THE DISEASES OF DAIRY STOCK.
Dairy stock, properly fed and managed, is liable to few diseases in this
country, notwithstanding the sudden changes to which our climate is
subject. If pure air, pure water, a dry barn or pasture, and a frequent
but gradual change of diet, when kept in the stall, are provided for
milch cows, nature will generally remedy any derangements of the system
which may occur, far better than art. Common sense is especially
requisite in the treatment of stock, and that will very rarely dictate a
resort to bleeding, boring the horns, cutting off the tail, and a
thousand other equally absurd practices, too common even within the
memory of men still living.
The diseases most to be dreaded are garget, puerperal or milk fever, and
idiopathic or common fever, commonly called “horn ail,” and often “tail
ail.”
GARGET is an inflammation of the internal substance of the udder. One or
more of the teats, or whole sections of the udder, become enlarged and
thickened, hot, tender, and painful. The milk coägulates in the bag, and
causes inflammation where it is deposited, which is accompanied by
fever. It most commonly occurs in young cows after calving, especially
when in too high condition. The secretion of milk is very much lessened,
and, in very had cases, stopped altogether. Sometimes the milk is
thick, and mixed with blood. Often, also, in severe cases, the hind
extremities, as the hip-joint, hock, or fetlock, are swollen and
inflamed to such an extent that the animal cannot rise. The simplest
remedy, in mild cases, is to put the calf to its mother several times a
day. This will remove the flow of milk, and often dispel the congestion.
Sometimes the udder is so much swollen that the cow will not permit the
calf to suck. If the fever increases, the appetite declines, and
rumination ceases. In this stage of the complaint, the advice of a
scientific veterinary practitioner is required. A dose of purging
medicine and frequent washing of the udder, in _mild_ cases, are usually
successful. The physic should consist of Epsom salts one pound, ginger
half an ounce, nitrate of potassa half an ounce; dissolved in a quart of
boiling water; then add a gill of molasses, and give to the cow
lukewarm. Diet moderate; that is, on bran, or if in summer green food.
There are various medicines for the different forms and stages of
garget, which, if the above medicine fails, can be properly prescribed
only by a skilful veterinary practitioner.
It is important that the udder should be frequently examined, as matter
may be forming, which should be immediately released. Various causes are
assigned for this disease, such as exposure to cold and wet, or the want
of proper care or attention in parturition.
An able writer, Mr. Youatt, says that hasty drying up a cow often gives
rise to inflammation and indurations of the udder, difficult of removal.
Sometimes a cow lies down upon and bruises the udder, and this is
another cause. But a very frequent source, and one for which there can
be no excuse, is the failure to milk a cow clean. The calf should be
allowed to suck often, and the cow should be milked at least twice a
day as clean as possible, while suffering from this complaint.
If the udder is hot and feverish, a wash may be used, consisting of
eight ounces of vinegar and two ounces of camphoretted spirit; the whole
well and thoroughly mixed, and applied just after milking, to be washed
off in warm water before milking again.
In very bad cases, iodine has often been found most effectual. An iodine
ointment may be prepared by taking one drachm of hydriodate of potash
and an ounce of lard, and mixing them well together. A small portion of
the mixture, from the size of a pigeon’s egg, in limited inflammations,
to twice that amount, is to be well rubbed into the swollen part,
morning and night.
When milk forms in the bag before parturition, so as to cause a swelling
of the udder, it should be milked away; and a neglect of this precaution
often leads to violent attacks of garget.
Prevention is always better than cure. The reason most commonly given
for letting the cow run dry for a month or two before calving is that
after a long period of milking her system requires rest, and that she
will give more milk and do better the coming season than if milked up to
the time of calving.
This is all true, and a reason sufficient in itself for drying off the
cow some weeks before parturition; but there is another important reason
for the practice, which is that the mixture of the old milk with the new
secretion is liable to end in an obstinate case of garget.
To prevent any ill effects from calving, the cow should not be suffered
to get too fat, which high feeding after drying off might induce.
The period of gestation is about two hundred and eighty-four or two
hundred and eighty-five days. But cows sometimes overrun their time, and
have been known to go three hundred and thirteen days, and even more;
while they now and then fall short of it, and have been known to calve
in two hundred and twenty days. If they go much over the average time,
the calf will generally be a male. But cows are sometimes liable to
slink their calves; and this usually takes place about the middle of
their pregnancy. To avoid the evil consequences, so far as possible,
they should be watched; and, if a cow is found to be uneasy and
feverish, or wandering about away from the rest of the herd, and
apparently longing for something she cannot get, she ought to be taken
away from the others.
If a cow slinks her calf while in the pasture with others, they will be
liable to be affected in the same way.
In many cases, physicking will quiet the cow’s excitement in the
condition above described, and prove of essential benefit. A dose of one
pound of Epsom or Glauber’s salts, and one ounce of ginger, mixed in a
pint of thick gruel, should be given first, to be immediately followed
by the salts, in a little thinner gruel.
When a cow once slicks her calf, there is great risk in breeding from
her. She is liable to do the same again. But when the slinking is caused
by sudden fright or over-exertion, or any offensive matter, such as
blood or the dead carcasses of animals, this result is not so much to be
feared.
But the cow, when about to calve, ought not to be disturbed by too
constant watching. The natural presentation of the fœtus is with the
head lying upon the fore legs. If in this position, nature will
generally do all. But, if the presentation is unnatural, and the labor
has been long and ineffectual, some assistance is required. The hand,
well greased, may be introduced, and the position of the calf changed;
and, when in a proper position, a cord should be tied round the fore
legs, just above the hoofs; but no effort should be made to draw out the
calf till the natural throes are repeated. If the nostril of the calf
has protruded, and the position is then found to be unnatural, the head
cannot be thrust back without destroying the life of the calf.
The false position most usually presented is that of the head first,
with the legs doubled under the belly. A cord is then fixed around the
lower jaw, when it is pushed back, to give an opportunity to adjust the
fore legs, if possible. The object must now be to save the life of the
cow.
But the cases of false presentation, though comparatively rare, are so
varied that no directions could be given which would be applicable in
all cases.
After calving the cow will require but little care, if she is in the
barn, and protected from changes of weather. A warm bran mash is usually
given, and the state of the udder examined.
PUERPERAL OR MILK FEVER.--Calving is often attended with feverish
excitement. The change of powerful action from the womb to the udder
causes much constitutional disturbance and local inflammation. A cow is
subject to nervousness in such circumstances, which sometimes extends to
the whole system, and causes puerperal fever. This complaint is called
_dropping_ after calving, because it succeeds that process. The
prominent symptom is a loss of power over the motion of the hind
extremities, and inability to stand; sometimes loss of sensibility in
these parts, so that a deep puncture with a pin, or other sharp
instrument, is unfelt.
This disease is much to be dreaded by the farmer, on account of the high
state of excitement and the local inflammation. Either from neglect or
ignorance, the malady is not discovered until the manageable symptoms
have passed, and extreme debility has appeared. The animal is often
first seen lying down, unable to rise; prostration of strength and
violent fever are brought on by inflammation of the womb. But soon a
general inflammatory action succeeds, rapid and violent, with complete
prostration of all the vital forces, bidding defiance to the
best-selected remedies.
Cows in very high condition, and cattle removed from low keeping to high
feeding, are the most liable to puerperal fever. It occurs most
frequently during the hot weather of summer, and then it is most
dangerous. When it occurs in winter, cows sometimes recover. In hot
weather they usually die.
Milk fever may be induced by the hot drinks often given after calving. A
young cow at her first calving is rarely attacked with it. Great milkers
are most commonly subject to it; but all cows have generally more or
less fever at calving. A little addition to it, by improper treatment or
neglect, will prevent the secretion of milk; and thus the milk, being
thrown back into the system, will increase the inflammation.
This disease sometimes shows itself in the short space of two or three
hours after calving, but often not under two or three days. If four or
five days have passed, the cow may generally be considered safe. The
earliest symptoms of this disease are as follows:
The animal is restless, frequently shifting her position; occasionally
pawing and heaving at the flanks. Muzzle hot and dry, the mouth open,
and tongue out at one side; countenance wild; eyes staring. She moans
often, and soon becomes very irritable. Delirium follows; she grates her
teeth, foams at the mouth, tosses her head about, and frequently injures
herself. From the first, the udder is hot, enlarged, and tender; and if
this swelling is attended by a suspension of milk, the cause is clear.
As the case is inflammatory, its treatment must be in accordance; and
it is usually subdued without much difficulty. Mr. Youatt says, “The
animal should be bled, and the quantity regulated by the impression made
upon the circulation,--from six to ten quarts often before the desired
effect is produced.” He wrote at a time when bleeding was adopted as the
universal cure, and before the general reasoning and treatment of
diseases of the human system was applied to similar diseases of animals.
The cases are very rare, indeed, where the physician of the present day
finds it necessary to bleed in diseases of the human subject; and they
are equally rare, I apprehend, where it is really necessary or judicious
to bleed for the diseases of animals. A more humane and equally
effectual course will be the following:
A pound to one and a half pounds of Epsom or Glauber’s salts, according
to the size and condition of the animal, should be given, dissolved in a
quart of boiling water; and, when dissolved, add pulv. red pepper a
quarter of an ounce, caraway do. do., ginger do. do.; mix, and add a
gill of molasses, and give lukewarm. If this medicine does not act on
the bowels, the quantity of ginger, capsicum, and caraway, must be
doubled. The insensible stomach must be roused. When purging in an early
stage is begun, the fever will more readily subside. After the operation
of the medicine, sedatives may be given, if necessary.
The digestive function first fails, when the secondary or low state of
fever comes on. The food undischarged ferments; the stomach and
intestines are inflated with gas, and swell rapidly. The nervous system
is also attacked, and the poor beast staggers. The hind extremities show
the weakness; the cow falls, and cannot rise; her head is turned on one
side, where it rests; her limbs are palsied. The treatment in this
stage must depend on the existence and degree of fever. The pulse will
be the only true guide. If it is weak, wavering, and irregular, we must
avoid depleting, purgative agents. The blood flows through the arteries,
impelled by the action of the heart, and its pulsations can be very
distinctly felt by pressing the finger upon almost any of these arteries
that is not too thickly covered by fat or the cellular tissues of the
skin, especially where it can be pressed upon some hard or bony
substance beneath it. The most convenient place is directly at the back
part of the lower jaw, where a large artery passes over the edge of the
jawbone to ramify on the face. The natural pulse of a full-grown ox will
vary from about forty-eight to fifty-five beats a minute; that of a cow
is rather quicker, especially near the time of calving; and that of a
calf is quicker than that of a cow. But a very much quicker rate than
that indicated will show a feverish state, or inflammation; and a much
slower pulsation indicates debility of some kind.
Next in importance, as we have already stated, is the physic. The bowels
must be opened, or the animal will fall a victim to the disease. All
medicines should be of an active character, and in sufficient quantity;
and stimulants should always be added to the purgative medicines, to
insure their operation. Ginger, gentian, caraway, or red pepper in
powder, may be given with each dose of physic. Some give a powerful
purgative, by means of Epsom salts one pound, flour of sulphur four
ounces, powdered ginger a quarter of an ounce, all dissolved in a quart
of cold water, and one half given twice a day till the bowels are
opened. The digestive organs are deranged in most forms of milk fever,
and the third stomach is loaded with hard, indigestible food. When the
medicine has operated, and the fever is subdued, little is required but
good nursing to restore the patient.
No powerful medicines should be used without discretion; for in the
milder forms of the disease, as the simple palsy of the hind
extremities, the treatment, though of a similar character, should be
less powerful, and every effort should be made for the comfort of the
cow, by providing a thick bed of straw, and raising the fore quarters to
assist the efforts of nature, while all filth should be promptly and
carefully removed. She may be covered with a warm cloth, and warm gruel
should be frequently offered to her, and light mashes. An attempt should
be made several times a day to bring milk from the teats. The return of
milk is an indication of speedy recovery.
Milch cows in too high condition appear to have a constitutional
tendency to this complaint, and one attack of it predisposes them to
another.
SIMPLE FEVER.--This may be considered as increased arterial action, with
or without any local affection; or it may be the consequence of the
sympathy of the system with the morbid condition of some particular
part. The first is pure or idiopathic fever; the other, symptomatic
fever. Pure fever is of frequent occurrence in cattle. Symptoms as
follows: muzzle dry; rumination slow or entirely suspended; respiration
slightly accelerated; the horn at the root hot, and its other extremity
frequently cold; pulse quick; bowels constipated; coat staring, and the
cow is usually seen separated from the rest of the herd. In slight
attacks, a cathartic of salts, sulphur, and ginger, is sufficient. But,
if the common fever is neglected, or improperly treated, it may assume,
after a time, a local determination, as pleurisy, or inflammation of the
lungs or bowels. In such cases the above remedy would be insufficient,
and a veterinary surgeon, to manage the case, would be necessary.
Symptomatic fever is more dangerous, and is commonly the result of
injury, the neighboring parts sympathizing with the injured part. Cattle
become unwell, are stinted in their feed, have a dose of physic, and in
a few days are well; still, a fever may terminate in some local
affection. But in both cases pure fever is the primary disease.
A more dangerous form of fever is that known as symptomatic. As we have
said, cattle are not only subject to fever of common intensity, but to
symptomatic fever, and thousands die annually from its effects. But the
young and the most thriving are its victims. There are few premonitory
symptoms of symptomatic fever. It often appears without any previous
indications of illness. The animal stands with her neck extended, her
eyes protruding and red, muzzle dry, nostrils expanded, breath hot, base
of the horn hot, mouth open, pulse full, breathing quick. She is often
moaning; rumination and appetite are suspended; she soon becomes more
uneasy; changes her position often. Unless these symptoms are speedily
removed, she dies in a few hours. The name of the ailment, inflammatory
or symptomatic fever, shows the treatment necessary, which must commence
with purging. Salts here, as in most inflammatory diseases, are the most
reliable. From a pound to a pound and a half, with ginger and sulphur,
is a dose, dissolved in warm water or thin gruel. If this does not
operate in twelve hours, give half the dose, and repeat once in twelve
hours, until the bowels are freed. After the operation of the medicine
the animal is relieved. Then sedative medicines may be given. Sal
ammoniac one drachm, powdered nitre two drachms, should be administered
in thin gruel, two or three times a day, if required.
Typhus fever, common in some countries, is little known here among
cattle.
TYPHOID FEVER sometimes follows intense inflammatory action, and is
considered the second stage of it. This form of fever is usually
attended with diarrhœa. It is a debilitating complaint, and is sometimes
followed by diseases known as black tongue, black leg, or quarter evil.
The cause of typhoid fever is involved in obscurity. It may be proper to
say that copious drinks of oat-meal gruel, with tincture of red pepper,
a diet of bran, warmth to the body, and pure air, are great essentials
in the treatment of this disease.
The barbarous practices of boring the horns, cutting the tail, and
others equally absurd, should at once and forever be discarded by every
farmer and dairyman. Alternate heat or coldness of the horn is only a
symptom of this and other fevers, and has nothing to do with their
cause. The horns are not diseased any further than a determination of
blood to the head causes a sympathetic heat, while an unnatural
distribution of blood, from exposure or other cause, may make them cold.
In all cases of this kind, if anything is done, it should be an effort
to assist nature to regulate the animal system, by rousing the digestive
organs to their natural action, by a light food, or, if necessary, a
mild purgative medicine, followed by light stimulants.
The principal purgative medicines in use for neat cattle are Epsom
salts, linseed-oil, and sulphur. A pound of salts will ordinarily be
sufficient to purge a full-grown cow.
A slight purgative drink is often very useful for cows soon after
calving, particularly if feverish, and in cases of over-feeding, when
the animal will often appear dull and feverish; but when the surfeiting
is attended by loss of appetite, it can generally be cured by
withholding food at first, and then feeding but slightly till the system
is renovated by dieting.
Purgative drinks will often cure cases of red water, if taken in season.
A purgative is often necessary for cows after being turned into a fresh
and luxuriant pasture, when they are apt to become bound from
over-feeding; but constipation does not so often follow a change from
dry to green food in spring, as from a poor pasture in summer to one
where they obtain much better feed.
The HOOVE or HOVEN is brought on by a derangement of the digestive
organs, occasioned by over-feeding on green and luxuriant clover, or
other luxuriant food. It is simply the distension of the first stomach
by carbonic acid gas. In later stages, after fermentation of the
contents of the stomach has commenced, hydrogen gas is also found. The
green food, being gathered very greedily after the animal has been kept
on dry and perhaps unpalatable hay, is not sent forward so rapidly as it
is received, and remains to overload and clog the stomach, till this
organ ceases or loses the power to act upon it. Here it becomes moist
and heated, begins to ferment, and produces a gas which distends the
paunch of the animal, which often swells up enormously. The cow is in
great pain, breathing with difficulty, as if nearly suffocating. Then
the body grows cold, and, unless relief is at hand, the cow dies.
Prevention is both cheaper and safer than cure; but if by neglect, or
want of proper precaution, the animal is found in this suffering
condition, relief must be afforded as soon as possible, or the result
will be fatal.
A hollow flexible tube, introduced into the gullet, will sometimes
afford a temporary relief till other means can be had, by allowing a
part of the gas to escape; but, the cause is not removed either by this
means or by puncturing the paunch, which is often dangerous.
In the early stage of the disease the gas may be neutralized by ammonia,
which is usually near at hand. Two ounces of liquid ammonia, in a quart
of distilled or rain water, given every quarter of an hour, will prove
beneficial. A little tincture of ginger, essence of anise-seed, or some
other cordial, may be added, without lessening the effect of the
ammonia.
If the case has assumed an alarming character, the flexible tube, or
probang, may be introduced, and afterwards take three drachms either of
the chloride of lime or the chloride of soda, dissolve in a pint of
water, and pour it down the throat. Lime-water, potash, and sulphuric
ether, are often used with effect.
In desperate cases it may be found necessary to make an incision through
the paunch; but the chloride of lime will, in most cases, give relief at
once, by neutralizing the gas.
CHOKING is often produced by feeding on roots, particularly round and
uncut roots, like the potato. The animal slavers at the mouth, tries to
raise the obstruction from the throat, often groans, and appears to be
in great pain. Then the belly begins to swell, from the amount of gases
in the paunch.
The obstruction, if not too large, can sometimes be thrust forward by
introducing a flexible rod, or tube, into the throat. This method, if
adopted, should be attended with great care and patience, or the tender
parts will be injured. If the obstruction is low down, and a tube is to
be inserted, a pint of olive or linseed oil first turned down will so
lubricate the parts as to aid the operation, and the power applied must
be steady. If the gullet is torn by the carelessness of the operator, or
the roughness of the instrument, a rupture generally results in serious
consequences. A hollow tube is best, and if the object is passed on into
the paunch, the tube should remain a short time, to permit the gas to
escape. In case the animal is very badly swelled, the dose of chloride
of lime, or ammonia, should be given, as for the hoove, after the
obstruction is removed.
Care should be taken, after the obstruction is removed, to allow no
solid food for some days.
FOUL IN THE FOOT.--Cows and other stock, when fed in low, wet pastures,
will often suffer from ulcers or sores, generally appearing first
between the claws. This is commonly called foul in the foot, and is
analogous to foot-rot in sheep. It is often very painful, causing severe
lameness and loss of flesh, and discharges a putrid matter, or pus.
Sometimes it first appears in the form of a swelling near the top of the
hoof, which breaks and discharges foul matter.
The rough and common practice among farmers is to fasten the foot in the
same manner as the foot of an ox is fastened in shoeing, and draw a
rough rope back and forth over the ulcerated parts, so as to produce a
clean, fresh wound, and then dress it with tar or other similar
substance.
This is often an unnecessarily cruel operation. The loose matter may
easily be removed by a knife, and then carefully wiped off with a moist
sponge. The animal should then be removed at once to a warm, dry
pasture, or kept in the barn.
If the case has been neglected till the pasterns become swollen and
tender, the sore may be thoroughly cleansed out, and dressed with an
ointment of sulphate of iron one ounce, molasses four ounces, simmered
over a slow fire till well mixed. Apply on a piece of cotton batting,
and secure upon the parts. If any morbid growth or fungus appear, use
equal parts of powdered blood-root and alum sprinkled on the sore, and
this will usually effect a cure.
Some also give a dose of flour of sulphur half an ounce, powdered
sassafras-bark one ounce, and burdock two ounces, the whole steeped in a
quart of boiling water, and strained when cool; and, if the matter still
continues to flow from the sore, wash it morning and night with chloride
of soda one ounce, or a tablespoonful of common salt dissolved in a pint
of water.
Foul in the foot causes very serious trouble, if not taken in season.
The health of cows is injured to a great extent. I have seen, during the
present season, many instances of foul in the foot in dairy stock
arising from the wetness of the pastures. No lameness in cattle should
be neglected.
RED WATER is so called from the high color of the urine. It is rather a
symptom of some derangement of the digestive organs than a disease of
itself, and the cause is most frequently to be found in the quality of
the food. It is peculiar to certain localities, and is of very rare
occurrence in New England.
In the early stage of the difficulty the bowels are loose, but soon
constipation ensues, and the appetite is affected, the milk decreases,
and the urine becomes either very red or sometimes black.
The case demands treatment, for it is apt to prey upon the health of the
cow. Purgatives are usually employed with most success. Take a pound of
Epsom salts, half an ounce of ginger, and half an ounce of carbonate of
ammonia. Pour a quart of boiling water on the salts and ginger, stir
thoroughly, and, when cold, add the ammonia. If this fails to act on the
bowels, repeat a quarter part of it every six or eight hours till it
succeeds. Then a nutritious diet should be used till the appetite is
fully restored.
If a cow is once affected in this way, the difficulty will be liable to
return, and she had better be disposed of.
HOOSE is a cold or cough to which stock are subject when exposed to wet
weather and damp pastures.
The cold may not be bad at first, or may be so slight as not to attract
attention; but it often leads to worse complaints, and ought, when
observed, to be attended to at once, by keeping the animal in a dry and
warm barn a few days, and feeding with mashes, and, if it continues,
take an ounce of sweet spirits of nitre in a pint of ginger tea; mix,
and give in a quart of thick gruel.
No prudent farmer will neglect to observe approaching symptoms of
disease in his stock. The cheapest way to keep animals healthy is to
treat them properly in time, and before disease is seated upon them.
Hoose often ends in consumption and death.
INFLAMMATION OF THE GLANDS often occurs in hoose, catarrh, etc., but
they resume their natural state when these complaints are removed. The
animal cannot swallow without pain sometimes, and soft feed should be
given. Remove the cause, and the inflammation ceases. Some make a
relaxing poultice of marsh-mallows, or similar substances; and rub the
throat with a mixture of olive or goose oil one gill, spirit of camphor
one ounce, oil of cedar one ounce, and half a gill of vinegar.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.--Common catarrh or hoose sometimes leads to
inflammation of the lungs, which is indicated by dulness and sore cough.
The ears, the roots of the horns, and legs, are sometimes cold. The
breath is hot, as well as the mouth; and the animal rarely lies down,
and is reluctant to move, or change its position. Warm water and mashes,
or gruel, may be given, and the animal kept in a dry place. The cause
of the complaint should be removed, and the trouble will generally soon
cease. The treatment is much the same as for fever; but where the
surface of the body is cold, as is generally the case, give sweet
spirits of nitro two ounces, liquor acetate of ammonia four ounces, in a
pint of water, two or three times a day.
DIARRHŒA is brought on by too sudden change of food, especially from dry
to green and succulent food; sometimes by poisonous plants or bad water.
If slight, the farmer may not be anxious to check it. It may show simply
an effort of nature to throw off some injurious substances from the
body, and so it may exist when the animal is quite healthy. But, if it
continues too long, and is likely to debilitate the system, a mild
purgative may be given to assist rather than check the operation of
nature. Half a pound of Epsom salts, with a little ginger and gentian,
will do for a medium-sized animal in this case; but a purgative may be
followed in a day or two by an astringent medicine. Take prepared chalk
two ounces, powdered oak-bark one ounce, powdered catechu two drachms,
powdered opium one drachm, and four drachms powdered ginger. Mix these
together, and give in a quart of warm gruel. Sometimes a few ounces of
pulverized charcoal will arrest the diarrhœa. Common diarrhœa may be
distinguished from dysentery by a too abundant discharge of dung in too
fluid a form, or in a full, almost liquid stream, sometimes very
offensive to the smell, and now and then bloody. In dysentery, the dung
is often mixed with mucus and blood, and is not unfrequently attended by
a hard straining. The quantity of dung is less than in diarrhœa, but
more offensive.
Diarrhœa may occur at any season of the year, and sometimes leads to
dysentery, which more frequently appears in the spring and fall.
DYSENTERY, or scouring rot, is a dangerous and troublesome malady when
it becomes seated.
The cow suffers from painful efforts to pass the dung, which is thin,
slimy, olive-colored, and offensive, and after it falls rises up in
little bubbles, with a slimy substance upon it. She is restless, lying
down and soon rising again, and appears to be in great distress. The
hair seems to stand out stiff from the body, and this stage of the
malady indicates an obstinate and fatal disease.
It is often brought on by a simple cold at the time of calving, exposure
to sudden changes, and by poor keeping, which exhausts the system,
especially in winter. A dry, warm barn, and careful nursing, will do
much; and dry, sweet food, as hay, oat-meal, boiled potatoes, gruel, &c.
Some linseed-meal is also very good for cows with this complaint. A
little gum-arabic or starch may be mixed with the medicine.
The treatment is much the same as for diarrhœa.
The MANGE is commonly brought on by half starving in winter, and by
keeping the cow in a filthy, ill-ventilated place. It is contagious, and
if one cow of a herd has it, the rest will be apt to get it also. Blaine
says, “Mange has three origins,--filth, debility, and contagion.” It is
a disgrace to the farmer to suffer it to enter his herd from either of
these causes, since it shows a culpable neglect of his stock. I am sorry
to say it is too common in this country, especially in filthy barns.
The cow afflicted with the mange is hide-bound; the hair is dry and
stiff, and comes off. She is constantly rubbing, and a kind of white
scurfiness appears on the skin. It is most perceptible towards the
latter part of winter and in spring, and thus too plainly tells the
story of the winter’s neglect.
An ointment composed chiefly of sulphur has been found most effectual.
Some mercurial ointment may be added, if the cows are kept housed; but,
if let out during the day, the quantity must be very small, else
salivation is produced by their licking themselves.
The ointment may be made of flour of sulphur one pound, strong mercurial
ointment two ounces, common turpentine one half-pound, lard one and a
quarter pounds. Melt the turpentine and lard together, and stir in the
sulphur as they begin to cool off; then rub down the mercurial ointment
on some hard substance with the other ingredients. Rub the whole in with
the hand, and take care to leave no places untouched, once a day, for
three days; and after this, if any places are left uncured, rub it in
over them. There is no danger in this application, if the animal is not
exposed to severe cold. This will be pretty sure to effect a speedy
cure, if aided by cleanliness, pure air, and a nutritious diet.
Another wash for mange is the following: Pyroligneous acid four ounces,
water a pint; mix and apply.
LICE show unpardonable neglect of duty wherever they are suffered to
exist. They crawl all over the stable-floor and the stalls, on the
pastures, and a touch is sufficient to give them to other animals. They
worry and trouble the poor animal constantly; and no thriftiness can be
expected where they are found. If the mange ointment does not completely
destroy them, as it often will, take bees-wax, tallow, and lard, in
equal parts, and rub it into the hide in the most thorough manner, with
the hand or a brush, two and a half pounds for a small cow, three pounds
for a large one. The next day it may be washed off in soft soap, and the
lice will have disappeared from the animal, but not always from the
barn. Some use a wash of powdered lobelia-seeds two ounce; steeped in
boiling water, and applied with a sponge. Others hang up tobacco-leaves
over the stalls. This may do to keep them away; but, after the animal is
covered with them, they are not so easily scared.
WARBLES.--The gad-fly is very troublesome to cattle towards the end of
summer. The fly alights on the back of the cow, punctures the skin, and
lays her eggs under it. A tumor is now formed, varying in size, which
soon bursts and leaves a small hole for the grub already hatched to
breathe through. Here the insect feeds on its surroundings, and grows up
to considerable size. All this time the animal is probably suffering
more or less pain, and often tries to lick or rub the part affected, if
possible. Farmers often press them out with the finger and thumb. The
best way is to puncture the skin with a common pen-knife, and then press
out the grub. They injure the hide more than most people are aware of.
LOSS OF CUD is a consequence of indigestion, and is often brought on by
eating too greedily of food which the cow is not used to. Loss of cud
and loss of appetite are synonymous. Gentle purgatives may be given,
with such as salts, ginger, and sulphur. But when a cow is surfeited, as
already said, I should prefer to withhold food entirely, or for the most
part, till the system can regulate itself.
DISEASES OF CALVES.--The colostrum, or first milk of the cow after
calving, contains medicinal qualities peculiarly adapted to cleanse the
young calf, and free its bowels from the matter always existing in them
at birth. This should, therefore, never be denied it. Bleeding at the
navel, with which calves are sometimes seriously troubled, may generally
and safely be stopped by tying a string around the cord which hangs
suspended from it.
But DIARRHŒA, PURGING, or SCOURS, is the most dangerous complaint with
which calves are afflicted. This is caused often by neglect, or exposure
to wet and cold, or insufficiency of food at one time and over-feeding
at another. Stinting the calf in food or attention will often involve
the loss of considerable profit on the cow for the year. When purging is
once fully seated from several days’ neglect, it is often difficult to
remove it.
The acidity on the stomach which always attends it must first be
removed. A mild purgative medicine may be given. Rhubarb and magnesia is
a very convenient article, and may easily be given in ounce doses along
with the milk. Potash is also to be given in quarter-ounce doses in the
same way. Two ounces of castor-oil, or two ounces of Epsom salts, might
be given with the desired effect. After this, mild astringents may be
given. Take prepared chalk two drachms, or magnesia one ounce, powdered
opium ten grains, powdered catechu half a drachm, tincture of capsicum
two drachms, essence of peppermint five drops. Mix together, and give
twice a day in the milk or gruel.
After giving the above repeatedly without effect, which will rarely
happen, take Dover’s powders two scruples, starch or arrow-root powdered
one ounce, cinnamon powder one drachm, and powdered kino half a drachm.
Boil the starch or arrow-root in water till it thickens, and when cold
stir in the other ingredients. Give night and morning. This complaint is
often attended by inflammation of the bowels and general fever.
It is a good plan to keep a lump of chalk constantly before calves after
they are two or three weeks old. It corrects acidity on the stomach, and
is otherwise useful to them.
CONSTIPATION or COSTIVENESS sometimes attacks calves a few days old,
that have not been judiciously managed. It may be brought on by putting
a calf to a cow whose milk is too old, or from feeding a calf from the
milk of several cows mixed. It results from too heavy a mass of
coägulated milk in the fourth stomach, which becomes very much swollen
with hard curd. It is difficult to remedy. The best way is to pour down
some Epsom salts, two ounces, dissolved in two quarts of warm water, by
means of a horn or bottle, and follow this by half the dose every six
hours.
Constipation sometimes appears in calves from two to four months old,
when their food is too suddenly changed. The bowels must be opened and
the hardened mass in the stomach softened very soon, or it will lead to
fatal consequences.
Farmers are generally very careless about observing these things till it
is too late. As already said, prevention is cheaper than cure; but, if
the complaint once appears, no time should be lost to administer a purge
of salts in proportion to the size of the animal or the severity of the
attack. Many a valuable animal will be saved by it.
The HOOVE often appears among calves after being turned out to pasture.
The young animal coughs violently, and appears in pain. It should be
removed at once to a dry place, and physicked. If taken in season, it is
easily cured. If neglected, it will often prove fatal. This complaint
assumes the form of an epidemic at times, and becomes very prevalent and
troublesome.
Calves sometimes suffer from CANKER IN THE MOUTH, especially at the time
of teething. The gums swell, and fever sets in. Common alum or borax,
dissolved in water, may be applied, and a mild purgative administered,
in the shape of one or two ounce doses of Epsom salts.
The diseases and complaints mentioned above are nearly all that afflict
our dairy stock; and the list at least includes all the common diseases
and their treatment. Some of the diseases and epidemics from which the
cattle of Great Britain and other countries suffer are not known at all
here, or are of so very rare occurrence as not to have attracted
attention; and among these may be named pleuro-pneumonia, typhus fever,
cow-pox, and various epidemics which have from time to time decimated
the cattle of all Europe. To accidents of various kinds, to wounds,
trouble with the eyes, and to lameness from other causes than those
named, they are, indeed, more or less subject; but no work could
anticipate or cover the treatment best in every case, and much must be
left to the judgment of the owner.
I have tried to make this chapter, which I consider one of the most
important of any to the dairy farmer, of practical value to every one
who owns or has the care of a cow. But, lest a want of familiarity with
some of the medicines recommended for particular diseases, or the fear
of the expense of procuring and keeping them on hand, should deter some
one from providing himself with a good medicine-chest, I wish to remind
the reader that no small portion of them are always to be found in every
well-regulated household, and that the others are obtained at so little
expense that no one need be without them for a single day.
Let us see, for instance, how many of them are at hand. But few families
are destitute of a supply of ginger, camphor, red pepper, lard,
molasses, cinnamon, peppermint, starch, turpentine, tallow, bees-wax,
burdock, and caraway-seed. The farmer’s wife or daughter will generally
have a supply of ammonia or hartshorn.
Now, I wish to suggest to the farmer or dairyman who happens to live at
a distance from the apothecary to provide himself with a convenient
little medicine-chest, and put into it say four times the quantities of
the various medicines which are mentioned in the preceding pages,
carefully bottled and labelled for use. To aid in this simple plan,
which might be the means of saving an animal worth twenty times its
cost, I have obtained, from a _wholesale_ druggist, about the average
cost of the following quantities and kinds of medicines, which include
all, or nearly all, that would be likely to be needed: Five pounds of
Epsom salts, .18; one pint of castor-oil, .25; one pint of sweet spirits
of nitre, .19; one pound of powdered nitrate of potash, .20; one pound
carbonate of ammonia, .23; one half-pound sal ammoniac, .08; one pint of
tincture of red pepper (hot drops), .31; one ounce of hydriodate of
potash, .30; one pound chloride of lime, .10; one pound sulphate of
iron, .10; 2 pounds powdered sulphur, .16; one pint of tincture of
ginger, 37; one quart of essence of anise-seed, .50; one half-pound
sulphuric ether, .20; one half-pound powdered sassafras-bark, .20; one
quarter-pound magnesia, .06; one quarter-pound rhubarb, 30 (the common
will answer instead of prepared); one ounce powdered opium, .43; One
quarter-pound catechu, .06; one ounce Dover’s powders, .25; 2 ounces gum
kino, .05; one half-pound mercurial ointment, .37¹⁄₂; and one pound
aloes, .25. Then keep in the chest a good probang, which is a flexible
tube made for the purpose, and is much safer and better for introducing
into the throat or gullet of an animal than a common whip-stick, which
some use. This costs about $3.50, and can be procured at almost any
veterinary surgeon’s. This whole chest and contents will cost less than
ten dollars.
Let the farmer also become familiar with the structure and anatomy of
his animals. It will open a wide field of useful and interesting
investigation.