Call Your Farm Vet If A Cow Is Showing These Concerning Signs
When you raise livestock, each animal presents a considerable investment — and this can mean that in the event of something happening to the animal, you'd lose a significant amount of money. To keep your cows in optimal health, it's important to have your farm veterinarian visit you regularly. You should also take a proactive role in the health of the herd by constantly assessing each animal and reacting quickly upon noticing any concerning signs. If you see that one of your cows is behaving in one of the following ways, you should call your veterinarian to arrange an emergency visit.
Not Eating
It's a concern when a cow stops eating, as this can often indicate some type of digestive issue, a bowel obstruction, or something else that is serious. Cows spend much of their waking hours eating, whether you have feed for them in a barn or they're grazing on your property. The amount that a cow eats per day is staggering — one estimate for a 1,200 pound cow is an average of about 27 pounds of hay per day. This means that if a cow goes even a short amount of time without eating, it can begin to lose weight and face serious health consequences.
Physical Pain
Constantly monitoring your herd as it moves around your property is an effective way to pick up on any visual cues of something not being right. Sometimes, a cow will appear to struggle to move around. It has perhaps had a stumble and hurt one of its legs, or maybe there's a problem with one of its hoofs that is causing it to limp. Whatever the case, you don't want the condition to worsen to the point of the cow taking a serious fall that threatens its life. A farm vet can arrive quickly to determine the likely cause of the issue.
Pregnancy Issues
When one of your cows is pregnant, you need to pay special attention to it. Complications during pregnancy can threaten the lives of both the cow and the calf that it's carrying, which will be a major financial loss for you. You'll generally have a good idea of how your cows behave when they're pregnant, and this will help you to notice when something seems off. For example, if one cow begins to act overly aggressively, it may be a sign of some duress. This is another time to promptly call your farm vet to arrange a visit.
When you search for a veterinarian, rely on a company like Robert Irelan DVM.