# Sticky  Tell tale signs of milk fever.



## springvalley

There seems to always be questions on milk fever on here so this is for you all. Milk fever can happen in any breed and any age dairy animals mostly. Some breeds can have milk fever as others don`t near as much. The Jersey breed seems to be one of those breeds that can, but I`m a firm believer that care and feeding can keep most cattle from ever getting it, or mild cases of it at best. Milk fever comes from a rapid draw in calcium from the cows system, and they will have problems real quick if they get it. If you feed your cow good quality grass hay (not timothy) and feed free choice salt and mineral during her dry period she should be fine. Once your cow has her calf keep an eye on your cow, if she has ice cold ears, dry nose, is standoffish, slow on her feet, stumbles, lays down a lot, and at her worst her head will turn around and lay close to her side. Now mild cases of milk fever can be cured on the most part by giving oral calcium in the mouth. The tubes look somewhat like caulking tubes and can be purchased at most farm stores and vet clinics, and you will need the special gun that goes with them. You just put the tube at the back of their mouth on their tongue and press the triger and slowly give her the whole tube. If your cow has been known to have milk fever before, it would be a good idea to give one of these tubes before she has her calf if you can, then another 6 hours after she has it. If giving several of these tubes does not do the trick you should call your vet. to come out and give a calcium solution I.V. to the cow. If the vet does come out to give the I.V. make sure he gives the I.V. slow and never more than one bottle to a small Jersey as two bottles can cause heart attacks. If they need more after one bottle is given a Sub. Q. (under the skin) dose can be given. Make sure you give your cow water after they have their calf , that is VERY important. Warm water in the winter, as they seem to drink it better, I never give mollasses in the water, but know some that do. You can also after they have their calf, give the cow high calcium feed such as good quality alfalfa and good timothy hay. This has worked well for us here and we have very little trouble with milk fever, and we have all jersey cows. If we do have a slight problem, the tube calcium is enough for us, and we never have more than one or two that have ever had slight milk fever cases. And there never seems to be a steadfast reason why they get it sometimes and not other times. For me age has not been the issue, it will happen when it happens, just be ready. Hope this helps some of you that may have problems, this only a guide, and if you feel you need a Vet to consult, please feel free to call them. I know some of you do not have many vets in your areas, so look ahead before you need them. > Thank You All. and God Bless America > Marc

PS- I also would like to add that I never milk a cow out all the way for the first couple days they have been fresh, only part way the first day, second day 1/2 to 3/4 and all the way out after that, and I don`t get mastitis from doing this either. I have milked cows most of my life and have had just jerseys the last five years, so I think I have lived the life very much to know what works, I also do most all of my own vet work as that is what I wanted to be when I grew up, but the thought of eight more years of schooling changed my mind. > Marc


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## gone-a-milkin

That is quite a block of writing there Marc. :teehee:


My experience has been that having the calcium on-hand is a pretty good way to avoid needing it.
If you dont stock it then you can almost count on having a cow go down right at dark on saturday night. :teehee:

I think there is a genetic factor to milk fever, or at least a corellation. 
If the mama of one of your cows was prone to it, her daughters do seem to be much more likely to suffer the affliction. 
Especially as they get older. The big uddered high-production lines seem to have more common instance of it. In *my* experience.

If you end up with one who gets it despite careful feeding, you will want to learn to give the IV yourself. 
Make your vet show you the proper way. They are always glad to not have to come do it for you.
It is not that difficult and is like magic how quick they can get to feeling better. 

I encourage anyone who hasnt to feel their cows ears when they are not sick.
Then you will know how they are supposed to feel. 
Icy cold ears on a droopy or wobbly-seeming fresh cow means milk fever.

Most cows dont get it. But the ones that do WILL die w/o treatment. 
Better safe than sorry.


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## nduetime

Marc...just wondering.
Whe my older family cow freshened i always gave her a tube of calcium a few hours after birth. I would just milk out a bit to take some of the tightness out and then let the calf get all the colustrum they could. The next couple days I would take out a bit more each milking and then just do a complete milking by day 4-5. Does that sound about right. We never had any problems before but Clover will be a first time freshener and I really want to do right by her. Her Momma was 16-17 when she passed so she had 4 calves when i got her.As far as i know she never had milk fever but I was really ridiculous about checking her ears everytime she calved. My DH kept telling me to leave the poor girl alone..lol!


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## springvalley

Most of my cows are pests when I`m working around the farm, I`m going to be the pest when it comes to having the calf. I have spent most of my life in my barn, we had a cot in the barn over the years so if we had to spend time at night we could get a few zzzz`s if we had to. Most of the time you can`t kill a cow with kindness unless it`s over feeding them. So giving the cow or heifer a tube of calcium after she calves is not going to hurt her. For most of you here your cows and heifers are part of your family(some of ours are also)and are treated as such. But sometimes you have to take that part of it out of the picture, as cows are animals and we have to think like them once and awhile. You are the BOSS cow in this situation, and have to act like it, don`t let them get away with things, just because your heart gets in the way of your actions. Just think of it this way, you are part of the herd, so checking on a cow is not going to bother them. I have spent a good many hours sitting in a calving area "Watching" a cow or heifer have a calf, you would think I was the proud father myself. Now don`t get carried away, don`t have the whole family out there, that will bother them. I also love barn cams, they have come a long way since the first ones have come out, I don`t have one, but as I get older I sure might. Saves a lot of steps out to the barn on cold or rainy nights, plus once you have had the brisk cold nip of air on a cold January night hit you in the face your going to be awake for a bit. I love calving time and I hate it, nothing more enjoyable than spring time and babies, but it can be a worrysome time also wondering if everything is going to work out allright. And most times they do, some times they don`t , so thats when you have to have the knowledge to know what to do and when to do it. I hope this helps some of you, I have spent my whole life on our farm, this is where I grew up, and hope to die here. Just something about farming and having animals that is good for the soul. > God Bless America, Thanks Marc


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## springvalley

nduetime said:


> Marc...just wondering.
> Whe my older family cow freshened i always gave her a tube of calcium a few hours after birth. I would just milk out a bit to take some of the tightness out and then let the calf get all the colustrum they could. The next couple days I would take out a bit more each milking and then just do a complete milking by day 4-5. Does that sound about right. We never had any problems before but Clover will be a first time freshener and I really want to do right by her. Her Momma was 16-17 when she passed so she had 4 calves when i got her.As far as i know she never had milk fever but I was really ridiculous about checking her ears everytime she calved. My DH kept telling me to leave the poor girl alone..lol!


Yes this should be fine, most of the colostrum will be out of their udder by day four, so milking out all the way by then is great. > Marc


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## allenslabs

This is a great post!! We should make it a sticky on here cause when most of us go to panic at the thought of milk fever it would be good to have this right there on top!


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## Jennifer L.

What's the problem with Timothy? I've never heard of that as being a problem at all.

Jennifer


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## springvalley

Jennifer L. said:


> What's the problem with Timothy? I've never heard of that as being a problem at all.
> 
> Jennifer


Timothy is a grass that is very high in calcium, this and blue grass was the race horse hay for many years before alfalfa came into being. It is great hay after your cow freshens, but would only feed small amounts during dry period, I really love Brome grass hay. Brome is wonderful when it is put up right, cut early so it doesn`t get to stemyfor the first cutting. Second cutting without rain I call horse candy, but trust me , everything will goble it up. > Thanks Marc


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## Jennifer L.

springvalley said:


> Timothy is a grass that is very high in calcium, this and blue grass was the race horse hay for many years before alfalfa came into being. It is great hay after your cow freshens, but would only feed small amounts during dry period, I really love Brome grass hay. Brome is wonderful when it is put up right, cut early so it doesn`t get to stemyfor the first cutting. Second cutting without rain I call horse candy, but trust me , everything will goble it up. > Thanks Marc


Interesting. I never heard that before. We grow a lot of Timothy here, but it's mainly mixed with other grasses and legumes. Most of my fields are mixed Smooth Bromegrass and legumes, though. It takes over after awhile and pushes the other grasses out. Looks great in a bale, too. 

Jennifer


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## dosthouhavemilk

We choose to a use a route in between the two you posted. 
We treat our cows sub-Q with one bottle of calcium gluconate (or dextrose, whichever we happen to have on hand). This farm has been doing that successfully for over 2 decades....actually closer to 3 decades now.
Very few cases have needed more than one treatment. Hale Bopp would require two each year she calved (every other year). She was the exception.
It is not as tricky as IV and not caustic like the paste. Slow release, which we prefer.
Simple enough to do and no risk of heart attack. 
We've had vets out on the farm treating another downed cow, or else doing blood draws, and dad has been treating our own milk fever cases while they were here. We lost more to vet treatments than we ever have doing it ourselves.

The point is recognizing the early symptoms.

Another early sign is straining to pass manure and passing very little, or none as a result.


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## springvalley

Just going to keep this up to the top for calving season. > Marc


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## IndyGardenGal

When you say you feed alfalfa hay after they calve, do you free feed or only while in the stanchion? We free feed alfalfa hay to the goats, but we were planning on getting grass hay for the cow.


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## Mrs. Homesteader

I have a friend with a nice size Jersey herd. She does herd shares. She had a couple of older Jerseys that almost always got milk fever right after calving. She read the book by Karreman (I think). It is called something like Treating Milk Cows Naturally. She said he uses what she calls the 2-2-2 method. She started using it and for the last few years has not had a case of milk fever even in those older cows. You give them 2 oz. of apple cider vinegar, 2 times a day for 2 weeks before they are due to calve. We are going to try this, so I can't comment on personal experience, but my friend has helped me with cow problems more than any body else including the vet.


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## Dreamfarm

Mrs. Homesteader said:


> I have a friend with a nice size Jersey herd. She does herd shares. She had a couple of older Jerseys that almost always got milk fever right after calving. She read the book by Karreman (I think). It is called something like Treating Milk Cows Naturally. She said he uses what she calls the 2-2-2 method. She started using it and for the last few years has not had a case of milk fever even in those older cows. You give them 2 oz. of apple cider vinegar, 2 times a day for 2 weeks before they are due to calve. We are going to try this, so I can't comment on personal experience, but my friend has helped me with cow problems more than any body else including the vet.


Please keep us posted and let us know if this works


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## Mrs. Homesteader

Dreamfarm said:


> Please keep us posted and let us know if this works


I will. My 17 year old Jersey did not take this time, so I only have a young one that is going to calve.


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## springvalley

I have never heard of the 2-2-2 cure for MF, I have given my cows ACV in their water in the spring and summer for flies, and come to think of it, I don`t think I ever had problems with MF at all during that time. VERY INTERESTING. > Thanks Marc


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## springvalley

Going to bimp this back up, as there had been another question about it. > Thanks as always > Marc


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## Miss Kay

I have a sub Q question. That is right under the skin and not in the muscle - no?


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## gone-a-milkin

Miss K, if you follow the "sub q" link in post number 10, it takes you to a great tutorial on how to give the shot.


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## Miss Kay

I read it but it assumed I knew sub Q (I'm sure I should). guess my question is how deep and how do I know I'm there and not in the wrong layer of skin.


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## Kato2010

If you grab some skin on the side of the neck, and pull it up so it tents up, you can put the needle right in on an angle so it hits the space you've made.


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## Miss Kay

Thanks!


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## dosthouhavemilk

Yes, it is under the skin. Sub-Q means Sub cutaneous. Under the skin. As mentioned, you pinch the skin and insert the needle through the layers of skin. It is not an intramuscular (IM) shot. With Jerseys, their hide and skin is quite thick. If you put the needle in and the fluid is not going in at a good rate onc the bottle is raised, it can indicate you are not all the way through the layers of skin and you need to pull the needle out and try it again.


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## springvalley

Bump again. > Marc


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## Cheryl aka JM

I have a cow getting ready to calf that went down last year. I had an emergency vet visit and a real panic attack. I remembered this thread and looked it up so I would be ready~ and decided to bump it for others that might be about to calve for the spring.
Thanks so much for the great info!
I'll be picking up the calcium today. I'll post a pic when we have a calf!


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## francismilker

springvalley said:


> I have never heard of the 2-2-2 cure for MF, I have given my cows ACV in their water in the spring and summer for flies, and come to think of it, I don`t think I ever had problems with MF at all during that time. VERY INTERESTING. > Thanks Marc


Marc, 
Been using ACV in the water troughs year round for about 4 years and haven't had a single case of MF. It's a wonder drug imho. I use it at a rate of one cup for 10 gallons of water (not that strong). It took them a while to get used to it but they gulp it down now and fly probs are lower as well as other rumen related probs.


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## francismilker

Forgot to add, when giving IV calcium it's also a good idea to get it up close to body temperature before adding. I take my bottle, iv tube, and needle and soak them in a bucket of warm water while I'm going out to the barn to the cow. The warm slow method is less stressful on the cow and absorbs better from what I understand.


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## SueMc

Thanks for posting this and all the comments. I hadn't intended on having a cow freshen this time of year so am glad to see any information that I hope I don't need! 
I put ACV in everybody's water....chickens, horses, cows, pigs. My grandpa always did. I never knew why. He just said it was good for them (he was born in 1906).


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## gone-a-milkin

It is that time of year.
I thought this thread deserved a bump.

Maybe I should sticky it?


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## springvalley

I would be honored if you would sticky it. And all the good additions also. > Marc


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## tab

Is there a time frame when a cow is most likely to get milk fever? 24-48 hours, longer, anytime up to a month after calving???
Thanks for this good info, btw.


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## dosthouhavemilk

Most cases of milk fever will occur within the first 48 hours post calving. With all of the hormonal changes associated with partuition, it throws the body off. That is also when the colostrum is being removed from the udder, which can also throw off the cow's systems. This is why one suggestion for curtailing the incidences of Milk Fever is to not milk the cow out fully until about 24-48 hours post calving.
Having said that, Milk Fever can occur at any stage of lactation, or pregnancy for that matter. 
Some cows go down during calving with milk fever. It slows delivery and can stall it completely. Calcium is needed for the muscles to work properly. A cow in milk fever does not usually have the muscle tone required for delivery. Sluggish labor can be improved with a dose of calcium.
My cow was shaky and weak about 8 months into her lactation. We called the young vet in. About twenty minutes before he arrived, dad figured out it was milk fever. The vet was already on his way, so we let him go ahead and treat her. A mistake, of course. He wanted to put two bottles IV in a cow that was up and walking around. If he insisted on two bottles the second was going sub-q. Which caused bumps where he treated her. She went down (no surprise with two bottles in a standing Jersey). Dad retreated with one bottle sub-q and she was fine.
Another incidence occurred at the dairy farm i worked at for a number of years. The cow had been fresh for a week. She stumbled slightly crossing the ditch to leave. I told the assistant farmer she was going down with milk fever and asked if we should put her in the box stall. He said she was not since she had been fresh too long. So I did not push the matter. I was a female in my early twenties and it was not worth the argument with a "boss." The next morning I asked where she was. Sure enough, she was laid out flat way down the hill in the valley (rather than on a level in the box stall next to the milking parlor..... Called the vet out, He put two bottles in her and she beat him up the hill. I do not recall if she went down again or not that lactation.

The point is, the imbalance can occur at any stage of their lactating/gestating lives. It is most common just post calving, however.


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## sv.maple

I find the best thing to do is when a cow calves give her a tube of calcium no mater what. I had a herd of holstiens and milk fever was not real big issue always had a few then switched to jerseys and i started buying calcium n dextrose by the case! Id give every one tube when calved and that cut down on 90% that would need bottles. Also on first calf hiefers i find its a good time to give a magnet got then cought and tied its cheap insurance for hardware and everyone gets one.


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## Awnry Abe

Am I correct to understand that shouldn't be giving alfalfa (Chaffhaye, actually) to a soon-to-be freshening cow? I just pulled Peaches out of the beef herd yesterday. She is due April 4. I currently have two other cows in milk, doing once-a-day milking (morning). In the evening, I give them a small pile of Chaffhaye. Peaches is very, very low on the totem pole, so keeping her out of the chaffhaye until she freshens will not be an issue. I will withhold it 'til I hear back from ya'll.


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## Awnry Abe

gone-a-milkin said:


> I encourage anyone who hasnt to feel their cows ears when they are not sick.
> Then you will know how they are supposed to feel.
> Icy cold ears on a droopy or wobbly-seeming fresh cow means milk fever.


I kept my two, healthy in-milk cows in the stanchion a few minutes longer so DW and I could calibrate our hands to ear temp. Is there a particular zone of the ear, or just anywhere? I thought they felt cold, especially the outer half--so I'm glad we did this on healthy girls first. I did notice that one girl was warmer than the other.

I take it when you mean icy, you mean icy. Like that of a lifeless animal. When we lost our LaMancha to milk fever, we noticed that about her legs. No circulation.


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## Buckles

I just recently had a Jersey get milk fever and has gotten really weak and laid down. I called the vet out and he gave her a calcium IV and told me to give a tube of the calcium the day after, which I have done but she is still not getting up and seems to be getting worse. 

Any suggestions on how to help her get better? She had her calf over 3 months ago and is not an old cow so just wondering how long it should take to get her back to normal after the calcium IV.


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## G. Seddon

I would get in touch with the vet again!


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## prinellie

I know the post about milk fever is old, but maybe someone can help me anyway... Our 5 y.o. mid-size Jersey is due to calve in May. I have stopped milking due to my DH having surgery - so Comet is dried up for now. This is our first experience with milk cows, so I am confused about the alfalfa/timothy hay and how to manage it so she won't get MF... Currently I am giving her a 1-2 slices of alfalfa hay along with 2-3 slices of hay we baled off our pasture (have no idea if it has timothy in it but can ask my neighbor). She is also getting mixed grain (6# oats, 5# ground corn, 1/2# alfalfa pellets and 3/4# molasses) about 1# twice a day. The vet told me to quit the grain in about February so the calf doesn't get too big. But, what about this hay?? She cleans up every drop of hay I give her unless she doesn't like it at all (when the weather got sub-zero I put one of the neighbor's big round bales in the bale ring and she won't eat it unless she is really starving). I am a sap when it comes to my animals - would have them in the garage keeping warm, etc... if my DH would allow it... So I need firm instruction of what to do about this hay. We just re-seeded a pasture to make it more grasses favorable to dairy for next spring/summer... I hope we didn't plant the wrong things. We do non-gmo corn - no soy for my chickens - and as little treatment with abx,etc as possible for both cow and chickens. I would be grateful for any help anyone has. God Bless. Ellie


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## EmyJ

Stage 1: They would still be mobile. But you would find them hypersensitive and restless. tremors, ear twitching, head bobbing and mild ataxia.


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## BridgetMI

Newbie here, and scared to death now of milk fever. I have a 2 year old jersey due "anytime now" - not sure of her actual due date as the farmer didn't keep good notes - and I am scared of milk fever. The folks I bought her from are family friends (for years), have kept and milked jersey's for 40+ years, and they said watch her, if she goes down give her colostrum, and that'll do it. It sounds so simple - but my belt and suspenders mentality is questioning that.... They have never lost a cow to MF. They also said to avoid milking her out for 8-10 days, just take small amounts (pint to a quart) and save it (I assume this will be colostrum?). My gal is 100% pasture raised, and still on pasture with some high quality hay from her former owner. I have spiked her water with molasses, which she really loves, and given her a salt/mineral block. What else can I be doing? She has been increasing her feed intake over the past 48 hours, and also spending a lot of time chilling in her stable. Not weather related, as it's 70's and dry (not humid).... She seems to have okay energy, even went for a couple of runs the other day (not sure how she managed it with her bag so big, I couldn't watch I was cringing lol), but she sometimes seems a bit clumsy on her feet.

What do you guys think?

Thank you!


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## BridgetMI

BridgetMI said:


> Newbie here, and scared to death now of milk fever. I have a 2 year old jersey due "anytime now" - not sure of her actual due date as the farmer didn't keep good notes - and I am scared of milk fever. The folks I bought her from are family friends (for years), have kept and milked jersey's for 40+ years, and they said watch her, if she goes down give her colostrum, and that'll do it. It sounds so simple - but my belt and suspenders mentality is questioning that.... They have never lost a cow to MF. They also said to avoid milking her out for 8-10 days, just take small amounts (pint to a quart) and save it (I assume this will be colostrum?). My gal is 100% pasture raised, and still on pasture with some high quality hay from her former owner. I have spiked her water with molasses, which she really loves, and given her a salt/mineral block. What else can I be doing? She has been increasing her feed intake over the past 48 hours, and also spending a lot of time chilling in her stable. Not weather related, as it's 70's and dry (not humid).... She seems to have okay energy, even went for a couple of runs the other day (not sure how she managed it with her bag so big, I couldn't watch I was cringing lol), but she sometimes seems a bit clumsy on her feet.
> 
> What do you guys think?
> 
> Thank you!



I do have free range hens so plenty of eggs (been reading through this post) if needed - would you crush them whole with the shells for extra calcium?


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## Shrek

When we were raising cattle and one of our cows got milk fever we called our vet for a emergency farm call to administer calcium intravenously to get them back up and to normal as quickly as possible. Administering the I.V. has to be done by a vet because the dose has to be monitored closely to prevent the cow from dying of a heart attack as the calcium she has dumped into her nursing colostrum is replaced.

As my father and grandfather said, "better to spend $100 to $200 on a farm call than lose $1200 on a dead brood cow and calf eventually worth as much or more than its mother."


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## G. Seddon

I believe you mean calcium, not colostrum. I have no personal experience with milk fever. I think you should do a bit of research on milk fever (I'll look and post if I find something helpful) and perhaps let your vet know she is due to calve and you might need assistance if she shows signs of milk fever.

Added this: https://ka-hi.com/blog/animal-health/milk-fever-cows/


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## Shrek

Yes, I was referring to the massive calcium draw on the cow at calving. The reason I mentioned the colostrum was our vet at the time that my family was in the small range cattle farming with only 300 to 400 head on our place, our vet explained to me that the same hormone storm that ensured the production of the colostrum also seemed to contribute to the massive calcium drain as we seldom had to have more than one calcium I.V. treatment for one that went milk fevered and only had to make sure that she got the adequate normal mineral supplements after getting back up.


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## BridgetMI

G. Seddon said:


> I believe you mean calcium, not colostrum. I have no personal experience with milk fever. I think you should do a bit of research on milk fever (I'll look and post if I find something helpful) and perhaps let your vet know she is due to calve and you might need assistance if she shows signs of milk fever.
> 
> Added this: https://ka-hi.com/blog/animal-health/milk-fever-cows/


Thank you for the link - it was very helpful, and easy to understand - a big plus for me! The farmer actually did say colostrum - he said milk her sparingly after she calves, and save every drop of it to give back to her if she develops MF. I guess that sort of makes sense if the colostrum is full of calcium to feed it back to her, assuming, of course, that she can absorb the calcium that way. I don't know.... this is all new to me.

Thank you again for your help - the link was very reassuring....


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## G. Seddon

Here's an article on colostrum. It is vital that the calf get this as soon as possible after birth. It transfers valuable antibodies to the calf. You might want to talk with your vet about all of this. 

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/advice...oY0NFc3JMSEVjcW96OXd1b2wrRzQ2TEFxRGZmUHoifQ==


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