It has been a while since I've had time to write in on the forum. I had written in August, about the problem my Jersey cow, Ginny, had with her back legs or feet. With all the replies I received, and talking to dairy men, and anyone who knew anything about cows, I did not find anything that matched exactly. She is doing better, and now I can see that she favors her left foot, and I believe she must have stumped her toe on a root or tree stump or something, and maybe even fell on her side. I saw her stumble and fall one time a couple of years ago, and it is a scary thing to see. There never was any swelling, or infection, or fever, or anything like that. So I guess it had to be a sprain in her hip somehow. She's walking pretty good now, and is back to her old self when it comes to flinging the goats away from her feed dish!

Our other Jersey, Ollie, has now reached the one year mark in her latest freshening. She is still giving about 2 1/2 gallons a day. We just sold a calf we had on her milk for four months, and bought a new little baby at the dairy auction. We milk the cow first, and then let him drink the rest, so we can tell how much he is getting. He's doing fine.

We'll let the calf nurse till time to dry her up for her own calf in the Spring.

-- Lela Picking (Stllwtrs55@aol.com), October 01, 2000

Answers

You might want to try treating her as if she had arthritis in her hips. Researchers are just now documenting what people have known for years. If a joint is injured, it is far more susceptible to arthritis complications later in life.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 05, 2000.