Does anyone else have issues with dirty tail heads? We have a few cows (more than a few) that just get right piggy after they freshen and don't really clean up until they go dry.
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| I apologize for the blurry picture, but you can see what once was a tail is now a huge clump of manure. |
And another view of the same tail....
We don't like docking tails (making so the cows tails are only 14 to 16 inches long), so I have resorted to cutting off all of the tail hair that I can.
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| Much better! Much cleaner! and the cow will stay cleaner now as well! |
This makes the dirty tails easier to deal with, but it is only a band-aid and not a "real fix" for the problem of why we are getting dirty tails in the first place. We asked our vet, and he said that it could be due to a cow having a broken tail bone or from when she is in heat and being mounted--that can sometimes permanently injure the nerves that they use to move their tails. These are possible reasons, but they don't explain why some cows habitually clean up when they are late lactation or going dry and are terrible pigs right when they come fresh. We have been testing for Johnes, but the samples are showing up negative there as well. Is it just do to the stress from calving? Why only some and not all? Why do some cows' tails never get dirty? We don't know. If anyone has any answers or insight, we would be thrilled to hear your thoughts.
Until then, as my husband so hilariously stated today just before heading down to the barn, "Some day I am going to buy a herd of cows, but right now I have to go milk the pigs." :)
Blessings to you all, and may the Lord bless you and keep you in this much needed rainy weather.
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