Yup, A DA

The morning started with a phone call and the arrival of a heifer calf.  That makes cow #5 on the special needs list. By the time we got to the end of milking Bruce added another cow to that list, one that has developed mastitis in a quarter.  Ed stopped in to let Bruce know that the silo needed to be let down a door. We called to have a vet take a look at the cow they came to see the other day since she isn't eating again. Sure enough, she has a DA so they did surgery on her.  As long as we had someone here we had her do 2 pregnancy checks.  One pregnant, one open.  The only good news before noon was it was frozen and Bruce was again able to get some manure, well actually the rain puddle in the steer yard, hauled on frost.

They do the DA surgery here on the farm.  They first clip a patch on the side of the animal very short.  They then scrub that area with iodine to disinfect it.  A local anesthetic is administered in the area along the spine, above the area where the surgery is to take place.  This blocks 3 nerves that run down into this area, similar to an epidural.  She then is draped and an incision is made through the skin and the muscle wall.  The abomasum is located and a needle is inserted to remove the gas build up.  The abomasum is then pulled into place and stitched to the muscle wall so it can't flip back over.  Then she gets stitched up.  During the surgery she is standing and alert but doesn't feel anything.  They drenched her again today in hopes of getting her digestive system going.  She was pooping after the last treatment so she hasn't had a DA very long.  The good news is once this surgery is done she is corrected for life.

All shaved and disinfected and ready

All draped and ready to go

Her new zipper

They put a sealer on to protect the stitches.  These cows show no signs of pain after its done and  go back to eating, hopefully within 24 hrs

This afternoon Bruce let the silo unloader down a door and bedded the heifers at Ed's.  He brought the tractor we rent home from Ed's so Joe can practice driving it tomorrow.  He is getting to the end of his tractor safety class and driving is the last part of the test.  Tonight milking the regular cows took 1 1/2 hours and the special needs cows, all 6 of them, took an hour.  (this too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass)     : )

On the way home tonight I thought I heard the dogs collar and turned to look just in time to see a huge shooting star!  Very Cool!