Bloody Colostrum (Cattle - Dairy)

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Our Jersey cow just calved on Sunday night. I milked her on Monday morn and eve to practice and relieve some of the pressure (she looked pretty full). I noticed flecks of blood in the milk last night but thought it might be just from stress of birthing. Her two back teat were kinda clogged (like with dried milk). Anyway, I milked her this morning and her one of her front teats gave pink milk and all seemed to have bloody flecks.

I am assuming this is mastitis and would like to treat it as organically as possible - any ideas? Or could this all be related to childbirth/colostrum production?

Otherwise she seems to be in great spirits and eating well.(Delivery was uncomplicated)

Also, how active should the calf be at this stage? He does sleep/rest a lot but has normal poops. He is having some trouble nursing as she is real short with low udders and he is a tall Hereford (mix). How often should he be nursing?

Thanks for all your advice. Amy Richards

-- Amy Richards (amysgarden2@earthlink.com), May 08, 2001

Answers

Response to Bloody Colostrum

This isn't too uncommon when a diary animals freshens. The capillaries burst from the sudden change in the udder, hence the blood. It should subside fairly soon. I don't think it's mastitis. The wax plugs in the teats are to protect the teat canal and udder from bacteria while the cow or goat is dry, so that's normal. The bloody milk can also be caused by too-vigorous butting of the udder by the calf or goat kid. Either way the blood subsides fairly quickly.

-- Chamoisee (chamoisee@yahoo.com), May 08, 2001.

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