2 Women on 2 Acres

Talk about surprises, I was bleary eyed this morning when I went to let Flynn out of his bed in the laundry.

I always look out of the window and survey the paddock, I didn’t realise I did this until later today, but every morning I look out and scan the paddock to see all is well.

Our First Look

Well, this morning I had a bit of a surprise when I saw a little   white head and golden ginger body lying amongst the long grass next to Mia, my house cow.

Holy COW!! it’s a calf and it looks like Mia’s…but hang on, we were told by our neighbour ‘expert’ dry stock farmers that she wasn’t in calf and if she was, she would have calved at the end of SEPTEMBER…then I ran through the possibibity of ’strays’ getting into the paddock, no there have not been any weaner calves in the paddocks aorund us for a while… so it must be Mia’s…

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Bloat in cattle is a serious life threatening condition. My house cow Mia has been lucky, she got bloat last week and it has dissipated with a little work from her to dislodge the trapped air.

The kind gentleman from Environment Waikato noticed it when he came to investigate spray drift damage on our property, thank you for the warning and all the advice you kindly gave me, he used to be a dairy farmer, funny that!!

I had noticed her right side was very ‘balloon’ like in the morning and had kept a beady eye on her, I was hoping she was definitely pregnant and was getting ready to deliver. The thought had crossed my mind that she may have over indulged on the tender spring grass, so I was watching, but to tell you the truth, bloat hadn’t entered my head.

We were subjected to a display of leg stretching, rolling and stampeding around the paddock at high speed with legs askance as she jumped and twisted around. I kept a close eye on her from a safe distance, but I admit, I didn’t enter the paddock while the display was happening.

This is because she scares me when she runs towards me at full tilt and comes skidding to a halt just a hairs width from my face. And believe me, if you have never had 4 tons of cow barreling towards you, it IS scary!

Mia

So what is bloat ?

And how can you tell if your cow has it ?

And what do you do if they have?

This article is for information purposes only, it is NOT intended to replace a professional diagnosis or recommended treatment from your vet.

So please if you EVEN think your cow or cattle have any signs of bloat, RING YOUR VET immediately.

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A List of Plants that are Poisonous or Harmful to your Animals

Before we begin, this list is a ‘living’ list, by this I mean, things will be added or taken away when I have sufficient evidence that things are no longer poisonous or I find new things that are.

IMPORTANT BIT

Please if you think you have an animal suffering from poisoning RING THE VET AT ONCE

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I had never heard of ‘Woody Tongue’ until our little goat, Izzy, became ill this past summer, and she had problems swallowing and a neighbour thought it was ‘Woody Tongue’.

Important Bit First:

Call the Vet at once if you have an animal that is unwell, this information on ‘Woody Tongue’ is just that, information it is not a substitute for professional advice. So please call the vet if any of your animals are unwell.

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Ryegrass staggers

If you have never heard of ryegrass staggers, it can come as a shock when some of your stock literally begin staggering around the paddock as if they are drunk. Hence the name ‘ryegrass staggers’
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