Today it rained most of the day so things got a bit slimmy. I spent most of the day at the run-off block again apart from a short time that I was hosing down cement pads around the milking shed. After lunch we (Steph, Russ, and I) had to chase around hefiers that got out into the kale at the run-off block.
I learned a little bit about nitrate posioning in cows today. It can occur a lot when cows are grazing brassicas or a fleshy crop like sugarbeets, when the weather is very overcast and rainy. This is because the plant takes up nitrate from the soil but the plant cannot photosynthesis very well because of the lack of sunlight. It also can occur when there is frost on the plants or if its growing extremely fast. The signs that we look for in a cow that has nitrate posioning is if she has a hard time standing and getting up. Also I believe if there is milk leaking that can be a sign. It needs to be treated quickly because a cow can die very quickly if not treated for it, but once treated they usually bounce back very very quickly. We treat the cows that show signs of nitrate poisoning with a shot of calcium in the vein and phosphate in between the ribs.
Thats the main thing that I learned about today, and I have off until Monday now.
I learned a little bit about nitrate posioning in cows today. It can occur a lot when cows are grazing brassicas or a fleshy crop like sugarbeets, when the weather is very overcast and rainy. This is because the plant takes up nitrate from the soil but the plant cannot photosynthesis very well because of the lack of sunlight. It also can occur when there is frost on the plants or if its growing extremely fast. The signs that we look for in a cow that has nitrate posioning is if she has a hard time standing and getting up. Also I believe if there is milk leaking that can be a sign. It needs to be treated quickly because a cow can die very quickly if not treated for it, but once treated they usually bounce back very very quickly. We treat the cows that show signs of nitrate poisoning with a shot of calcium in the vein and phosphate in between the ribs.
Thats the main thing that I learned about today, and I have off until Monday now.
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