Download (PDF) - The Western Producer

LIVESTOCK
THE WESTERN PRODUCER | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | DECEMBER 13 , 2012
COW EVALUATION | UDDER, TEATS
Examination of udders, teats will help decide retention value
ANIMAL HEALTH
ROY LEWIS, DVM
There are many things to evaluate
when selecting a cow. It’s
particularly important to
examine for udder and teat conformation.
Many cows are culled later in life
because of bad teats.
Calves of a cow with bad teats may
have a hard time sucking and getting
much needed colostrum. Persuading
a calf to suck on the big coke bottle
teats can take a lot of individual
attention in the spring calving rush
when labour is at a premium.
Look at the developing udder for
signs of abnormally large or small
teats when selecting heifer replacements
in the spring. The teats should
be uniformly in a square. You don’t
want extra teats.
This is especially critical in dairy
cattle where milkers are put on four
teats on a twice daily basis. Most
supernumerary (extra) teats are rudimentary
at best and are usually
either between the normal teats or
behind the normal four teats.
I surgically remove a few in show
cattle, but most often they are left.
They can become a problem if they
are large and the calf tries to suck on
them. They are most often blind ending
and rudimentary and the milk
producing gland isn’t attached.
The problem is newborn calves can
spend a lot of time trying to get milk
out of them.
Cows are occasionally five quartered,
which doesn’t hurt in a beef
herd but is a definite no-no in a dairy
animal. Most dairies check newborn
calves for that reason.
Some heifer calves deposit a lot of
fat in the udder. This extra fat has
been proven to hurt their future milk
production. They become the good
looking fat healthy cows that produce
scrawny calves because of lack
of milk production.
Lower weaning weights are most
generally a sign of poor milk production
unless there is another medical
reason for the poor weight gains. This
is another good reason for records
and having tags in both cow and calf.
Knowing the birth date of the calf and
its size at weaning helps eliminate
the poor milkers.
Teats on yearlings should be
noticeable but not too large and
evenly placed. Too small or too large
make it difficult for the calf to latch
onto at birth.
Smaller teats also have a smaller
streak canal that requires lots of sucking
to get milk. Calves are not stupid
so will gravitate to sucking on the
teats that milk the easiest.
Teats that are too large are also hard
for the calf to suck on. They have
larger streak canals and will often
leak milk if the teat sphincter is not
tight. These quarters are prone to
mastitis.
The teat will either grow larger over
time because it is never milked out or
a chronic mastitis will take hold, rendering
the quarter useless.
The good news about chronic mastitis
is the quarter can be dried off
chemically if the cow is not sick.
A veterinarian can advise on treatment,
which involves either copper
sulfate solution or silver nitrate solution
put up the infected quarter. This
sets up chemical inflammation scarring
and drying off of the quarter.
I prefer 12 cc of a one percent silver
nitrate solution infused up the quarter
and then repeated in 10 days.
It is much easier if the cow is in the
process of being weaned and the
other quarters are being dried off
naturally.
The cow then freshens next year as
a three teater. Milk production does
not suffer because a three teated cow
will produce almost as much as a four
teated cow.
����������
However, it is best to cull the cow if
two quarters are shot because milk
production is considerably less.
Calves usually avoid these quarters
because the taste of mastitic milk is
not good, and the swelling and
inflammation should alert the producer
to check.
Scarred and blind teats are more
difficult to notice, but there are telltale
signs: either the calf always
seems to be sucking and yet is gaunt
or the cow’s udder is always full.
If in doubt, get the cow into the
maternity pen and strip out the quarters
to see if milk is present.
Not many cows are brought into
maternity pens these days to calve
out because of easy calving, but the
ones that are should be stripped out
to make sure the teats are not
plugged. This makes it much easier
on a calf just getting started, but it
also allows problems to be detected
early. Many calves starve to death
each year or don’t get enough colostrum
because of teat problems.
Heavy milkers develop low slung
bags and/or their suspensory apparatus
becomes stretched in later life.
Teat placement becomes too low,
which makes it difficult for tall calves
to suck. They should be put on the
cull list.
Self suckers or heifers that suck on
their pen mates should also be sold as
slaughter animals.
As well, watch for teat injuries from
91
freezing on cold windy days. Ointments
may be able to prevent serious
mastitis problems or calves getting
kicked as they suck these sore blackened
teats.
We can lower the cull rate for udder
and teat problems later in life by
checking teat and udder conformation
early and not using the undesirables
as replacements. You won’t
eliminate all the problems, but most
can be avoided. Your goal is tight
uddered, soft milkers with good milk
production that have a long productive
life in your herd.
Roy Lewis has a veterinary practice in
Westlock, Alta. and works part time as a
technical services veterinarian with Merck
Animal Health.
��������������
�������
����������
������������������������
��������������������
�������������������������������
������������������������
��������������������
������������������������������
���������������������
�������������
�����������������������
������������������������������������������
��������������������������