Cow Care by chef jem Blog entry

Blog: Raw Milk: The Whole Truth
by chef jem

Cow Care

An "easy 'sensory cow meditation' (to) be done every time you milk your cow."

Date: 3/22/2010 10:50:56 PM ( 14 y ) ... viewed 2376 times

Cow Care
By farmer M in California

"I am grateful for my cows. Certainly I adore the milk, manure and meat they provide, but I am truly grateful for one particular thing. When I sit to milk my cows twice a day, their large warm energy soothes me into myself again. Twice a day they create the space for such a restorative gift.
Therefore I feel it is the least I can do to give them the care I deeply feel they deserve. I would like to share with you my daily checklist that enables me to begin to deliver such care.

I have found that the best time to check my cows is right before I milk them. They are generally relaxed and very happy to come into the milking barn where I have the usual molasses treat waiting for them. This treat gives them a great dose of iron but it is also a way for me to conduct my first test. If a cow does not come running into the stanchion and eat up her treat with some vigor than I know something is wrong with her.

While she is finishing off her treat I toss in her flake of hay. I bend down and place my head practically in her food bin. I take a big inhale. Fantastic, her breath smells just like the sweet fermented grass. As I raise my head, our eyes meet. Are your eyes sparkling today? I hope they are moist and alert. “Just one more check sister”, I say as I look at her big wide nose. Her nose should glisten with moisture and the breath should not be labored.

I remove my head from her stanchion and with an appreciative presence stroke her long back. Her coat needs to be shinny and leave an oily residue. I give her a brushing making sure to notice any unusual cut or abrasion. I set the brush down and pick up the wash pail.

I fill the pail full of hot water; add a pinch of white clay and a cap-full of hydrogen peroxide. I have found that this cleans the cow's udder efficiently without harming her skin. While I am washing I feel her udder with my other hand. Gently I move over the entire bag. While I do this I am feeling for any unusual lumps or hard spots. Finally I check to make sure all of the nipples are uninjured.

I sit and wait for her to drop the milk. While I wait I listen to her eating, again I make sure she is happily eating, hopefully humming. Suddenly the milk fills each teat and I am ready to start pulling the milk from her. I quietly fall into myself and can hear only the milk echoing in the pail. I close my eyes and take a good smell of the milk. It should have a good smell, one that smells just like the cow you are milking. The color of her milk should be as expected (white or pale yellow).

Once I have milked her out and I have dipped her teats in an iodine solution (10% iodine, 90% water) I again check how her udder feels. It must be loose and feel much like a wet paper sack. I also watch to make sure she is in no pain as I rub her bag. Now I stand and thank her for this wonderful gift.

In the dairy house I immediately strain the milk. I am careful to watch what is caught in the filter and to measure the rate at which the milk flows through the filter. If it is slow I look for any sign of mastitis. This means the next milking taking a California mastitis test. Every dairy cow owner must have one.

As the milk fills the pail I again smell and check its color. Now I must check the volume of the milk. It must be constant day to day and from milking to milking. What an amazing liquid.

At this point I have nearly finished my daily meditative check on my cows. The last thing I must check on is the result of her digestion. In the morning before I bring her around to the milking barn, I grab my pitchfork and remove the cow patties from the night before. As I spy one I notice its shape. The cow pie should be like a mound of manure that is firm enough to hold a definite round shape, but loose enough to create one large shape and not individual small round pies. I shove the fork under it and notice the smell and texture. The patty must have no offensive odor and texture should be uniformly green. I do not want to see any undigested chunks.

One final check that is not a daily check, but it is vital to her health. I write on the calendar when my cow calves, when she is due to calf, when she had her last heat and when I expect her next heat. I check the cow to make sure she sticks to these dates. A cow ovulates every 21 days like clockwork. If she does not something is terribly wrong. If she does not calf when I expect her to, then something is wrong. Cows are very regular creatures.

This easy 'sensory cow meditation' should be done every time you milk your cow. Remarkably this deliberate watchful eye helps the farmer keep many problems from becoming a very large problem. It has enabled me to not only avoid some really serious problems, but also to really get to know each on of my cows. They are all different from each other. I have found that cows are very responsive to immediate and scheduled care. In other words a little bit of prevention goes a very long way.

Like all mammals this check enables us to look every day at the various systems of that animals. Those systems are Digestive, Nervous, Immune and Endocrine. Each test is a window into that system. If there is something wrong, then look to your vet book under that system and perhaps call your vet.

The breath test, appetite test, manure test and milk smell test are all tests of the digestive system. If you look into her eyes, her nose and rub her back you are checking her nervous system. If something is working adversely on her immune system you will notice changes in her milk, in her manure, her udder, and in appetite. An infection will usually create a temperature change in the animal (above 102.5 in cow’s). A window into the world of hormones (endocrine system) can be found by looking at the cow’s milk production and the timing of her “heat” (ovulation). Every cow has a marker on my calendar when I expect she will cone into heat. This is my only tool to tell if she is having endocrine problems."

Resources:

1.Crystal Creek: an on line source of excellent remedies. The staff is very helpful on the phone too.
2. Hubert Karreman who wrote an excellent book, “Treating Dairy Cows Naturally”. This is my bible!!
3. “Keeping a Family Cow” by Joann S. Grohman
4. “Keeping Livestock Healthy” by N. Bruce Haynes

Things You Must Have on Hand

Thermometer for livestock
Ketosis Strips
Cow Quench (from Crystal Creek)
CPK paste
Stethoscope
Anti-bloat medicine
Aloe pellets (Crystal Creek)
Super Boost (Crystal Creek)
Sea Kelp
Molasses
Trace minerals (a great recipe is found in “Biodynamic Farming Practices” by Sattler and Wistinghausen page 248
Electrolyte fluids
California Mastitis Kit

Cautionary Footnote -
Aajonus Vonderplanitz writes;
"... Cows have thrived for centuries without mastitis and Staphylococcus aureus. That class of bacteria is unfounded in naturally husband cows. It is found only in Cows whose udders are treated chemicals such as with liquid iodine, antibiotics and other industrial chemicals. Industrially produced Iodine is used because it is poisonous; it kills bacteria on anything including teats every time a cow is milked, usually twice daily.

The course of nature is that if bio-waste, byproducts and dead cells cannot be dissolved and eliminated naturally through lymph, the body will generate microbial janitors to accomplish the tasks. When an udder is treated twice daily with an antibacterial, the cow's body must produce a bacteria that can survive the iodine and other antibiotics. Thus you have an industrially generated class of S. aureus bacteria. ...

We need to educate raw milk producers that they poison teats by cleaning them with iodine, and convince them to clean teats with diluted raw apple cider vinegar."