Thankfully it happens rarely on farm when a blood vessel is severed releasing or pumping red blood around the farm. Common ones are sliced teats in cows, to dehorning injuries, to shear grab injuries to name a few.

Apart from the obvious for farmers to keep shear gabs down and remove sharp edges from crushes and around housing accidents can happen and the gush of blood can send the rush of blood to the farmers head and panic sets in.

My advice when an animal gets injured don’t rush in for two reasons. Firstly an injured animal can lash out unpredictably and secondly your first move with any wound is an important one. Your instinct will always be to apply pressure to stop bleeding. With bad wounds make a call to your vet and then restrain the animal first. Cows have 8 gallons of blood so you have certainly minutes to spare.

When an animal is suitably restrained then you need to apply deep pressure to anything bleeding. If it’s on an appendage like a teat you could look at a temporary ligature to stop the flow of blood. I always said something like a clean bed sheet works because you can pack it into a wound and apply pressure. Cotton wool soaked in iodine and silage tape can make a good combination also.

Safety first

With cows lifting a back leg allows access to the udder and also stops kicking if working in other areas while getting on tourniquets or pressure bandages. Your vet for bad bleeders will have local and stitching equipment to do more permanent stitching up.

Cows with severed teats require immediate stitching and pretty intensive after care as a lot of wounds can break down after surgery.

For minor wounds if you have stopped the bleeding then the wound can be assessed by your vet to see if it needs a stitch. I always told clients to flush less severe wounds with salty water, apply blue antibiotic spray, fly pouron around the woun and monitor carefully.

Any wounds around the udder, head joints and limbs are always worth getting your vet too. Most wounds were there is deeper tissue damage done will require antibiotic cover for a few days to prevent infection. Where limbs or soft sensitive tissue like the udder is involved always administer pain killers to begin with as well.