Grooming and Brushing — More Than Looks

Brushing a cow looks like vanity until you have done it for a month and noticed what you found: the tick in the ear you would not have seen, the small cut on the hock before it filled with maggots, the first lump of LSD, the lice on the neck in January. Grooming is a daily examination that the animal enjoys.

What it does

• Finds trouble early. Hands and brush go over every part of the body every day; nothing new goes unnoticed.
• Removes dirt, loose hair and parasites. Dried dung on the flanks is where flies lay and where the udder gets dirty at lying down.
• Improves the coat and skin. Blood flow to the skin improves and the coat sheds properly in spring.
• Calms the animal. A cow handled gently every day stands quietly for milking, for the vet and for the inseminator. Nervous cows let down less milk.
• Keeps milk cleaner. A groomed cow sheds less hair and dust into the bucket.

How

A stiff fibre or plastic brush, five minutes, in the direction of the hair, starting at the neck and working back. Hands over the legs, under the belly, around the udder and tail head, and inside the ears. Rub, do not scrub, over bony points. In winter brush the long coat right down to the skin; in summer a quick pass daily.

What to look for as you go

Ticks (ears, under the tail, between the legs), lice and their eggs (neck, tail head), wounds, swellings, warts, bald patches, scabs, sore feet, a quarter that feels different, a change in how she stands. Anything new gets a closer look or the vet's opinion.

Calves and young stock

Handle them daily from birth: it makes a calm cow in two years and a calf that is easy to treat when it is sick.

The feed connection

A dull, staring coat that brushing cannot improve is telling you about the ration, not the brush — protein, minerals or worms. A cow on a balanced compound feed with daily mineral mixture carries a coat that shines after grooming; one on straw and bran does not. Use the brush as the test.