Cow drooling excessively
A lot of cattle owners ask us why do cows drool so much. For starters, you should know that the average cow produces around 40 gallons of saliva a day. While most of this gets digested back into the body, there is still plenty that comes put through the cow’s mouth and sometimes nose.
Why do cows drool?
The reason cow’s drool and produce so much saliva is to control the alkaline levels in their stomach and to help ease their digestion tract.
What does it mean when a cow drools?
Most of the time… nothing: It is very normal for cows to drool a lot, and as long as the cow is behaving normally and has no other physical signs of injury or disease, the cow is probably healthy.
Teething: Teething is the process when a cow loses its baby teeth and they are replaced with permanent teeth. This can start as early as 16 months and continue until the cow is 5 years old. Teething can often cause your cow to drool a lot.
Wooden tongue: While this disease is not very common among cows, it does cause excessive drooling. Wooden tounge refers to when bacteria from your cow’s digestive system works its way up to the mouth through a wound or a sore. A common sign of wooden tongue in cattle is swelling of the throat and your cow will likely hang its tongue out of its mouth.
Rabies: This is also very uncommon in cows, but it is an important thing to consider. Rabies does cause excess drooling and sometimes foaming out the mouth. Cows with rabies typically display abnormal behavior such as aggressiveness or lethargy. Rabies can also affect your cow’s eating habits. If you suspect your cow has rabies, you should call a vet immediately in order to prevent its spread to other farm animals.
Cow drooling not eating
If your cow is drooling and not eating, this could signify a big problem. The most common reasons why a cow is drooling and not eating is mouth lesions, they ate something toxic, and pneumonia. If your cow is excessively drooling and hasn’t eaten in a day or two, you should call a vet immediately.
If your cow will not eat its regular food, you should offer them a treat. You can learn more in my article on what can you give a cow for a treat?
Ways to help a drooling cow
As drooling can cause dehydration, we recommend using a microfiber cleaning cloth to wipe your cow’s mouth when it is full of drool.
There is a possibility your cow is drooling a lot because of the hot weather, or because it is not getting enough water to drink. Always remember that it is essential provide multiple buckets of drinking waters for your cows, and make sure they drink after they eat in order to properly digest their food. If the weather is very hot, we recommend cooling the water before giving it to your cow. You can easily do this by putting ice into the water beforehand. This will help keep your cow’s body temperature regulated.