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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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 Posted - Mar 21 2016 : 8:06:03 PM
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Okay, folks, what should be in an emergency cow care kit? Can we create a list? I wanted a separate topic so it would be easily found again.And, what are your favorites/brands/links to products?
*Electrolytes/Drench
*Calcium
*Tubing
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 21 2016 : 10:21:30 PM
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Here's a list with a brief explanation that I found:
Suggested items for a Livestock First Aid Kit
The kit should be easy to find, carry, and remain clean and dry even in barn, truck, or livestock trailer environment. Plastic totes, tackle boxes, or plastic tool boxes can be found in many outlets and could provide a convenient and inexpensive carrier for first aid kit. It is wise to tape important names and phone numbers on the side of the kit. These important numbers can be found quickly or by others even if the primary animal caretaker isn’t present.
Heavy duty scissors
Flashlight
Halter and rope
Needle nosed pliers
Wire cutters (animal with leg in wire)
Disposable gloves
4X4 gauze sponges
Skin cleanser
Several small bottles of sterile saline
Water soluble ointment
Frothy Bloat treatment
Screw type bloat trochar
Several rolls of vet type wrap, 1 “medical tape, duct tape
Fly repellant
Several large syringes (35-60 cc)
Small child’s disposable diaper or some rolled cotton
Antibiotic eye ointment
Thermometer
1 bottle of Calcium borogluconate or 1 oral calcium gel
Key phone numbers taped on side of First Aid Kit
Optional Items:
OB chains and handles, water based lubricant
Small amount of epinephrine
Few needles and small sized syringes
Mineral oil
Hoof nippers and knife
Small sharps container
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 22 2016 : 05:56:40 AM
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| thanks ladies, i was just starting to add to my meager supply list in preparation for calving and just getting ahead of the animal game general. this helps tremendously! |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 22 2016 : 10:29:55 AM
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Where is the best place to get all of this supplies? Any ideas, anyone? Hamby Dairy Supplies
Also, I was reading that a disposable screw-type trochar was a preferred type as it kept the rumen right next to the side of the cow so the risk of abdominal contamination from the rumen contents was significantly lower. Thoughts?
MaryJane, do you think the tubing was enough for Clover? In hindsight would a trochar have eased her bloat faster? Less or more stress on her? The tubing seemed quick, but you knew exactly how to feed it down her throat and keep it in the right place. You and Nick were a great team. I'm just thinking how to be better prepared in the future.
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Mar 23 2016 : 09:19:52 AM
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For a 4-H project once, I made a horse first aid kit. I honestly don't remember where I got most of it, here's what I have:
antibacterial soap
stethoscope(I've used mine a lot)
cotton swabs in a waterproof container
Tweezers
Hydrogen peroxide
Isyprocol alchohol
Thermometer
Notebook with vet's numbers in it
Vet wrap(lots of it)
Scissors
Various sizes of gauze
Hoof knife
Hoof nippers
Hoof pick(mainly for horses)
Various sizes of syringes
Rolled cotton
Anti-fungal spray/rub
Various sizes of needles
We are running low on a few things and have to go stock up, there are some things I hardly ever use and others I use all the time.(sorry if something is spelled wrong, I'm in a hurry) |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 23 2016 : 10:34:08 AM
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| Great list Sydney. Thank you! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 08:43:34 AM
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The hose you found Charlene worked perfect because it was reinforced. I was nervous about her biting through it but I doubt she could because it was reinforced. She tried. She was really chewing on it. You might tell us where you bought it and why you happened to have that type of hose. Pics of it would be helpful? Unless you've framed it and hung in on your wall:)
The only change I would make to it and what I did to the hose I have ready is to sand and smooth the edge that goes down the throat. A cut edge can be sharp. As Nick was pushing it in, I kept feeling her neck to made sure it was headed to the stomach.
I made the mistake of racing out of here without my list of emergency cell phone numbers and the supplies I have ready in my milking parlor. I have a bloat kit hanging on the wall of my milking parlor. It contains a stainless steel tube that goes down first and then the tubing goes in through that. I also have some of the little bottles of anti-foaming fluid you pour down the tube. And I have a stainless steel trocar (not screw type) but even though I've watched a couple videos I wouldn't feel confident using it. If I can get a tube down, that would be my preference.
And I need to ask a vet about the calcium/electrolyte thing that happened secondary to Clover. When we arrived at WSU, Dr. Bredenberg said a couple of times that they didn't want to put anything in her stomach (like electrolytes) because of the bloat. Hence, the CMPK IV. When you're treating for milk fever, it's unlikely that you've also just "pumped the stomach." So I wouldn't be confident about shoving a big capful of gel tube of CMPK down her throat afterward. The doc said several times when we arrived that they might have to repopulate Clover's rumen with rumen juices from a donor cow. When she arrived, her body temp was dangerously low and she had zero rumen contractions. (I've read that lack of rumen contractions in and of itself can kill a cow.)
I think the most important thing you can have ready is an established relationship with a vet and a trailer ready to go. If you recall, once we drug Clover into the back of our trailer, I called Dr. O'Connell again to ask her, "Now, what happens if she rolls onto her side while we drive." She said, "Stack hay bales around her." Duh, right? I think those phone calls I kept making were essential. I remember calling Dr. Bredenburg once the tube was down (and gas and rumen juices were flowing out and her stomach was clearly going down--she was dangerously bloated because her eyes looked like Rosetta's--pupils rolled down with only the whites showing that were bright red with no longer even a hint of white and bugged out as if they were going to pop out of her head from internal pressure) to ask how long I should leave the tube in. When I saw Clover's eyes start to look like eyes again, I breathed a sigh of relief as we were tubing her. Pressure subsiding I thought. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 11:51:30 AM
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| wow, such an experience. i am appreciating the education i am deriving from it, but boy does it freak me out. i am just so glad everything came out all right for clover. nothing can replace good neighbors to help and good vets. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 12:15:00 PM
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In the name of education, here's a pic of Rosetta's eye that was red and bulging from the pressure behind it caused by free-gas bloat.
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 10:27:42 PM
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Again, it was amazing to have MaryJane and Nick helping us that night. Without them, I am certain Clover would be dead.
To be honest, I have no idea where that hose came from. As I was racing into the garage with instructions from MJ to get a hose, I had no idea what to get. I remember praying out loud, "Please God help me find a hose! I need a hose!" I firmly believe I was led directly to this hunk of hose stashed on a shelf in the garage. I didn't even have to look! I need to ask my hubby if he knows what it came from. Answered prayer and part of Clover's miracle. I will take a photo of it tomorrow. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 10:28:49 PM
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| And I will never forget what Clover's eyes looked like! Bloat is awful. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 27 2016 : 07:08:00 AM
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| that photo is devastating mary jane. i am so sorry. i am glad it all worked out for clover, but what a trial for y'all. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 29 2016 : 1:39:29 PM
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And, MaryJane is so right about having your trailer in the ready position at all times. We were using our trailer as a temporary shelter as we have moved our cows around. At the time of Clover's emergency, the trailer was out in the muddy field and impossible to get out. Nick was amazing and drove back to their farm to get their trailer to use for Clover. That was my mistake and cost Clover several more minutes of waiting. The very next day, however, Ethan pulled the trailer out of our field (it had dried just enough for Ethan to carefully maneuver in 4WD) and it now sits in the ready position for any animal emergency. Ethan and my father-in-law created a shelter with pallets and leftover metal sheeting from our barn ... looks darling, actually! And now all animals have shelter AND our trailer is ready for use. Don't make the same mistake as we did no matter how short you might be on shelters.
Also, have at least two thermometers in the emergency kit ... again, in the middle of an emergency is not the time to be trying to replace thermometer batteries or have one thermometer decide to not work.
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Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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![[flourish]](/images/flourish-txt_mobius.png)
Emergency Home Medical Kit
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