Your neighbour’s cow has recovered from felon, but now has angle berries on her dug. He wouldn’t mind, but last year she nearly died from murns when she grazed the inch field. Thankfully, she didn’t lose her calf, but even he is a bit of pyne.
Your neighbour’s cow has recovered from felon, but now has angle berries on her dug.
He wouldn’t mind, but last year she nearly died from murns when she grazed the inch field. Thankfully, she didn’t lose her calf, but even he is a bit of pyne.
Hands up who knows what the neighbour is talking about?
The colloquial terms for veterinary conditions in some counties are a mystery to outsiders, but Armagh vet Austin Donnelly is determined to make note of as many as he can.
Austin Donnelly and one of his equine clients, Missy the pony, in Tasmania, Australia.
“There’s such a variation in terms for different ailments, depending on what county or region you are in,” he told Irish Country Living.
A cow’s udder, for example, can be called her bag, her dug or her elder, depending on where she lives. Farming clients of his in Navan, Co Meath, would describe a cow with a damaged teat as having “a bad spin”.
A misfortunate ewe with a cervical prolapse is said to have her “reed out” in some counties, her “loo out” in Longford, or her “bearing out” in Wexford, while in Kerry she would be said to have “red ball”. The bovine equivalent is having her calf bed out.
The colloquial term for a cow in heat could be that she “has the rambles”, “is looking away”, “gone to dairy”, but most will comment that she is “bulling”.
The end result of that could be that you would have the vet out to “dip” her – that is to pregnancy test her.
In many parts of Ulster, Austin says, if your cow had a red, hot and swollen udder, you might call your vet and ask them to come and treat her felon, for this is the local term for mastitis.
“In counties Donegal or Tyrone, you might be reporting that the cow has a case of weed, but in Leinster and Munster she would have start,” he explains.
“In the counties closer to Dublin she would have blast. In Co Galway, the poor cow would be said to be blown or blown-up. In Co Tipperary, she’d have cruds and in Cork she would have gargot.”
The tick-borne blood disease babesiosis also has many names, Donnelly says.
Austin Donnelly with his debut book, "Whiskers, Feathers & Fur: Veterinary Tales".
“While red water is actually the most common name for this condition throughout Ireland, it’s interchangeable with murrain,” he explains.
“In Connacht, they say red murrain or blood murrain. In Co Tipperary it’s murns, while in Ulster it’s murll, merle or mure.”
Having graduated from UCD as a vet in 2009, Austin has spent the past 11 years working in veterinary practices across Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
His travels have seen him compile a personal dictionary of colloquial vet terms, but he has also recorded his adventures in a book called Whiskers, Feathers & Fur: Veterinary Tales.
Fans of James Herriot will appreciate his warm, descriptive stories and he even earned praise from Temple Grandin, the legendary author and speaker on animal behaviour.
Getting back to the neighbour’s cow – she has recovered from mastitis, but now has warts on her udder. She nearly died from babesiosis and her calf is a poor do-er.
If you’ve got some local veterinary terms and colloquial names to add to Austin’s record, get in touch with Irish Country Living. The best entries will win a copy of Whiskers, Feathers & Fur: Veterinary Tales.
Diarrhoea
Skitter – widespread.Flux – Dublin and Kildare.Gut murrl – Tyrone.Bovine keratoconjunctivitis
Pink eye – widespread.Forest disease – mid-Ulster.Pearl eye – Co Galway.One eye cold – Leinster. Ringworm
Tethers or tetters – Co Laois and Co Offaly.
Scruff – Co Dublin.Scurvy – Co Galway.Poc – Co Tipperary. Grass tetany
(magnesium deficiency)
The staggers – widespread.The starts – Westmeath.Warts
Angle berries – widespread.Strawberry foot – Co Galway. Read more
Reader writes: the Abbey at Holy Cross
A Week in the Country
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