About CATTLE
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| 2008-03-11 14:46:26 | Weaning and Worms |
| Intestinal worms and lungworms. Consider your calves as commencing their weaning from the very first time that they put their lips to soil or grass and take a few bites. That will start as soon as you allow it. From that time on, be it a few days or a few weeks they are taking in parasite larvae (cattle worms) off the pasture or the ground and that is the time you should start to take anti-parasite action...not once they have them badly and start contaminating their surroundings for themselves and those that come after them. Your aim is to have their grazing area as low as possible in parasite contamination. For myself, I start using an ivermectin (or a bendazole) worm drench in the milk while they are still suckling... (if they have access to pasture while on milk). I use that once per month until they are strong, robust and six months of age from the very first day that they get access to pasture or the soil. I still have trouble trusting the pour-ons but they are probably OK. As far as weaner feeding is concerned, there are many on the market but hay and straw or clean mature pasture is important from a very early age so that the fibre can stimulate the growth of the rumen. The more food you give an animal the faster it grows and the healthier it is. However, go easy on the grain and high carbohydrate (starchy) foods because you will cause trouble with ulcerated guts as well as bad feet. That applies to all species. Grass eaters do best on roughage of good quality. Good quality clover hay or lucerne is the best food you can give. |
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| 2008-03-11 14:45:49 | Pneumonia/bronchitis |
| Draughts, cold and dirty conditions as well as hammermill hay dust or mould off straw or hay may also cause lung irritations leading then to infections. A bad bout of diarrhoea may also end up allowing bacteria to lodge in the lungs or kidneys. Strong ammonia from old "overdue" bedding soaked in urine can irritate the lungs. Another very common cause of coughing calves is lungworm. Lungworm is very very common indeed and calves can suffer as early as three or four weeks of age if they have access to pasture. To prevent the dust off their feed causing bronchitis, all food should be moistened unless there is zero dust in it. (rare). A pneumonia really does need powerful drugs, antibiotics and one of the newer anti-inflammatories and often for a long time. They are very hard to return to vigorous health. Maybe never. | |
| 2008-08-23 20:52:02 | PINK EYE. CATTLE |
| Pink eye in cattle and sheep is now a major problem. Even now in winter when we didn't used to see it. In sheep it is not the same disease nor the same bacteria but it looks and behaves almost the same. The good news first...a vaccine has been developed for cattle pink eye and is now for sale at stock and station agents. It's called 'Piliguard..... but it's not a lot of use if you have the disease going through the mob already and I've not heard just how effective it is yet. It costs about $4.00 a dose and needs to be given before the worst time of usual spread, every year. Although the pack says only one dose before pink-eye time, I'd not be surprised if it worked better with two doses 6 weeks apart with the second dose just before the summer. At least in the first year. In cattle it seemed to get a lot worse in Tasmania about the time that a lot of young drought stock were coming from the mainland. They came from dusty places with a lot of flies, yarded together and fed with hay for days. All the things needed to make it spread like bushfire in a wind. Many were affected on arrival and raised the bacterial challenge to all other stock in Tasmania. Don't blame the mainlanders, after all we were the buyers and agisters taking advantage and allowing affected stock into Tasmania. This is important: If you had it last year you will get it again this year. (Sheep or cattle). In only three days, one or both eyes can go from slight watery discharge to total loss of the eye. Some don't go that fast or get that bad but some do. It is always in many more of your stock than you think it is. It is you who will provide the best conditions for spread. Any of the following will work to make it bad: Yarding and feeding, dusty. seedy feed, dusty paddocks, feeding fodder attractive to flies (eg vegies and vinegar flies). First sign is a watery eye and a bit of blinking, then often by the end of the day a patch of white opacity on the face of the eye then the whole eye goes white. There will probably be an ulcer on it if you looked closely because the bacteria that cause it use eyeball dissolving chemicals. That much can take as little as a day. The ulcer will often go right through and the eyeball will collapse. By the time you see the pink scar, often where once there was an eye (giving the disease its name) you've been asleep for at least a week. The eye is already healing with scar tissue and the animal is blind. Your 400 kg beast is now 350 kg because the severe pain stops grazing. Multiply that by the others affected and you have lost $1000.00 in a week for every ten animals affected. Treatment is better NOT done with the sprays sold for the purpose, Sprays are almost useless unless used several times a day. However they can change a slightly watering eye for the better and give the beast a better chance to overcome. Longer acting ointments containing cloxacillin are more effective especially if combined with a long acting shot of penicillin. If using cloxacillin ointment then penicillin is used but if using a tetracycline drug in the eye then a tetracycline injection is better...ie use the same drug in the eye as well as in the animal. Consider treating the whole mob if possible and certainly separating the affected ones, but not into yards because it will spread faster in confined conditions. Obviously feed lot operators have it difficult here and really should consider vaccine. The vaccine may leave a lump so watch where you put it. Badly affected ones which have a lot of scar tissue can be treated by the vet injecting under the eyelid with a combination of a long acting cortisone and tetracycline. That needs a proper facility (head bale) and a set of nose grips and a halter. I have taught a few operators to do it themselves but it's not all that easy without training. Eye patches also help the pain from bright light and are sold by some vets including us. |
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| 2008-03-11 14:42:22 | Diarrhoea (The scours or skits) |
| The next vital concept in new-born baby raising is to isolate, as far as possible, all mouths from all bums. Recycled faeces via any means at all will give them diarrhoea from bacteria (or coccidia), and in a very short period after that, from worms. All these diseases are quickly lethal in young stock. If they survive a severe bout of diarrhoea, coccidiosis, pneumonia or worms (even with treatment) then you may wish that they hadn't lived because they will be a long time looking good or ever doing well again. Recovered calves will use up a lot more feed to achieve the same weight, if they ever do. That separation of mouths from bums means faecal cleanliness akin to that of your own home (hopefully). The greatest cause of human survival (and over-population) has not been medical advances but sewerage. Forget medicines, doctors and hospitals...they don't even come close. Sewerage separated bums from mouths (provided you had good personal hygeine) and that is all that was needed to over-populate the world. Not sure if it was a bonus or not really. Such hygeine for your calves can be raised slats (from an old shearing shed) over a washable concrete base or simply moving their housing using clean straw bedding to a new site every few days and using clean straw bales as big building bricks for walls. Later, when the bales are getting a bit ratty they can then mulch your garden or fruit trees and it's already primed with nitrogen to speed its breakdown. (Peter Cundall would love it). That last simple cheap straw method is effective but the it must be airy while not too drafty. It was the way I raised calves and I used sloping old corrugated iron roofing to protect from rain (with big rocks on it). Cheap and you get to recycle all the housing into the vegie garden. Never raise calves in or near a wind funnelling situation because some buildings and trees convert the slightest breeze into a gale. The worst place (but so commonly used) is under a macrocarpa plantation that has had the bottom branches chewed out by stock. Nice place when the mercury is over 40 degrees but colder than an antarctic gale at any other time. Medicines and treatments It is a very good idea to put your newly purchased calves onto a tetracycline based milk additive to aid the reduction of faecal pathogens for the danger period until they are strong enough. This admittedly is the feeding of antibiotics to healthy (as yet) animals and is not thought highly of in some circles. I admit that I don't like feeding antibiotics to healthy stock in principle but it works and as long as we don't go beyond that one family of drug I do know it makes a very big difference in health and survival in and beyond the first ten days of stress adjustment. Especially so in colostrum suspect and saleyard purchased calves/lambs. However if you are very good at it and your calves have had good "beastings" then you may choose to avoid the routine stress antibiotics. Personally, I wouldn't. It is only available from veterinary surgeons and we dispense it to you after a discussion, provided that you are a bone-fide client of the practice. (That is you can't just ring up and have us mail it to you when we don't even know you and don't visit your place occasionally). At Forth Valley V.C. we purchase it in bulk and dispense it with professional advice plus this set of notes (and a dispensing fee). It's a lot cheaper than having your babies crash and burn but it is no substitute for good conditions, dryness and hygeine. Some people (and I agree with this) add an egg a day to each calf's milk, especially if it is milk formula (powder). The theory is that there are non-specific protective antibodies in the egg white which while not absorbed into the bloodstream after 12 hours, may still keep pathogen levels lower in the bowel, as does the continued feeding of colostrum. Eggs also have the rich source of fats in the yolk. I suspect that farmyard eggs from chooks scratching around in the dirt may be richer in protective antibodies than battery or shedded fowl, but I've not proven it. Besides, it sounds more wholesome. During the first two days of hand feeding on your place I think it is wise to weaken the milk or the formula down to about half strength. That may not be needed if you are using pooled colostrum, the best starter food of all. To weaken it I recommend that it be diluted with an electrolyte/glucose solution that can be purchased in bulk quite cheaply or made yourself. (See later). There are some expensive liquid or small packaged ones about but they aren't needed. I always add one egg per feed per calf for the first ten days and the soluble antibiotic as well (even if I am not all that easy with the antibiotic on principle). |
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| 2008-08-23 20:50:50 | Calf Raising. Patience and Hygiene |
| You cannot let just anyone feed and tend calves (read orphan lambs/goats/wildlife into much of this). The person must be of the right patient temperament and they must have a passion for cleanliness and detail. Wash your hands and boots before handling baby stock and going into the shed or shelter area and also when you leave. Never ever mix batches of calves of different ages or put young ones into an area that older ones have just vacated unless a total cleaning and disinfection has occurred. There are appropriate disinfectants and you do need correct advice as to which ones... but none of them work well in the presence of persistent organic matter. (Poo and dirt). After cleaning and disinfecting a liberal sprinkling of white slaked lime (Limil) left in place for a few days will help finish off. Cover, wash or broom it away before introducing more animals. If using straw bales then they must be fresh and new. Nothing kills/sets back new calves faster than being raised in the faecal organics (shit) of those that went before them...shed or paddock. I often see a person raise their first batch well and then think that they are good at it, only to have subsequent batches "crash" or do poorly. Despite the best laid plans, things will go wrong, especially with later batches of calves raised in the same areas as the first. |
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| 2008-12-07 13:32:49 | Calf Raising. Diarrhoea in hand raised Calves |
| Also read the article on this site "Buying and Raising calves" The most common cause of scours in our domestic farm animals (and many other diseases of the new born) is insufficient colostrum absorption in the first few hours of life. Even with timely colostrum it would be unusual if your hand raised calves didn't the scours sooner or later. However with enough colostrum and early enogh it will probably be a mild condition. There are a few common causes of diarrhoea in young animals. If you don't get a quick response to treatment below then get on the phone to your vet. There is a faeces test available now that may help diagnose the other more difficult to treat causes. With simple dietary scours (overfeeding usually) the first indication you often get (even before diarrhoea starts) is that the calf is a bit disinterested in its milk. It's not knocking you down to get at its food as per usual. At this point stop feeding milk while the calf is still strong and change to glucose/electrolyte mix in warm water. (Glucose and a mixture of at least three important salts, see below. You can buy it or you can make it. This glucose/electrolyte will starve the gut pathogens (germs) yet still giving some energy food. The electrolytes (salts) are needed to replace those lost in the diarrhoea making the animal weak. Most vets and stock and station agents carry a super expensive ready mix brand of them but all ingredients are at the supermarket too. The reason for the high cost is that the makers can't help putting in costly un-needed ingredients as extras. Home mix can be:... Glucodin (glucose powder)(also called dextrose) or glucose syrup; Bicarb soda (sodium bicarbonate) potassium chloride; (ie. "lite" salt vegie salt, K salt) sodium chloride (common salt) all in about equal amounts. Mix the dry powders very well or even better make it up from the 4 basic ingredients plus warm water each feeding. Keep them all dry and in sealed containers. Use a tablespoon of the 4 in 1 mix per litre of warm water ). If you've got glucose syrup and not powder put about an equal amount of it to the three salt mix. Don't get stressed over exactness. The glucose doesn't feed the gut bacteria in the lower gut (where they are causing the trouble) because it is absorbed very early in the intestine...from the stomach itself. Give this mix in place of milk for up to three days maximum but usually two is enough (4 feeds or more if dehydrated). This alone treatment may be sufficient and usually is. If the calf does not respond quickly (by next feed) or goes downhill over a short time then call us and we'll prescribe something else. The speed of "crash" depends on a few things... the potency of the "germ" involved, dehydration from the loss of body water, loss of electrolytes or the lack of enough colostrum or all. You really should NOT reach for the strong antibiotics at the first sign of a dietary overfeeding scour or you'll quickly find that none will work when you really need them as will the rest of the community including the human hospitals. However don't muck about if the calf is really depressed, call us or your usual vet. Assuming that the milk substitute (glucose/electrolyte) has worked then after three feeds gradually re-introduce milk back into the electrolyte solution over a couple of days until you are back to full strength. (quarter/half/three quarter/full strength). Some of the bagged calf feeds are very prone to cause dietary scours so if it happens again consider a change to another type or the purchase of milk or colostrum from a farmer. |
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| 2008-12-07 13:34:37 | Buying and Raising Calves (in higher numbers) |
| Also read the article on this site called "Diarrhoea in Hand Raised Calves". Our beef market is still strong, thanks to our overseas quarantine and the occasional media hype of mad cow disease which we don't appear to have here. Calves in a shed or penned situation are a refugee camp of new born babies in stress. If the conditions aren't perfect then heavy losses and suffering will occur. I guarantee failure, disease, poor growth, domestic arguments and many many lost $ if you don't follow this advice or similar. Calf raising has usually been done by the woman of the home or farm and I still think that works best. There are exceptions of course. Two of the best calf rearers I've ever seen are men...but the woman thing generally is true and the reasons are obvious...mothering instinct, patience, cleanliness, compassion and so on. Rule number one in all livestock raising enterprises (however small) is to plan and prepare. That includes reading, talking to others or a vet that has been in livestock and seen all the problems too many times, choosing a dry and draining site for raising them, fencing fully first and at the very last...carefully buying stock. Never go out and buy your stock and then work out how you are going to raise them, fence them or house them. That includes your fowls, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs and even your kids too. Your animal housing doesn't have to be expensive and can even be ridiculously cheap...see later. BUT hygeine, warmth with ventilation and comfort are the keys. If you can, it is best to buy calves that have come direct from a well run dairy farm where you know that they have had at least their first two days on the mother and are known to have strongly suckled her life-saving first milk. Some farmers "snatch" calves from mothers at birth and stomach tube them with a dose of colostrum from the colostrum vat. That might be OK if they stay on bulk colostrum but often the bulk storage of colostrum contains milk from cows that have had weaker stuff added also. That is because it's not only containing the first "beastings" (new colostrum) but also the rest of all the other cows' first few days of milk go into it too. Dairy farmers cannot send off the first few days of a cow's lactation to the factory so it is commonly used to raise calves. Therefore calves fed colostrum from this bulk source soon after birth may not get enough of the good strong stuff because it gets progressively weaker in antibodies after each milking, approximately halving in strength each time the cow is milked. It is also not a lot of use giving a calf colostrum after about 12 hours of age and expecting it to be as effective. The protective antibodies in the colostrum are not absorbed by the calves gut after about 12 hours of age and are therefore not life protective. Sure it's excellent food but not so protective. If you are able to raise your calves on whole milk or bulked colostrum they certainly will do better than on milk powder, but care and detail may make it very little different which you use. If you buy calves from the saleyard you run a very high risk of them "crashing" a few days after purchase because they have been yarded, trucked, cold, exposed to disease and faeces from all over the state, stressed and you have no idea of their colostrum status. However there are precautions that will help overcome that. See later. If no colostrum (or not enough)is absorbed in the first few hours of life in most of our domestic animals it is a certain death sentence unless detailed extra precautions are taken. When you bring calves home to raise keep remembering that you have just taken charge of a group of newborn babies and have put them in severe stress and into a very un-natural disease promoting state. This state of stress persists for several days during which they are in danger. If they do well and don't get diarrhoea or pneumonia for the first three weeks... well, you will probably succeed with that batch. Calves on a cow feed about every hour or less. We assume you won't be doing this but probably three times a day for seven days then twice for a month then only once as you commence weaning. Weaning can commence as early as a month if you have very good food to change to. I used to put the weaner food (crumbles) in the bottom of the bucket that I fed from. Today most feed from teats attached to a multi feeder so you can't do that. Which reminds me... the modern teats are valves which need detailed cleaning after each feed. |
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