As calving gets underway and you become busier with multiple jobs plus milking and calves, the “down cow” can be easily neglected. We know that down cows that are looked after well are more likely to get up and have a successful lactation, so it is important to have a plan for your downer cows before they happen. Assigning one person the responsibility of looking after the down cow may be a good start.
1) Primary carer
Who is going to be in charge of nursing the downers? From experience of visiting multiple downers it is much better if one person is in charge rather than a loose arrangement of multiple people possibly getting to do it at some stage in their day. One primary carer gets much better continuity of treatment and a better ability to notice changes particularly important to being able to access if there is no improvement or rapid deterioration demonstrating the cow needs to be euthanised. Good downer cow nursing takes time and the primary carer needs to have enough time to do a proper job.
2) Downer pad
Have a pre-organised downer pad set up which you can take the cow to in the tractor tray. Ideally this is a deep bed of well-draining material such as sand, shavings or large wood chips in a dry well draining barn. The softness of these pads can drastically reduce the onset of pressure necrosis compared to a grass paddock. If you cannot move her from the paddock, then put down the same well-draining material beside her and lift her onto this.
3) Hip clamps and Slings
In a very short period after going down pressure on the lower body results in a decreased circulation to these tissues resulting in hypoxia or a lack of oxygen at cell level and cell death starts. This is often very rapid if the cause the cow is down with initially makes her completely unable to move or shift her position.
Early correction of lateral recumbence is essential, which if left it can result in regurgitation and aspiration of stomach contents. Also, rapid depletion of energy as cows continuously paddle their legs trying to get up. Place the cow in the dog sitting position so no limbs are under the body. Have something like hay or silage bales ready to use to keep the cow propped up in this position. Regularly check her to ensure she is not sitting on a limb.
Early and regular lifting through the day is often a make-or-break component to getting a cow back on her feet. Often lifting is required to be able to diagnose what the problem is, so having the tractor and lifting equipment there when the Vet turns up is a good idea.
A lot of you will be using hip lifters to lift your downers but I would encourage you to look at purchasing a cow sling which have multiple advantages over hip lifters and will last several seasons. Older hip lifter models that don’t have cushioning should not be used.
4) Cow cover
If you don’t have a barn as an option, use a cow cover, or failing that, a large tarp that can be put over the cow in the paddock. Emergency thermal blankets used under the cow cover or tarp are good to use too. Being warm and dry also means far less energy is needed to expend on keeping warm; being hypothermic (low core temperature) drastically decreases a cow’s chance of getting up. Many downer cows that we have been called to are so cold, their temperature is so low it won’t register on a thermometer.
5) Medical kit
Early diagnosis of the cause of a cow going down and early remedial treatment is essential. If there is no rapid response or you are unsure of the diagnosis and/or treatment, then call your Vet out EARLY. We are far more likely to make a difference initially rather than when she has been down for four days. Also, it may be the condition she has will mean she will never get up and if this is diagnosed early on, then the cow can be euthanised humanely and the cost of treatment and time spent nursing is not spent unnecessarily.
Get your down cow kit ready – you should have a range of Flexi metabolic bags, oral treatments (including calcium boluses, starter drenches and drenchable sugars such as Acetol or Ketol), and anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. We know of several cases where cows have died of milk fever because the farmer didn’t know how to give IV injections and/or didn’t have any Calcium on farm. We can train you or your workers on how to safely give IV injections to cows.
6) 24/7 drinking water access from large suitable container
Dairy cows drink around 70 litres of water per day. A large portion of downer cows we see are dehydrated as they do not receive enough water to meet their needs. Often I see a 20-litre bucket on its side beside the cow; it may have had a drink, but this does not give it continuous access and usually not nearly enough. There are lots of good cost-effective cow side drinking troughs available, they can’t be tipped and hold all a cow requires for a 24-hour period.
7) Adequate food
Often the downer goes down in a paddock that has been eaten out, if you don’t have a downer pad then try to get her to a paddock with lots of grass in it. High producing cows are usually on a diet which include lots of supplements be it silage, PK, meal or maize. If they just get grass only to eat they often can’t get enough to fill their maintenance energy needs, so providing extra cow side supplementary food is also essential. We advise this even if they are on just a grass-based system, as often a cow cannot move to get enough grass when down.
Watch videos on youtube.com for tips and tricks to move, lift, roll, and care for your down cow. search down cow DairyAustralia or check out the down cow info on the Dairy NZ website https://bit.ly/2LruNqd
Other Anexa resources you may find helpful:
Common Metabolic Down Cow conditions and Treatment plans.pdf
How to treat a cow with milk fever or grass staggers.pdfhttps://anexa.co.nz/down-cow/
