• Question: what would be the illnesses that you would try to detect?

    Asked by Rory@skerriescc to Cathal on 17 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Cathal Ryan

      Cathal Ryan answered on 17 Nov 2020:

      Mastitis. It is a disease that infects the udders of a cow when they come under stress

Comments

  • Photo: Rory@skerriescc

    Rory@skerriescc commented on :

    oh, that’s interesting, why are cows stressed and how can farmers stop it? Also, what happens when cows get mastitis? Does the milk become undrinkable or does it cause an infection or something? Do cows normally get stressed in packed, tight buildings or can it come from something sadder, like the loss of young?

  • Photo: Cathal

    Cathal commented on :

    They can become stressed around the time they give birth same as when a mother would get stressed, also if the farm isnt kept clean they can become stressed as it becomes harder for them on a day to day basis. The milk starts to turn yellow and there might also be small bits of blood in the milk due to the white blood cells trying to keep away the infections. Yes when the milk becomes infected it has to be thrown away and cant be given to humans for a certain amount of days, normally a week or so after it was found. Yep they can also get stressed if they are in too tight a space, which is why irish farms do so well because they are normally given large fields to walk and eat from.