Some people continue to milk their cows until within a very short time of calving. This is very poor economy. The milk at such times is thin and insipid, and unfit for food. I have never found any “preparatory treatment” of the cow prior to parturition, such as physicing, etc., to be necessary; but place her on short rations for a few days—administering, as one writer terms it, “judicious starvation.” The feed of roots is continued, as they exert a laxative effect on the bowels and tissues, thereby obviating the necessity of giving a huge dose of Epsom Salts. In an experience of fifteen years, by following this plan of restricting the diet, I have not had a case of milk fever, apoplexy, or retention of placenta, and but one case which called for assistance, and this was due wholly to an accident. When a single cow is kept, she is, of course, exempt from the ill consequences which so often result from crowding and fighting with other cows, and, if kindly treated and provided with comfortable accommodations for feeding and shelter, she will seldom have any trouble. But cases where assistance is indispensable do sometimes occur, even under the best management, the most frequent of which is the retention of the placenta or after-birth. If, at the end of twenty-four hours, the cow has not “cleaned,” it is then time to undertake the removal of the placenta. This can be accomplished by carefully introducing the right arm of a man having a small hand, which should previously be well greased, into the cavity of the uterus, when the connecting attachments will readily be found and may be separated, after which the whole may be brought away. These attachments are often quite numerous, and care should be taken that all are detached, and that the whole of the after-birth is removed, as serious results sometimes occur when a portion of it is retained.
If, from any cause, the fœtus has got into an unnatural position, or shows any other presentation than that of the two fore feet and muzzle, natural labor may be rendered impossible, and assistance will be required in order to set matters right. There are several abnormal positions in which the calf may be presented, while there are but two positions in which delivery is practicable. In the natural position the two fore feet and nose are the parts which make their first appearance. When this is the case we may generally conclude that our services will not be required. If, on the other hand, there is any alteration of this position, either by the absence of the head or of one or both feet, or if, when labor pains have continued for some time, there is no presentation at all, it will be necessary to investigate the cause. The owner’s duty, in cases of this nature, will be to restore it, by judicious manipulation, to its normal position, or to such a position as will render delivery practicable. If, from the nature of the case, the fore legs and nose of the fœtus cannot be brought into such a position, we must endeavor to bring up the hind legs and deliver it in that position. It frequently occurs in this position, as well as sometimes in the natural one, that traction will have to be applied. In such cases it should be applied simultaneously with the throes of the cow. In rare cases it becomes necessary to amputate portions of the fœtus and bring them away separately, which operation should be left to the veterinary surgeon. In fact, whenever assistance is required, it is better to employ the services of a competent surgeon, if such can be obtained. But where professional assistance cannot be obtained, it is much better to use one’s own judgment than to depend on the village cow doctor, who is usually one of the most ignorant persons in the community. Happily, cases requiring any assistance, where a single cow is kept, are rare.
For Mamitis or garget I have given successfully the following powder twice daily: Pulverized Digitalis, one drahm; Nitre, one ounce; Cream of Tartar, one-half ounce; mix and give in the feed. If the bag is caked and hard, let the calf run with the cow for a few days.
I do not consider it profitable to raise the calf, therefore I dispose of it as soon as possible. There are always plenty of farmers or farmers’ boys who are glad to buy a good calf to raise, and will willingly pay one or two dollars for the same, and take it right away. I prefer to raise and fatten a pig instead.
ACCIDENTS AND FAILURES.
It is no more than fair for me to say concerning my plan of feeding, that I have occasionally been obliged to modify some of the details, on account of unfavorable circumstances. For instance, I have been forced to cut grass from the highway in front of my house, to supply a deficiency in some crop, caused by unfavorable weather, or some accident or other. In the spring of 1878, my clover failed to catch, leaving me to make up for the loss of that crop as well as I could. It was certainly most unfortunate, inasmuch as it seriously interfered with the whole system of rotation. To carry out the plan of soiling successfully requires considerable time and labor. And on the whole, unless one has plenty of the former at his disposal, and a good wholesome inclination for the latter, he could do full as well to adopt the old time practice of having his cow pastured by the week, in which case no other labor than milking would be required, while, if she were allowed a feed of meal or bran at the time of milking, night and morning, very satisfactory results would be obtained.
ONE YEAR’S RESULTS.
To show what I have accomplished by it, I will give an account of the products of my cow “Polly,” for the year ending April first, 1880, together with a statement of the actual expenses of her keeping. Besides what was used in a family of four, I have sold one hundred and sixty-nine pounds of butter, at an average of twenty cents per pound, which amounts to thirty-three dollars and eighty cents; eight hundred and twenty-eight quarts of milk, at six cents per quart, forty-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents; eighteen quarts of butter-milk, at three cents per quart, fifty-four cents; eleven quarts of sour milk, at two cents, twenty-two cents; one calf, four days old, one dollar and seventy-five cents; total, eighty-five dollars and ninety-nine cents. To this I may add one hundred and twenty pounds of butter consumed at home, twenty-four dollars, and about two hundred and thirty quarts of milk, worth thirteen dollars and eighty cents; making in all, one hundred and twenty-three dollars and seventy-nine cents. The cost of feed was as follows: One thousand pounds bran, nine dollars and sixty cents; one thousand pounds corn meal, eleven dollars and fifty cents; seven hundred and fifty pounds of oatmeal, nine dollars and eighty five cents; three thousand pounds clover hay, thirteen dollars and fifty cents; two hundred pounds rye straw, one dollar and fifty cents; muck, two dollars; total, forty-seven dollars and ninety-five cents; leaving a balance of seventy-five dollars and eighty-four cents. As I keep a horse, I have the necessary tools for cultivating the land myself, I have not added the cost of cultivation as an item in the expense column, and perhaps it may be said that I should also have added interest on land and buildings. As an offset to these, I would call attention to the valuable pile of manure, and furthermore I have made no account of a large amount of skim-milk, on which I raised a pig. This pig was fed nothing but sour milk, and a very few small potatoes, until about four weeks prior to butchering, when he was “finished off” on corn meal. He weighed, after being dressed, December twenty-eighth, two hundred and seventy-eight pounds. The profits from this cow would undoubtedly have been larger had I sold all the milk, instead of making butter out of a part of it, but I did not make mere profit my sole object in the matter. I wished to supply my family with those necessary luxuries which, I believe, are rendered even sweeter by the consciousness of their being the products of our own labor. The pleasure which I have taken in caring for my pet cow, and in providing for her wants, and the pride I feel in exhibiting both my cow and the delicious rich milk and yellow butter, with which she so bountifully supplies us, amply repays me for my part of the labor. I have made no account of using concentrated food, such as oil-cake and cotton-seed meal, for the reason that I have had very little experience in the use of them. Whenever an animal has become thin and poor, these articles of food may be used to advantage to increase the flesh and bring the animal into good condition. But I never let my cow get poor, and I find that good hay, with corn, oats, and bran, answers every purpose, and is fully adequate to all her requirements. My system of rotation is as follows: The one-eighth acre of clover sod of the preceding year is well manured either during the winter or in the spring, and well fitted up and sown to beets or mangels. This crop occupies the land during the whole season. The same plot is again plowed the next spring for sowed corn. After this crop is off it is again manured and sown to rye, and the following spring is again seeded to clover. It is kept in clover one year, yielding two crops during the season, after which it is treated as before. Each of the four plots undergoes the same treatment; thus a complete rotation is established.
