What Do Vets Do During a Typical Cow Checkup?

Cow care is fundamental on dairy farms, and every day, veterinarians perform check ups to provide the best care possible to the animals. During a checkup, there are plenty of ways for a veterinarian to help a cow feel better physically so that she can produce more milk.

Physical Examination

The vet will perform a physical exam on the cow. This includes checking the cow's general health, including examining their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. They will generally be looking for ulcers or discharge. They will also check the cow's teeth to see if they are too worn down and the skin for lesions or sores. The vet also examines the hooves and legs, checking for signs of injury such as cuts, bruises, or swelling.

Weight and Height

The vet will also check the cow's weight and height. The shear force is a measurement of how much pressure a cow exerts on the milking parlor floor when she stands up, lies down, or moves around. This information helps determine how much milk each animal can produce in a day - and gives farmers an idea of what they're dealing with when it comes to feeding, housing, and caring for their cows. To measure her shear force, your vet will use a scale that goes under each hoof as it steps onto it; this provides accurate readings without putting pressure on any part of the body except for those four feet.

Checks the Udder & Teats

The vet will look at the cow's udder for signs of infection, swelling, and lumps. This can indicate a problem with one of the teats or the milk ducts. The vet also checks for mastitis - an infection in one or more quarters of an infected animal's udder.

Body Condition Score

Body condition scores are a way of measuring how healthy your cow is. They look at things like her weight, height, and body condition.

Body condition scores are important because they can help you figure out if a cow needs more or less feed or not or if there may be an underlying medical condition.

Ultrasound

When a vet performs an ultrasound, they can use the machine to determine the placenta's health, locate cystic corpus luteum (CCL), check each fetus's pregnancy status, and more. The first thing a vet does when using ultrasound is to take measurements of your cow's heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. These are important indicators that help them identify if there may be any problems happening inside your animal's body right now.

Next up: checking on the babies! The vet will use an ultrasound probe on both sides of their abdomen while they're lying down to see how many fetuses they have growing inside them at once (and whether those fetuses are healthy).

Blood Samples

The veterinarian will take blood samples from various locations around the cow's body to collect important information about her overall health and how it might affect her milk production/quality.

As you can see, a lot goes into maintaining the health of a herd, and it's the top priority for dairy farmers. The veterinarian will take blood samples, examine almost their whole body, perform an ultrasound, and more. An annual checkup is crucial in keeping a herd healthy and productive.