cow not eating after claving

[danm]

We had a cow have a set of twins a couple of days ago. The calves are small but ok. The cow though has not ate or drank that much, just enough to keep her going in this heat. She just stays in the shed too she won't come out to eat grass? Any suggestions?

[corine]

Hi,
One of the things it might be is ketosis. Smell her breath. If it kind of smells like acetone, thats what it could be. She will need a drench that you can pick up at the vet. She won't start eating grain until you drench her a few times. A cow goes into ketosis when her energy needs are greater than her energy intake, which may have happened since she carried twins. I used to milk cows on my parents farm & it is not uncommon in dairy cows. The other thing is that she may not have completely cleaned, which is also not uncommon after twins, in which case she needs antibiotics.