Dairy Doc

Getting high quality colostrum as soon as possible after being born is essential for newborn calves. Calves do not receive any antibodies through the placenta like human babies do.

When you go to the doctor, the doctor typically stays in the building and the exam rooms are cleaned between patients. Large animal vets like me often travel TO their patients, so I need to keep myself clean between farms.

We can still milk this cow even though she has mud (and/or p**p) on her. That’s because the milker only ever touches her teats, and they get cleaned and sanitized every single time she’s milked. If her udder is really dirty, the whole thing can be washed off, but the cow herself does not need to be completely clean all the time.

Not all cows get to graze out on a pasture.

Some cows live their entire life out on pasture.

It’s up the farmer to decide where their cows live, and the climate where the farmer is has a lot to do with that decision.

Sometimes a farmer will have their cows out on pasture for half of the year and indoors for the other half of the year.

And there are even some farmers who have their cows outdoors, but not on a pasture at all.

So the short answer to the question of “how often do cows get to graze out on pasture?” truly is-it depends!

Can we just take a moment and give this gorgeous cow some love? ❤️

Let’s go over some facts about dairy cattle.

🐮 While it’s true that cows have bred to produce more milk, their milk production has also increased over the years because of better nutrition and well being.
🐮 Cows have also been bred for many other things like being taller, having smaller babies, and having stronger immune systems to name a few.
🐮 The use of steroid or growth hormone implants in the US is illegal for use in dairy cows.

Contrary to what some people lead you to believe, there’s really not a huge difference in care between bull calves and heifer calves their first several months of life other than bull calves can be castrated and become steers.

Unlike humans who continue to grow taller until they’re around 16 years old, a cow will be at 90% of her mature weight by the time she’s 2 years old!

New research out of Europe has shown that red wine is effective in treating ketosis in cows. Ketosis in post-partum cows is a metabolic disease that needs to be treated, so as part of this cow’s medical treatment, I gave her some wine! 🍷

It’s important to pay attention to a cow’s behavior because cows cannot talk to us and let us know how they’re feeling.

If a cow didn’t want to be in the milking parlor, she would balk and show signs of fear.

A good milk letdown will only happen if a cow is calm and comfortable as stress prevents it from happening.

When a cow is chewing her cud, it's a sign of relaxation.

One of the most obvious ways to tell that a cow is not stressed when being milked is if she’s not kicking. If she were stressed or uncomfortable, she would kick at the milking machine or the people working with her.

When I go live on a different platform 🕰️ to show a cow giving birth, a lot of people want me to immediately start intervening.
As long as a calf is presenting in the correct position, cows are usually able to labor just fine on their own and don’t often require help.

From the time her calf’s feet were showing, it took Paciente exactly 13 minutes to push out her calf.

Pictures you see online aren’t always what they seem.

I know this looks like blood, but it’s actually an iodine based sanitizer used to keep her udder clean for milking.

Her teats are not bleeding, they’re just being cleaned. 🙂

Horns on cattle can be dangerous to themselves, to other animals, and to people.

It's becoming more common for farmers to breed animals that don't have the ability to grow horns in the first place.

Many farmers will disbud calves which takes away their ability to grow horns.

Other farmers tip or cut the horns when they become dangerous for the animal, which is what's shown here.

A field of cows might not be just "cows".

Share if you learned something new!

Here are some signs maternity technicians are watching for while monitoring pregnant cattle (before the obvious sign of seeing a calf's feet sticking out).

🐄 The ligaments near her tail head will be relaxed.

🐄 Her v***a will be red and very swollen.

🐄 She'll have mucus discharge.

🐄 Her udder will be very full and may start leaking colostrum.

Her udder isn't dirty. It can have pigmented spots just like her body has!

When choosing to use AI, farmers still pay close attention to a cow's natural cycles. Cows are not constantly pregnant and will still give birth once a year regardless of whether artificial insemination is used.

Wow! 5,000 followers!
I am udderly amazed! 🐄

I'm so thankful to have you all here! I love being able to share facts about cattle and correct misinformation by showing what actually happens on dairy farms from a veterinarian's perspective.

As always, feel free to comment on any of my posts, or send me a message with any questions you have about the dairy industry.
And thank you again for being here! 🐮

Holy Cow! 🐄
We've hit 1000 followers!

I cannot thank you enough for being here. Your likes, comments, and support truly mean the world to me. I love being able to share facts about cattle and correct misinformation by showing what actually happens on a dairy farm from a veterinarian's perspective.

Feel free to comment on any of my posts, or send me a message with any questions you have about the dairy industry.
And thank you again for being here! 🐮