Milk Fever in Cows: Signs, First Aid and Prevention

Milk fever is a sudden drop in blood calcium that usually hits a cow within 24 to 72 hours of calving. Farmers call it दूध का बुखार, although the cow rarely has a fever. Her temperature is often below normal. Without quick treatment a cow that goes down can die within hours, so every dairy farmer should know the signs.

Why it happens

When a cow starts making colostrum, she moves a large amount of calcium into the udder almost overnight. The first milkings can take several times more calcium than is in her whole bloodstream. Her body has to pull calcium from her bones and her feed, and that system needs a few days to speed up. If it is too slow, blood calcium falls, the muscles stop working and the cow cannot stand.

Which animals are at risk

• Cows in their third calving or later. First-calf heifers rarely get it.
• High-yielding cows, and Jersey and HF crossbreds.
• Cows that had milk fever at an earlier calving.
• Cows that became fat during the dry period.
• Cows fed a lot of calcium or potassium in the last three weeks before calving, for example heavy berseem or lucerne, or extra calcium tonics.

Buffaloes can get it too, often with milder early signs.

The three stages

Stage 1: still standing

The cow is restless or nervous, trembles, stops eating, and walks stiffly or sways on her back legs. This stage can be short and is easy to miss at night.

Stage 2: down on her chest

She sits on her chest and cannot get up. She often turns her head into her flank, so the neck forms an S shape. Her ears feel cold, her muzzle is dry, her eyes look dull and she stops passing dung.

Stage 3: flat on her side

She lies flat, becomes unconscious and the stomach swells with gas. This is an emergency. Death can follow within a few hours.

What to do while the vet comes

1. Call your veterinarian at once. A cow that is down needs calcium given into the vein by a vet. Given too fast, it can stop the heart, which is why it should not be done by guesswork.
2. Keep her sitting on her chest, propped with straw bales or sacks. A cow lying flat can bloat and choke.
3. Do not pour water, oil or medicine down the throat of a cow that cannot swallow properly. The liquid can go into her lungs.
4. Give her shade, dry bedding and keep the calf and other animals away.

Some cows go down again a day or two after treatment, so your vet may advise oral calcium for the next one to two days.

The hidden form: low calcium in a standing cow

Many cows have low calcium after calving without ever going down. These cows are more likely to have a retained placenta, a slow return to heat, mastitis and a slow start in milk. That is why calcium support at calving matters even for cows that look healthy.

How to prevent milk fever

In the last three weeks before calving

• Do not overload calcium. Extra calcium in the late dry period makes the cow’s body lazy at releasing its own calcium, and raises the risk. Ask your vet or feed adviser about limiting heavy legume fodder such as berseem and lucerne in this period.
• Keep the cow in good condition, not fat.
• Large farms can use a special dry-cow ration with anionic salts. This needs a nutritionist and regular urine pH checks.

At calving and just after

• Give an oral calcium gel to cows at risk around calving, then a second dose within the next 6 to 12 hours. Calcia Gel is an ionic calcium gel made for this moment. Follow the dose on the pack.
• Continue with liquid calcium in the first weeks of milk, such as Calsia Forte, as your vet advises.
• Watch high-risk cows closely for the first three days, including at night.

Oral calcium is a support, not a cure. A cow that is already down needs the vet.

Quick checklist

• Note which cows are in their third calving or later, or had milk fever before.
• No extra calcium tonics in the last three weeks before calving.
• Oral calcium gel ready before the calving date.
• Vet’s number saved and checked.

This guide is general information for farmers and dairy owners. Blackmango products are animal feed supplements, not medicines. For a sick animal, call your veterinarian.