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 a.s.sistance 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 pa.s.sage, 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 pa.s.sed, a.s.sistance 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 pa.s.sage, 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 quant.i.ty 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 pa.s.s muster with the first-cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s 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 compet.i.tion: one of the pens was from a first-cla.s.s 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-cla.s.s 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 v.a.g.i.n.a 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 acc.u.mulate 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 b.u.t.ter 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-cla.s.s 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, b.u.t.ter, 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-cla.s.s 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.
I have never lost more than two of my breeding stock from Quarter-ill.
There is no question that the cause of this dreadful malady is sudden transition from a restricted diet to a full and nutritious one, from a poor pasture to a rich and luxuriant one, or from a poor pasture in autumn to a full allowance of turnips; the increase of blood on the system is so great that the const.i.tution cannot stand it. I have seen almost every calf on several large farms carried off by black-leg.
There is no secret as to its prevention. Keep the young calf gradually growing, never let him want; give 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake a-day; and keep up the irritation by cords with a good hold of the dewlap. After the first winter, black-leg is little to be feared. I have had a case or two in two or three year olds, but it is very uncommon. Prevention is the only safeguard, for I have never seen black-leg cured. To some 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake a-day may look an expense that the calves cannot repay; but if any of my friends will divide a lot of their calves, and give the one lot turnips and straw, and the other turnips, straw, and 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake daily to each calf, if they are dissatisfied with the result on the 1st of May I shall pay the balance. I shall not enter upon the point of the great additional value of the manure, but leave that to the chemist.
I allow my calves to suckle till October, and the late ones two or three months longer. b.u.t.ter and even corn are but secondary to our cattle, and in these days of progression we must advance with the times or go down.
As to Navel-ill, much has been written on the deadliness of the complaint. I have never had any loss from it. Diarrhoea is a very common complaint with calves, and I have lost one or two by it, but, I believe, owing to carelessness. It will generally yield to a dose or two of castor-oil. The Knee-ill is more to be dreaded. The complaint is worse some seasons than others, and some, under the best treatment, will die. The calf gets down and is unable to rise; on examination it will be found that one or both, generally of the fore-legs, are very much swollen at the joints; the calf is very much pained, especially if moved, and the disease acts very much like rheumatic fever on the human body. I cannot a.s.sign any cause for this disease, as I have seen calves seized with it that were kept warm and comfortable. In some cases it may be attributed to some particular atmospheric influence. It is very difficult to remove. The calf will be down for weeks, and in some cases they never get up. Very little can be done for them, and any treatment I have seen adopted is of small value. Rubbing turpentine daily into the swollen joints is useful, but attention to the general health is of the greatest consequence--such as counteracting costiveness in the bowels, &c. I have seen splints of wood introduced, and also tying out the leg with bandages; but I have no great faith in any such treatment.
Rubbing daily with turpentine, and attention to the general health, is all I can recommend. Costiveness of the bowels, if not counteracted, may end in serious consequences. I had a case of a calf that got very costive--so bad that it moaned dreadfully from pain. I lost all hope of saving it. I thought of injections, and had them administered repeatedly for hours; to my astonishment the calf recovered and did well. Castor-oil is the safest medicine for calves. Let me here record an observation for which I am indebted to Mr Sorely, late veterinary surgeon, Alford. (While I have seen some with as good hands as Mr Sorely, I have never had the fortune to meet another with as clear a head.) The first question he asks when told that a calf is ailing, is, "How old is it?" If the calf is very young, and violently ill of any complaint, the great chance is, that it will not recover; whereas, if it be three weeks, and, still more, two or three months old, the probability is that it will.
As to the castration of calves, it is such a simple process that it is unnecessary to say much on the subject. The only thing I would recommend is, that the breeder, if he does not castrate his calves himself, should not allow the operator to cut away any part of the purse, as it should be recollected a good purse in the London market will be the next criterion to the butcher after the flank, and a good purse is always worth 1 to a bullock in London. If the purse should get much swelled after castration, warm fomentations should be applied two or three times a-day, or even a poultice if the case be very bad.
If there is an acc.u.mulation of pus, it may be necessary to puncture the purse, and the animal will soon be relieved.
Rheumatism, I have no doubt, is hereditary. I have seen it in the fourth generation; little, if anything, can be done for it. At certain seasons of the year it will appear, and wear off again. Howk is perhaps the complaint to which my cattle are most liable. I have repeated cases of it every year. The animal is observed to be stiff and staring in his coat, eats little, and, as the disease advances, retires from the rest of herd. When taken up, his skin along the back will be found adhering to the flesh, and if pressed on the spine he will nearly crouch to the ground. If a hold is taken of the skin--which is very difficult to accomplish--and it is lifted from the flesh, when let go it will give a crack similar to the sound that follows when you give a knock to the common corn-basket. This is a never-failing symptom. I treat the complaint very successfully with doses of salts and sulphur. If the animal is taken up in the early stages of the disease, the skin may only be adhering to a part behind the shoulder-blade; but in a day or two the adhesion will be found to extend along the whole of the spine; or, _vice versa_, it may begin across the kidneys and go forward to the shoulder-blade. I regard indigestion as the cause, and some cattle take it in particular fields worse than others. Diseases of the tongue are rare: I have had some half-dozen cases. A cure is utterly hopeless, and the animal should be sent to the butcher without delay.
When examined, the root of the tongue, or one side of it, will be found very much inflamed, and warts will also generally be observed. The animal will be found frothing at the mouth in the field; and if in the stall, a great deal of frothy matter will be seen before him. I never knew one recover, and I have attempted all sorts of treatment.
Foul in the foot is very serious when it gets into a lot of heavy feeding cattle in winter; the loss it entails is sometimes very heavy.
It a.s.sumes several phases. If there be but a crack between the claws without swelling, it is easily managed. The old plan of taking a hair-rope and drawing it several times through is very good practice, and with a little caustic applied, a cure is soon effected. There is another form of the disease more difficult to treat: there is the great swelling between the claws; it becomes a hard substance and very painful; the animal gets feverish and is scarcely able to rise, and if got up holds out the afflicted leg. He is off his food, and sinks rapidly in condition; and the pain is excruciating. I apply a succession of poultices, and when the lump breaks the danger is over: tow and tar are then applied to the sore, a cotton bandage put on between the claws of sufficient length to secure the application, and the ends made fast by a woollen garter cut from an old stocking. If the disease is neglected the consequences may be fatal; it is worst in winter when cattle are at the feeding-stall. I regard it as infectious.
If it get into a byre of weighty fat cattle the loss will be heavy. I have seen a bullock drop in value 3, 4, or even 5; and several animals lost by carelessness. I had a bullock out upon turnips, which had been neglected, and was p.r.o.nounced by my veterinary surgeon incurable.
As to Foot-and-mouth disease, it is a light matter among stirks and lean cattle--they will be little if any the worse of it; but it is very serious amongst heavy feeding cattle and milch cows. If fat cattle are attacked, they should have their turnips sliced, with crushed oilcake and meal. There is no treatment of any avail in the fever stages. When the fever is gone, there will be a beast or two out of a lot whose feet will require attention. The horn of the hoof gets loosened from the flesh. The animal may require to be thrown and the dead horn cut away.
It must be remembered that it will never attach itself again. The veterinary surgeon should generally perform the operation, unless the owner is skilful himself. Cows require great attention. The disease seats itself in their udders, and unless they are most carefully milked out they may be rendered useless as milkers--losing one, two, or even all the quarters of the udder. The foot-and-mouth disease is very infectious. I recollect having carried it home from a neighbouring farm, by merely handling a bull which was down with the disease. I came straight home and handled the first beast opposite the door in one of my own byres; in three days he was seized with the complaint; and in two or three days thereafter nearly every beast through the steading was down with it. Out of forty fat cattle thirty-eight had it, only two escaping. Upon inquiry I found that one of them had had it before. I lost from 4 to 5 of condition on an average off every one of the thirty-eight. From the same farm and at the same time a veterinary surgeon had been called in. He went straight to another farm six miles distant, and in a few days every animal there was seized with the same complaint. It is the general belief that an animal will not take the foot-and-mouth disease twice. This is a mistake. I have a cow that took it twice, but there were seven years between the attacks.
I have had the Lung disease on two farms; all known treatment is unsatisfactory. I believe, if the attack be violent, no treatment will save the animal. It is sometimes difficult to know it at first. There will generally be a cough, but it is not the clear cough of the animal in health. It is compressed, and the animal coughs unwillingly and with evident pain. The particular cough cannot be mistaken, and the grunt is a never-failing symptom. There is generally one lung more affected than the other. The ear being applied to the chest will discover the impeded circulation. Many cattle take the disease so slightly that it is never discovered. Some have little if any cough, and the pile continues soft and healthy. I recollect a milking cow which I was suspicious had the disease. I made her be run out; there was no acceleration of breathing; her coat was fine, and there was no diminution of the milk; but she gave a grunt which confirmed me in my opinion that she had had a slight touch of the complaint. The grieve, a most intelligent man, was satisfied that the cow was healthy. I fattened her, and for my own information had her slaughtered at home. It was three months after, and the _post-mortem_ examination showed one of the lungs, to the extent of about the size of a crown-piece, adhering to the ribs--a sufficient proof that my conjecture was correct. Many take the disease that are never suspected. I had a bullock showing some symptoms of the disease in a byre amongst ten. The others were, to all appearance, in perfect health. I sent them immediately to London. My salesman was instructed to inspect the carca.s.ses after they were slaughtered, and to report. He did so carefully, and there was not one of the number but had their lungs more or less affected. Mr Collie, Ardgay, Morayshire, had a byre of cattle slaughtered under the same circ.u.mstances, and with the very same result. Pleuro-pneumonia is not so infectious as foot-and-mouth disease, but if it get into a farm-steading it is most difficult to get clear of. I have known cattle infected in three days.
I had bought a lot of cattle from a farm in Morayshire where the disease has never been up to this hour. It was in the month of April.
There were two or three of the lot that I did not think profitable to graze. I tied them in a byre where infected cattle had stood. They were only to be kept a week or two, and I had no idea of danger. One of them took the disease very badly in three days after he was tied up. I have known it lie dormant in the system (as to any visible appearance) for three months and a half. I found the general period of incubation from five to six weeks. I have taken the greatest pains with the byres where the infected cattle stood, having the wood-work taken out, the roofs and greeps carefully sc.r.a.ped and washed with soap and warm water, lime-water, and afterwards with chloride of lime; and yet, after all this labour, I have seen the disease break out again and again. After repeated outbreaks, I not only removed the wood-work, but the whole of the stones in the stalls and greeps, and buried them. I had the roofs and stone mangers, &c., carefully sc.r.a.ped, and washed with soap and warm water, and afterwards with chloride of lime. They were then closely painted, and lastly coal-tarred; but it was only after five or six months" perseverance that I got clear of it. Having heard a report that a cow belonging to my cousin, Mr M"Combie, editor of the "Free Press," was labouring under pleuro-pneumonia, I went to see her. Mr Sorely, veterinary surgeon, was in attendance. As there had been no disease in the neighbourhood for five years, I was unwilling to credit the report. But a more marked case I have never witnessed; and the _post-mortem_ examination showed all the symptoms of the fell disease. Mr Sorely, Mr M"Combie"s overseer, and I, all agreed that as a wood dividing-part.i.tion had been allowed to remain since the time of the previous infection, and the cow was seen chewing pieces of the wood that had got rotted at the base, the wood had retained the poison, and the cow had been infected from the chewing of it. The breath is the cause of the infection when cattle are housed together and the disease introduced. It generally attacks the animals standing at the walls first. The breath is driven by different currents through the building to the walls, where it is stopped; it rebounds, and hence the beasts at the walls generally fall the first victims--so, at least, I have found it in my experience. I had forty beasts divided by a stone-and-lime mid-wall to the level of the side-walls; up to the roof there was a strong and close division of wood. Unfortunately there had been a small aperture about two feet square left open. I made an observation to the cattleman that I should not be at all surprised if the disease came from the infected byre through the opening to the byre where the cattle were sound. The first or second day thereafter the animal standing below the aperture was seized, and got down in the disease.
In treatment I have no confidence, having tried everything that could be tried and completely failed. I would, however, recommend that neither hay nor straw be given to animals labouring under the disease.
I lost a valuable bull, after he was recovering, from this cause. He was allowed to eat too freely of hay, which he could not masticate; and when opened after death, an ordinary bucketful of hay was found in his stomach, as dry as when it was eaten. I have come to the conclusion that no animal should be allowed hay or straw while unable properly to masticate its food. It is well ascertained that when the poison is lying dormant in an animal, it will infect the other cattle before it is visible in itself. As a confirmation of this fact, I had a sale of breeding stock after the Dumfries show, on Thursday, 30th August 1860.
The cattle seemed to be in perfect health on the day of the sale; about three-fourths of them were removed on Friday. The day following--viz., Sat.u.r.day--a cow was taken ill. I entertained fears that it might turn out pleuro-pneumonia; and circulars were sent to the parties who had removed their cattle. The buyers isolated the cattle bought at the sale from their own stock. Two of the beasts that had been removed died, other two took the complaint and recovered; but fortunately it did not spread amongst the buyers other stock. The cow first taken ill recovered, and another that was left over took the disease and recovered. But, further, a bull was withdrawn from the sale and sent home to Tillyfour from Dorsell the night of the sale, to all appearance in perfect health, though he afterwards died of the disease. He was watered at a watering-place on the roadside, where a crofter"s cattle watered daily. The crofter"s cattle went down in the disease, and one of them died. Many were the weary days and restless nights I endured when the disease got fairly developed through two of my largest steadings. It is in such cases that the value of a clear-headed veterinary surgeon is appreciated. I would not be well away from one steading, when a messenger would meet me with intelligence of some disaster at the other. I had many beasts being fed on other farms as well as those on my own--not fewer than 400 one way or other. I have said how much I am indebted in such emergencies to the advice and counsel of a clear-headed veterinary surgeon. The disease was in the midst of my breeding stock, and two or three had succ.u.mbed to it. Mr Sorely and I were brooding over this state of matters, when I asked him whether he could do anything to save the herd. He said, "I will think over it till to-morrow." He came on the morrow, and seven successive evenings, and administered to each animal a drench, and he would trust no one but himself to do it. I believe there were three changes of medicine; not one animal which got the medicine took the disease, although they had been standing in the midst of it. There was one worthless old milk cow amongst the others, that I did not think worth the trouble of giving the medicine to; she took the disease, and was fed with gruel for fourteen days, and recovered, while the others continued in perfect health.
I have related the diseases that are of a local character, as they have come under my own notice, without any desire to set myself up as an authority. My experience has led me to differ in many respects from eminent authorities. I have merely stated my own experiences during a lifetime that has been devoted to the management of cattle; they are written with no view of superseding the valuable a.s.sistance of the veterinary surgeon; but every farmer ought to know and be able to treat the local diseases incident in his neighbourhood which are not of a dangerous character. When they are dangerous, the owner ought to be able to distinguish them at once; and in that case not a moment should be lost in calling in the aid of a veterinary surgeon.
THE END.
THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE;
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF LANDED PROPERTY; DETAILING THE DUTIES OF THE LANDLORD, FACTOR, TENANT, FORESTER, AND LABOURER.
By ROBERT E. BROWN,
Factor and Estate Agent, Wa.s.s, Yorkshire.
In One Volume, royal 8vo, uniform with Mr STEPHENS"S "BOOK OF THE FARM," with numerous Engravings.
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