cap¬ 
sules.  This  should  immediately  be  fol¬ 
lowed  by  a  quart  dose  of  raw  linseed  oil. 
given  very  slowly  and  carefully  from  a 
long-necked  bottle  so  that  none  of  it  may 
get  into  the  windpipe  and  lungs.  This 
treatment  may  safely  be  given  to  a  mare 
in  foal ;  at  least  that  has  been  advised  by 
those  who  have  experimented  with  the 
medicine.  If  you  cannot  employ  a  vet¬ 
erinarian,  mix  together  two  parts  of  salt 
and  one  part  each  of  dried  sulphate  of 
iron  and  flowers  of  sulphur,  by  weight, 
and  of  the  mixture  give  one  tablespon  in 
dampened  feed  night  and  morning  for  a 
week ;  then  stop  for  10  days,  and  then 
give  the  powders  for  another  week.  The 
medicine  kills  the  worms  and  they  are 
digested  in  the  intestines,  so  do  not  ex¬ 
pect  to  see  them  in  the  feces.  The  iron 
stains  the  teeth  yellowish  in  color  for  a 
time,  but  that  soon  wears  off  and  does  no 
permanent  harm.  The  medicine  also 
turns  the  feces  black  or  dark  in  color. 
Sulphate  of  iron  (copperas)  cannot  safe¬ 
ly  be  given  to  a  mare  in  foal.  If  such  a 
mare  has  to  be  treated,  omit  iron  and  in¬ 
crease  sulphur.  Colts  take  less  doses,  ac¬ 
cording  to  age  and  size.  If  possible,  also 
have  the  teeth  put  in  order  by  a  veter¬ 
inarian.  Add  one-ninth  part  of  wheat 
bran  to  the  oats  and  of  the  mixture  feed 
1  lb.,  in  three  feeds,  for  every  100  lbs.  of 
body  weight,  as  a  day’s  ration.  Feed  a 
like  amount  of  hay.  Add  some  ear  corn 
in  cold  weather.  Carrots  would  also  be 
beneficial.  Allow  free  access  to  rock  or 
block  salt.  Increase  roughage  and  de¬ 
crease  grain  when  horses  are  idle. 
Fatal  Fits  of  Calves 
I  have  lost  a  lot  of  calves.  When  they 
get  to  be  about  three  to  five  weeks  old 
they  take  a  sort  of  convulsion,  twist 
themselves,  and  tumble  over  and  over ; 
when  in  this  spell  they  die  in  about  20 
minutes.  I  have  lost  a  number  of  nice 
calves  in  this  way.  I  feed  6  lbs.  to  a 
feed.  Calf  pails  are  sterilized  and  pens 
clean.  J.  M. 
New  York. 
There  are  several  possible  causes  of  the 
fits  or  convulsions  you  describe.  In  our 
experience,  one  of  the  commonest  is  al¬ 
lowing  hungry  calves  to  guzzle  milk  too 
quickly.  Doing  so  suddenly  causes  a  spasm 
of  the  gullet,  in  some  instances,  and 
that  may  be  followed  by  regular  convul¬ 
sions  from  reflex  irritation  of  the  brain. 
Always  make  calves  drink  slowly,  and 
where  it  is  possible  to  feed  three  times  a 
day  instead  of  twice,  there  would  be  less 
trouble  from  the  cause  mentioned.  The 
milk  may  be  given  from  a  self-feeder 
without  danger  of  too  quick  drinking,  but 
such  a  contrivance  is  difficult  to  keep 
sterilized.  Hair  balls  in  the  stomach,  or 
great,  tough,  curds  there,  may  also  cause 
such. fits.  When  calves  are  a-llowed  to 
suck  one  another’s  ears,  or  other  parts  of 
the  body,  just  after  drinking  milk,  hair 
balls  are  liable  to  form  and  cause  irrita¬ 
tion,  indigestion  or  stoppage  in  the  di¬ 
gestive  organs.  Stanchion  calves  when 
fed  milk  and  before  turning  them  loose 
let  them  eat  some  dry  meals  placed  in  the 
bottom  of  the  milk  pail.  If  that  does  not 
stop  the  practice  the  calves  should  be  sep¬ 
arated.  It  may  be  added  that  the  suck¬ 
ing  of  teats  in  calfhood  days  may  induce 
secretion  of  milk  and  that  will  be  very 
likely  to  end  in  slight  garget  which  may 
be  unnoticed  at  the  time.  When  that 
occurs,  the  heifer,  at  her  calving  time, 
may  have  a  serious  attack  of  garget,  or 
one  quarter  of  the  udder,  or  two  of  them, 
may  be  found  partially  wasted  or  smaller 
in  size  than  the  others  and  may  give  less 
than  the  normal  amount  of  milk.  In 
some  instances  the  fits  are  true  apoplexy, 
from  engorgement  of  the  brain  with 
blood,  and  rupture  of  a  blood  vessel  there. 
That  is  most  liable  to  be  the  case  in  over¬ 
fed,  under-exercised,  plethoric  or  fat 
calves,  and  there  is  no  certain  remedy  for 
the  disease.  Prevention  is  all  important. 
It  is  accomplished  by  judicious  feeding, 
keeping  the  bowels  active  and  enforcing 
some  exercise  daily.  At  all  times,  too, 
calves  should  have  free  access  to  pure 
drinking  water  and  salt.  A  lump  of 
chalk,  where  obtainable,  placed  in  the 
calf  pen,  will  also  be  found  excellent  in 
preventing  or  correcting  indigestion.  It 
usually  will  be  licked  freely  by  young 
calves.  Some  feeders  add  powdered  wood 
charcoal  to  the  feed  or  allow  access  to  if 
along  with  salt,  wood  ashes  and  bone- 
meal  in  a  self-feeder.  When  a  calf  is 
seen  to  be  affected  with  indigestion  in 
any  form,  give  it  a  good  dose  of  castor  oil 
and  lessen  rich  feed. 
Milk  Feve  * 
1.  Eight  days  after  <  ue  of  my  cows 
calved,  she  had  milk  lever.  I  called 
veterinarian,  who  sai  I  it  was  strange 
for  her  to  have  the  trouble  so  long  after 
calving.  2.  My  two  horses  will  not  lie 
down  at  night,  but  try  to  sleep  standing 
up  and  fall  down.  3.  What  is  a  good 
feed  for  milk  with  only  dry  hay  and  corn 
fodder. 
1.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  cow  to 
have  an  attack  of  milk  fever  several  days 
after  calving  and  the  disease  also  may  at¬ 
tack  a  cow  before  she  calves.  It  is 
thought  to  be  due  to  germs  in  the  udder 
starting  to  grow  and  in  growing  throw¬ 
ing  off  poisonous  substances  (toxins) 
which  affect  the  brain  and  nervous  sys¬ 
tem.  Another  theory  is  that  milk  fever 
occurring  just  after  calving  is  due  to  a 
lack  of  blood  in  the  brain  caused  by  the 
stagnation  of  a  great  quantity  of  blood 
in  the  udder.  The  inflation  of  the  udder 
with  air  then  drives  the  blood  out  and  re¬ 
stores  normal  circulation  so  that  the 
blood  again  supplies  the  brain  and  the 
cow  recovers  from  unconsciousness  and 
gets  on  her  feet.  The  cow  in  question 
and  your  other  cows  will  not  be  likely  to 
contract  the  disease  if  you  dry  off  the 
milk  secretion  for  six  weeks  before 
calving  and  making  the  cows  take  out¬ 
door  exercise  every  day..  Keep  the  bowels 
active  by  feeding  silage  or  roots  and 
bran,  in  addition  to  other  feed.  When 
the  calf  is  born  let  it  suck  for  at  least 
three  days,  or  if  you  do  not  care  to  do 
that  then  do  not  strip  the  udder  clean 
for  three  or  four  days,  but  several  times 
daily  strip  away  enough  milk  to  prevent 
garget  from  affecting  the  udder.  If  a 
cow  is  very  fat  at  calving  time  it  is 
well  to  give  her  a  pound  dose  of  Epsom 
salt  in  three  pints  of  lukewarm  water 
well  sweetened  with  blackstrap  molasses. 
Give  it  very  slowly  and  carefully  so  that 
none  of  it  will  go  the  wrong  way  into 
the  windpipe  and  lungs.  Be  careful  to 
keep  the  cow  stable  well  ventilated,  for 
milk  fever  seems  to  be  most  likely  to  at¬ 
tack  cows  kept  in  hot  stables  and  not 
given  exercise.  It  only  attacks  deep  milk¬ 
ing  cows  that  have  had  two  or  more 
calves.  It  is  very  rare  in  cows  with 
first  or  second  calf. 
2.  The  horses  should  be  turned  loose  in 
box  stall  or  a  shed  at  night,  putting  in 
plenty  of  clean  straw  bedding  to  induce 
them  to  lie  down.  The  stalls  you  are 
using  are  probably  narrow  or  you  tie  the 
horses  in  such  a  way  that  they  do  not 
rest  comfortably.  A  horse  that  persists 
in  standing  in  a  narrow  stall  often  will 
lie  down  in  a  deeply  bedded  box  stall. 
3.  A  good  ration  to  feed  your  dairy 
cows  would  be  a  mixture  of  equal  quan¬ 
tities  of  ground  corn,  ground  barley  or 
bran,  ground  oats  and  oilmeal.  Feed 
one  pound  of  this  mixture  for  every  Sy2 
lbs.  of  milk  yielded  daily.  If  possible 
feed  roots  freely,  if  you  cannot  supply 
silage. 
The  Foreman  :  “Send  in  young  Clan¬ 
cy.  I  saw  him  smoking  on  a  load  of  pow¬ 
der  a  while  ago,  and  I’m  going  to  fire 
him.”  Rafferty  :  “Here’s  a  part  of  his 
hat !” — American  Legion  Weekly. 
Why  We  Say  “It  Milks  the  Cows  Clean” 
You  have  often  heard  said  of  the  Burrell 
Milker,  “  It  Milks  the  Cows  Clean”.  This 
phrase  is  the  dairyman’s  way  of  saying 
that  the  Burrell  does  a  thorough  job  of 
milking.  And  it  epitomizes  Burrell  fea- 
tures  and  explains  the  preference  given 
the  Burrell  Milker  after  rigid  comparisons. 
Whether  you  strip  your  cows  after  milk¬ 
ing  them  with  a  Burrell  depends  mostly 
upon  your  own  ideas.  A  big  majority  of 
Burrell  users  never  strip  their  cows  by 
hand,  because  years  of  experience  have 
shown  them  that,  with  few  exceptions, 
their  cows  do  not  need  hand  stripping. 
The  herdsman  at  one  of  the  largest  ex¬ 
periment  stations  in  the  country  actually 
ridicules  the  idea  of  hand  stripping  after 
milking  with  a  Burrell.  And  he  can  afford 
to  take  no  chances  of  either  injuring 
the  cows  or  reducing  their  flow  of  milk. 
But  whether  you  desire  to  strip  or  not 
after  a  Burrell,  the  important  fact  is  that 
the  Burrell  does  practically  a  perfect  milk¬ 
ing  job.  Rarely  will  any  hand  milker 
equal  the  Burrell  in  properly  drawing 
the  milk  from  the  cow’s  udder.  And 
certainly,  it  is  many  times  easier  to  em¬ 
ploy  the  service  of  a  Burrell  Milker  than 
it  is  to  employ  hired  help  who  will  match 
the  Burrell  for  gentle,  thorough  milking. 
With  its  Positive  Relief  Pulsator,  its 
Moisture  Trap,  its  Automatic  Controller 
and  its  Air-Cushion  Teat-Cup,  the  Burrell 
Milker  offers  the  best  means  of  milking 
your  cows,  whether  you  consider  the 
effect  on  the  cows,  the  cleanliness  of  the 
milk  or  the  general  advantages  over  hand 
milking  and  other  machine  milking.  It 
will  pay  you  to  make  a  study  of  the 
Burrell  Milker.  Send  for  catalog  today. 
Remember,  the  Burrell  has  been  continuously  on  the  American 
market  longer  than  any  other  power  milking  machine 
D.H.  BUrrell  X  Go.  Inc. 
Little  Falls. New  York 
TRADE  MARK 
’UssiilssniS) 
