Cattle Health

Yes, but it is not acceptable for dairy cattle.

She could be bloated, or have some other form of stomach upset that is causing her not to eat. In all honesty, the possibilities are endless, even more so when you do not provide any symptoms of her "illness" besides her not eating. Pretty well any illness can cause a cow to go off feed, so more symptom description would help. But please see your vet about this soon, as it could be very serious.

Hopefully never. You should never give a cow rabies, if you can help it.

You might have a swollen ear after a cold because you have an ear infection. You might also have swollen lymph nodes that make the ear appear swollen.

None. If there was a certain forage that will make a calf sick, it wouldn't be called forage, but rather a weed or simply a plant. Forage, by definition, is herbage that is grown and harvested for livestock to eat.

However, it is the anti-quality factors that are present in some forages that can make a calf sick. Alfalfa and clover, for instance, contain high protein and low fibre contents that can make a calf bloat. Tall fescue contains endophyte fungus that can cause Fescue Toxicity. Forages that are subject to sudden freezing or heat can develop nitrates causing Nitrate Toxicity. But the most common anti-quality factor to watch out for in calves is bloat.

Euphorbia species are one type of weed that will do this. You may also be referring to jimson weed. This weed contains the active ingredient atropine, a muscarinic antagonist. In high doses, atropine will cause hot, dry skin, urine retention, dry mouth, increased heart rate, capillary dilation (and therefore flushing of the skin), and blurry vision in humans. If cattle did eat it, there is a good chance that they could lose their vision as well.

That all depends on what she ate or what you fed her. Perhaps you gave her some poison and caused her to die suddenly, or she ate a poisonous plant. She could've also had a bout of acute acidosis that caused her to go down suddenly. It could be anything, so you should see the vet to have a necropsy done on her to get a cause of death.

Prohibit the use of animal by-products in animal feed used for ruminant animals, and encourage testing of the brain and spinal column prior to processing of slaughter. Some plants just throw out the spinal cord and brain all together.

Crusty material around the eye of any animal is generally caused by an accumulation of exudate (wet material, could be tears or inflammatory), dust and dead cells. A small amount of crust is considered normal, particularly for certain breeds. An excessive amount of crusting could be due to infection (such as pink eye) or other eye disease.

Some symptoms include lack of coordination, trouble walking or standing, weight lossand decreased milk production.

No. Sustain III Calf Boluses are for calves over 1 month only, not horses. Such boluses would be ineffective for horses because they are not made for horses, and you would have to give a lot (say, around 24 bolus pills to a 1200 pound horse) to even try to make it work. Even then, there's a risk of your horse getting sick if you don't give it the right medication intended for the right species of animal. Sustain III Calf boluses have not been tested on horses, and have been proven ineffective for non-ruminating calves under a month old.

doesn't a cow require lutalyse and dexamethasone to induce labor?

One word: Nitrates. Nitrate poisoning will be the main reason cattle may die while eating corn "grass" or corn plants. Nitrate poisoning is a big problem when you get sudden frost or any sudden change in temperature that affects the nitrate contencentration in a corn plant.

There's not much you can do, really. Reaching for the apple may just push it farther down its throat. You would be best to get your veterinarian as soon as possible to see what can be done to save the animal.

None. No salt licks, mineral blocks, medicated feed or any of that sort have ephedrine in them. This is a myth that has been tested and busted by various scientists that have tried to extract ephedrine from various animal-feed and chicken litter sources. Please see the related question below for more info.

Plants, no. However they can be contaminated through irrigation. Cattle: very unlikely, as they tend to be less affected by this disease than other livestock like sheep and pigs. However calves and adults with a weak immune system will become sick with bovine toxoplasmosis. Such animals (including other livestock infected with this parasitic disease) become carriers and can affect humans if humans eat raw or undercooked meat that contains these parasitic cysts in the meat itself.

Because it will spread rapidly among animals causing suffering!

It does spread rapidly and cause varying levels of suffering depending on the age and species of the animal effected. However my Farm Welfare lecture told my class last year that having FMD in a population of livestock makes the animals worthless as no one will want to buy them. While a vaccine could be used to inoculate the population it is impossible, when screening animals, to tell the difference between vaccinated animals and those which have survived FMD or have contracted the disease and are no yet showing symptoms. Thus the only way to make the livestock population profitable is to cull any animals with the disease, although it is not always fatal.

BSE is an interesting disease from a medical standpoint because of the causative agent, prions (pronounced pree-ons). A prion is an infectious protein that is similar to a virus, but not a typical virus. Unlike viruses, prions aren't alive, so they can't be killed with the usual disinfectants. The body does not mount a typical viral immune attack against prions, either. Prion proteins can be denatured, but only at extremely high temperatures or with very strong chemicals, either way, not consistent with animal life so these are not treatment options. Diseases caused by prions are referred to as TSEs -- Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.

Are you referring to problems as in structural problems or injuries? And are you referring to the structural defect called "cow hocked" and think that it is wrong to say such a thing because of the over-generalization of the word "cow"? If you are having structural problems in your herd with the hocks (which I assume to be the case), be they post-legged (hocks are too straight), or cow-hocked (hocks have too much angle), you are best to start making a list of who needs to be culled. Cattle with bad legs (and feet) are those that will break down the fastest because they cannot walk long distances well with bad legs. Bad hocks can cause spinal injury, hoof injury, and even leg strain if too much stress and strain is put on the legs - like a daily mile-long walk to and from the water station back out to pasture. Bulls cannot mount properly if they have bad legs, and cows start having lameness and back issues when bred repeatedly.

If your bull has bad hocks, get rid of him immediately. Also get rid of any of his daughters you've kept from him. Any cows that have bad hocks and other conformational issues should also be on the short-list. Cull those that are decreasing value to your herd, and keep those that are going to help improve it. But the bull is priority: if he's structurally unsound, no matter if it's just his legs or any other conformational issue, he will do the exact opposite of improving your herd--he will RUIN it. Buy a bull that is worth the money and is going to IMPROVE your herd. Keep that bull's daughters (if they are worth keeping) for replacements, if you wish to do so, so that you can get rid of your short-listed cows in three to five years.

Check out the following links on conformation. The more information you have on good, proper conformation, the more you will know who and what to cull from your herd.

Actually, its primarily one type of mineral that they need: Phosphorus. Phosphorus can be supplemented in a loose mineral mix from some sources including dicalcium phosphate, deflourinated phosphate, bone meal, soft phosphate, sodium phosphate, ammonium poliphosphate, orthophosphates, metaphosphates, pyrophosphates, and tripolyphosphate. Oilseed meals and animal and fish products contain large amounts of phosphorous. Grains, grain-by-products and high-protein supplements are fairly high in phosphorus thus rations that are high in these type of ingredients require little to no phosphorus supplementation.

If it's a lot, she may have a compacted gut which will require surgery to remove. However, if it's only a little bit, she will be okay, as the wire (or string?) will be digested from the acidic gastric juices that are excreted in the digestive tract.

Bloat can be treated by tubing her (putting a thick hollow plastic tube down her esophagus) with mineral oil or dish detergent, or if she's severely bloated, by poking a trocar into her bloated side (the left side) to quickly let out the gas. Make sure she's restrained properly before you try any of these treatments on her yourself.

But the best method of treatment is prevention. Depending on what type of forage is in her pasture (legumes versus quick-growing grass), the best method of prevention is to feed her roughage during the time she's out on pasture. Also, do not let her out on pasture when she's really hungry. A bloat-block should also be kept available to her at all times too, though not letting her out when she's hungry and letting her have access to hay will help more than anything as well.

It is believed to be so, yes, according to a commonly-held belief. However, more studies need to be done to confirm if pyracantha or Firethorn is indeed poisonous to livestock or if it's merely a myth that has been passed down through the ages.

Joint ill is commonly a secondary problem to a primary illness like Septicemia. This is where a gut or naval infection can occur, and can spread to the calf's joints or internal organs. Broad-spectrum antibiotics (like LA-200) are the best to treat a calf with joint ill.

Only if the cow gorges on it, little amounts can be very beneficial. As legumes (clover, alfalfa etc) can in fact improve the animals intake, providing the animal with a higher feed efficiency and a better use of the nitrogen content found in legumes.

View the following related link to learn more about Legume feeding.