Chapter 9

Red-water is also a very fatal complaint among cows. They generally take it about the thirteenth or fourteenth day after calving. Many farms are almost exempt from this disease. It is very fatal, but if taken in time it can generally be cured; heavy losses are, however, experienced every year by it. I have only had two or three cases of red-water, and I do not therefore enlarge upon it. My observation has led me to believe that the theory of the late Mr Peter Smith, veterinary surgeon, Alford (who gained the Highland Society's prize for the best essay on red-water in cows), is correct, that the disease is generally most prevalent on farms where the land is black and of a moorish tendency. The veterinary surgeon should be called in _instanter_. Garget in the udder, or weed, is also to be guarded against. After calving, some cracks and sores appear in the udder; they get very troublesome. The teats must be drawn and clean milked out; blood will sometimes appear with the milk; the cow must be secured, if necessary, to effect this. The udder should be bathed with warm water, and well rubbed over with hog's lard, and to this treatment the complaint will generally yield. The too hastily drying the cow, and frequent carelessness in not milking clean out, are the general causes of this complaint. It may, however, assume a more serious aspect; the milk gets coagulated in the udder, and the result will be the loss for yielding milk of one, two, or more of the quarters of the udder, if the proper remedies are not instantly adopted. Mortification sometimes ensues; diseased portions will break off from the udder, and it may end in the death of the animal. Putting the calf to suckle the cow will be useful in effecting a cure; but often the teats become so painful that the cow will not allow the calf to approach her. I cannot impress too strongly on the breeder that, as soon as symptoms of garget are observed, the cow must be firmly secured and the teats properly drawn three or four times a-day. If this is neglected or inefficiently performed, the result is scarcely doubtful. Very often there will be only matter to draw, but it must be withdrawn from time to time as it collects. The teaching of experience is costly in such a case; and here the care of honest, intelligent servants is invaluable.

When the calves are taken from their dams there is the greatest danger of garget, and this is always an anxious time with the breeder. The cows must be allowed to go gradually off their milk, the greatest care being taken to draw the teats once a-day when necessary. The food must be restricted till the milk disappear; and as some cows that have been suckled will not allow their teats to be drawn by the hand, the calves must be put to them once a-day till the milk cease.

_The proper age for breeding._--The proper age for breeding may depend upon circumstances, breed, &c.; but, dealing as we are with the Aberdeen and Angus, I would say that heifers should never be put to the bull before they are two years old. There is, no doubt, some force in the argument that by breeding earlier keep is saved; but the answer to this is that growth is diminished, while calving is attended with danger. I had six heifers bulled when they were one year old. They had all difficulty in calving; three of them required assistance, and were very much torn and lacerated before the calves could be extracted, and the mothers have never attained the size of the other cows in the herd. Nor has the argument much force with me that the one-year-old is surer to stand to the bull than the two-year-old. I maintain that we have this very much in our own power, and that the two-year-old, with proper treatment, and at little cost, is as sure to stand to the bull as the one-year-old, while she will attain to a larger size. The treatment I adopt with yearling heifers intended for breeding purposes is the following--and I have seldom or never failed in getting them in calf: They are not starved to interfere with their growth, but through the summer, when rising two years old, they are kept on the very worst grass on the farm, and on the refuse of the grass rejected by the other cattle, which are removed to fresh pastures. In winter and spring, up to the time of serving with the bull, they get an average barrowful of turnips amongst every three, and no more. By this treatment the heifers will just be fresh, and will stand to the bull as readily as yearlings. I grant that if you were to put them on luxuriant pasture, and give them full allowance of turnips through the winter and spring, they would be fit for the butcher, and not for the bull. The advantages more than counterbalance the disadvantages. Their parts will be strong and open, and they will calve with safety; while, on the other hand, the calving of those served at a year old will always be attended with difficulty; the parts will often be injured and lacerated, and mortification of the womb and the death of the animal may follow.

I need not tell my readers that the bull should not be allowed to go with the breeding cows or heifers, as the almost universal practice now is to keep them separate. The advantages of this must be manifest to every one. The symptoms of coition are so well known, that I shall not enlarge upon them; but if cows are confined to the house, there are some shy animals that require the greatest attention to detect them, while the majority are easily observed by their lowing and agitated appearance. In the former case the animal will not blare, neither will there be much difference in her general appearance; but her external parts will be red, and a transparent liquor will be discharged from the vagina. Let her be put out with another, which will prove her at once. In some seasons, although the cows and heifers are in a breeding state, it is, even with the best management, difficult to get them in calf. This becomes a source of great annoyance and loss to the breeder. A cow should never be allowed the bull sooner than five or six weeks after calving; to do otherwise will prove a failure, and will be detrimental to the animal. If a cow or heifer should miss to stand to the bull before the end of May, and the weather get warm, it is difficult to get them in calf; they may run on for months every two or three weeks. Many a good breeding animal has been lost in this way, and gone to the butcher, their owner having despaired of getting them in calf; whereas, if he had had patience until September or October, when the cold weather sets in, in all likelihood they would have been got in calf. I had three cows out of four, that had run on the whole summer, got in calf in one day. An early spring calf is preferable to a late one, and most desirable; but my doctrine is, that a good calf never can come wrong. It is trying to the breeder to see his fine cows running on, but we must not despair; we must not lose a chance, for we will generally catch them, and sometimes when we least expect it. When a cow assumes the appearance of what we term a regular buller--when she is running every day, or every second or third day, or when one or more retire from the herd and assume the habits of the male--then, and not till then, does the case become utterly hopeless. I had two fine cows I was obliged to quit; they assumed the habits of the male, absented themselves from the rest of the herd, went through the field lowing, roaring, and pawing the ground with their feet, their lowing being that of the male and not of the female, and their shapes and looks were completely changed. Some friends, in whose opinion I have confidence, think this disease hereditary.

I would recommend, when cows and heifers are not standing to the bull, to give a dose or two of medicine. A change of the bull may succeed; and leading the cow or heifer six miles out and six miles in, when coming in heat, will sometimes be effectual. I was led to this practice by observing that cows or heifers that had run on the whole season up to the time of exhibition, when put to the bull on their arrival from the show, were got in calf at once. I naturally concluded that the exercise which they had undergone was the cure. I adopted the principle, and have succeeded in several cases, though not in all; and I know of some other breeders who have also been successful.

A cow goes nine months with young, generally ten or fourteen days longer. I have known one go twenty-seven days past her time. They generally go longer with a bull calf than a heifer. It is almost a sure sign that all will be right if the cow go past her time; when matters are wrong the birth is generally premature. Slinking is one of the greatest pests to which a breeder is subjected. The symptoms are as follows: a yellow mixed with red, glairy, offensive fluid will be observed running from the vagina, a flow of milk to the udder, and a loosening of the couplings behind; in a day or two premature labour follows. No time is to be lost on these symptoms being observed. The cow should be immediately removed to a separate apartment, and kept by herself for two or three weeks. If the premature birth should take place before the cow is removed, the foetus and after-birth must be instantly buried, and not only the stall where the cow was standing, but the whole of the byre should be thoroughly washed over with hot lime, or chloride of lime. It is well known that if one cow abort, others are apt to follow. I recollect that almost every cow out of forty, belonging to the late James Walker, Wester Fintray, aborted. One half were polled, the other shorthorns.

When a cow is with calf she has strong sympathetic feelings. The foetus and after-birth from a cow that has slinked are very offensive, and if left within reach, the other cows will sniff at it, and bellow around it; and in a short time more of the cows will abort. Many reasons have been given as the cause of abortion; from my own observations, frosty turnips are one great cause, and I never allow my cows to get these. If I happen to run short of fresh turnips from the store, and frosty weather continue, I order the cows straw and water, and perhaps a little cake or corn at the same time. I have paid dearly for this experience also. I believe hove to be another cause of abortion; and that particular atmospheric conditions have a good deal to do with it. The skilful veterinary surgeon should be consulted; he will probably recommend physic to cool the system, the foetus and placenta to be buried, the animal separated, and the cow-house disinfected. The cow should be fattened and sold, unless she be a very valuable breeding animal, as the chances are that she will slink again. I have indeed seen a cow, after slinking, breed regularly for many years; but the sure way is to get quit of her to the butcher, if she is not a valuable breeding animal.

I have explained, under the head of Milk-Fever, the treatment previous to calving; I shall add that a cow ought to be let dry six weeks at least before calving. It is well known that a cow that is milked up to the time of calving proves very deficient as a milker for the season, even although she had formerly been a good one. It prevents improvement of condition; and from a very lean cow there is not much to be expected.

As to natural labour a very few remarks will suffice. The cow should be disturbed as little as possible, and no assistance rendered where it is not necessary. When the water-bag comes away, the hand should be introduced to ascertain whether the calf is coming the right way; its fore-legs protruding to the passage, and its head lying upon them or a little between them, is the natural position when all is right. We must have patience, and, if possible, allow nature to effect its object; but if six or eight hours shall have passed, assistance must be given. In my practice I have observed that when the water-bag comes away in the early stages the labour is protracted. I have seen many tail-presentations, but I have found them easily dealt with by pushing back the hind-quarters and getting hold of the feet; pushing backwards, forwards, and upwards the hind-legs, and bringing them to the level of the passage, the calf will be easily extracted. In unnatural labour the veterinary surgeon should be immediately called in. Skellet 'On the Parturition of the Cow' is the most valuable authority I am acquainted with on unnatural labour, but I fear it is out of print.

A word here as to free-martins. When a cow produces two calves, the one a male and the other a female, the female is called a free-martin. The almost universal belief is, that the free-martin will not breed; and generally this holds good. I have had, however, in my practice two free-martins that have bred. One of them proved one of the most useful animals and best breeders in the herd, and produced some of my finest females; but her own appearance lacked that female style which shows itself in a high-bred herd.

And here I may remark that those who act as judges at our cattle-shows, if they are judging males, ought to judge them as males and not as females; and if they are judging females, they ought to judge them as females and not as males. Some may understand what I mean. As I consider it one of the most important qualifications in a judge to have the discernment I refer to, and as many are appointed judges, even at our national shows, _who never should have been appointed, and many act who never should act_, it ought to be put out of all doubt. As an example, when a bull shows the head of a female and a want of masculine character, he should be rejected. Masculine character in the bull is of the greatest importance to the success of the breeder--effeminacy in the male must be shunned as the most deadly poison. On the other hand, let that female be rejected by the judge in the show-yard, and by the breeder in his selection, that looks as much like a male as a female. However long she may have been kept up for show-yard purposes, or whatever enormous quantity of beef she may have put on, if she have the head of the ox (I do not say of the bull, because I have never seen a female so characterised) she must be put aside, unless very superior in other respects. Such animals will seldom pass muster with the first-class judge, but _even he must be upon his guard_. I have often seen great blunders committed, especially with heifers, the owner of which may, for the sake of winning the prize, have fed them for years without hope of propagation. I have seen them carry the prize to the exclusion of the really useful breeding animal, and when the show was over they were sold to the butcher. I would not propose any rule to be laid down to exclude animals from our exhibitions on account of their condition, because the proper amount of flesh can never be satisfactorily settled; nor can it be definitely fixed when an animal should be excluded as being too fat for breeding. The experiment was tried at some of our national shows, but utterly failed, as the jury could not agree. The rules of the Highland Society are good so far as they go--viz., that unless the owner of cows that have not had a calf in the year of the exhibition, and of the two-year-old heifers that have been awarded prizes, can certify that the animals have had a calf--the cows in four months and the heifers in nine after the exhibition--the money prize will be withheld. But this does not cover the difficulty, as the prize-money is of secondary importance to the majority of exhibitors--being first on the prize-list is their main ambition; but, I believe, it is all that rules can reach. The only safeguard lies with the council and the directors--and the strong moral force of the exhibitors ought to be brought to bear upon them--of our national and local cattle-shows. They ought to appoint no one, however highly connected, unless he is _acknowledged a judge by the exhibitors of the class of stock to which he is appointed_. If the right man be put in the right place, there will seldom be cause to complain of overfed useless breeding animals gaining the prizes; but if ignorant forward men are appointed, you are certain to see the fattest animals at the top of the prize-list. At one of our great shows the same judges were appointed for cattle and sheep;--they were unexceptional judges of cattle, but knew very little about breeding-sheep. There were two pens of breeding-ewes in competition: one of the pens was from a first-class stock of sheep, but from hill pasture; the other was from a jobber, who had selected them from the common sheep in the country, but had grazed them with the cows on the farm, and they were in high condition--they wanted style and breeding. The judges were hesitating as to which of the pens the prize should be awarded to, when one of them exclaimed, "Stop, stop; let me in o'er till I handle them!"--an Aberdeen man likes something that will handle, whether ox or sheep. He went, and after he had performed the handling proof, which required little time and less skill, "Ah!" he exclaimed, pointing to the fat ewes, "that's the sheep!" and the ticket was fixed accordingly. This anecdote was related to me by the owner of the fat ewes, who was present.

No butcher, except he be well acquainted with the treatment of a breeding stock, ought to be a judge of breeding animals. With fat stock one of the judges ought always to be a first-class butcher.

In natural labour the after-birth generally comes away soon after calving. Many remove it immediately; this, however, should never be allowed, as the cow will chew it greedily, and it acts as physic to her. If the after-birth should be retained, as it generally is in cases of premature labour, this need cause little alarm to the owner. I have never seen any danger from allowing it to remain, and I prefer letting it alone, as it will rot away of itself, to the danger of tearing it away; but the cow should be removed from the others. I believe the opinion to be erroneous that there is danger from the after-birth being retained for any moderate length of time; but the womb itself will sometimes follow the calf, and this requires prompt treatment. I have known of its being successfully returned without the aid of the veterinary surgeon, but this should never be attempted by an unpractised hand if you can command the surgeon's attendance. It is a very common occurrence that two or three months before calving the vagina protrudes when the cow is lying: when this occurs she should be kept well up behind, else it may bring on premature calving. When the cow calves the danger is over.

If the calf is to be milked from the hand it should be taken from the cow as soon as it is dropt, and before the mother sees it; if allowed to remain with the cow for some time and then removed, it will be a cause of great irritation to the mother and very prejudicial to her milking. When it is to be suckled, the calf should be left quietly with the cow: and by licking the calf and eating the placenta the cow will be settled, the calf will get to its legs, and all may be expected to be right. A warm drink should be given--cold water must be avoided--and the cow made comfortable. She should be milked out after first suckling, and this will require to be repeated two or three times a-day for a few weeks, until the calf is able, and can with safety be allowed, to take all the milk. In a day or two after the calf is dropt it ought to be muzzled, and allowed a limited time to suckle the mother three times a-day. It must not be allowed a full allowance for the first fourteen days after birth. A confidential servant must remove the muzzle, stand beside the calf until it has taken a safe allowance, and then return the muzzle. When the calf has got the cud, which will be observed about fourteen days after its birth, it will then be safe to remove the muzzle. I muzzle all my calves, to prevent them from eating straw, hair, &c, which they cannot digest, and which accumulate in the stomach and prove the death of the animal. Many thousand calves are lost in this way, the owner never suspecting the cause. If the calf is opened up after death, there will be found in the stomach a large, firm, round ball composed of straw, hair, and other substances, with knots of curdled milk conjoined. After the calf has got the cud, and is fourteen days old, it may be allowed to suck at pleasure. It must be seen, however, that the calf has ability to clean out the udder of the cow; if part of the milk is retained, the cow must be milked by the hand.

Plenty of good milk is the proper foundation to make a good animal; if stinted when a calf, a year's growth is lost. Selling a great deal of butter and rearing a good bullock are incompatible. Many good calves are milked from the pail, and they thrive better after they are weaned; but it will generally be found that the sure way to make first-class calves is to allow them to suckle. There will be many drawbacks at the expense of the calf if it is brought up from the pail; drafts will be required by the housekeeper for milk, butter, and cheese for the family, which cannot be made if the calf is suckled by the mother in the field. The plan adopted by some of giving skimmed milk to the calf cannot be too much reprobated; and to give old milk to a new-dropt calf is perfectly preposterous: it is unnatural, and will probably prove the death of the calf.

The calf should be allowed to suckle or be fed from the pail for six or eight months. It has then strength to stand weaning, and, if properly cared for, will not be checked in its growth, and it will retain the good calf-flesh it has put on. The loss of the calf-flesh cannot be remedied, and great care should be taken to avoid this. If the calf-flesh is lost the animal will be reduced in value, and can never be made to yield first-class meat. Great care, therefore, must be taken by the breeder when his calves are weaned.

To guard against Black-leg, the calves should be immediately corded in the dewlap,[8] and receive, along with other nourishing food, each 1-1/2 lb. of oilcake a-day. This treatment is absolutely necessary during their first winter. The open strawyard for calves is of great importance. If they are kept regularly growing on, black-leg will be prevented. While proper treatment is adopted, there will be little to fear from that dreadful scourge.

[8] I have been accused of cruelty for cording the dewlaps of my calves. The pain must be of short duration, as it is done by a sharp instrument in a moment.