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Cattle Health
Herd health and individual cattle health is important when raising cattle, because a producer needs to know what to do and how to treat a bovine that is sick or injured. There are many diseases and health concerns in the field of raising cattle, and they can be asked and answered here. Be sure to always consult your local licensed large animal veterinarian with concerns about your animals. Your vet is your best source of information.
525 Questions
You wash a calf when you want to. You always wash a calf when you are going to show her at a fair. But you can wash her any other time too.
Can cow feces and blood infect humans?
If it's from a perfectly healthy cow, no. If it's from a cow that has a zoonotic disease that can be spread through its blood and/or feces, then yes. But there is no recorded or known disease that is liable to cause such health problems for humans.
Why will a cow that is healthy lie down and not stand back up?
Cow comfort is a very important issue for dairy producers today. A 1996 study by the National Animal Health Monitoring System (For Collins, CO) reported the top 4 reasons given for culling cows were, in order:
reproductive problems, udder or mastitis problems, poor production and lameness and injury. Together, these factors accounted for over 90% of culling activity. Cows culled for the reasons listed other than poor production are considered revoluntary culls. When many or most cows leave a herd involuntarily, the potential for owners to generate a profit, improve their herds, and expand their operations is severely limited.
POOR STALL DESIGN is rivaled only by poor air quality as the major environmental culprit behind many of these problems. Environmental mastitis and teat injuries are definitely attributable to the condition of stalls. Lameness and injury can be directly caused by stall conditions, and may be an underlying cause of breeding and production problems if cows don'ts[sic] want to stand when in heat or at the bunk. Stalls must be clean, dry and comfortable!
OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE, is ensuring that cows have the opportunity to lie down and rise up easily in freestalls by providing lunge space. (When cows get up, their body forges ahead, so there needs to be more space for this action) Stall dimensions and placement of other stall features, such as the brisket board and neck rail, should be suited to the more productive animals that are being house[sic]. Espifications are readily available for mature Holstein cows and have also been developed for younger cattle, different breeds, and cows with special needs.
CHOICE BEDDING material and design of the stall are important considerations as well. The lying surface must have adequate cushion and should have fresh bedding added regularly to keep the stall clean and dry, and to prevent cows from injury, especially to their hocks. A simple stall bed made of a deep layer of sand is the preferred choice if clean sand can be obtained at a reasonable price and handling of sand-laden manure will not be a significant ordeal. A quality stall bed can be achieved using mattress materials where sand is not considered a viable option. Periodic maintenance of the stalls is important for long-term use.
Producers can achieve significant improvement in their freestalls by retrofitting current facilities or by incorporating proper designs into the construction of new barns. It pays to know what partition designs are appropriate for different circumstances. In new construction it is preferable to provide forward lunge space. In head-to-head stall arrangements, this can be accomplished by leaving the stall front completely open and utilizing shared lunge space. For stalls in other arrangements, especially in rows along the barn exterior, consider making the stalls longer (close to 8'-6").
CURB HEIGHT should be kept as short as possible without letting manure be deposited into the rear of stalls while cleaning alleys (depends on frequency of cleaning). If a mattress is used, the total step into the stall will usually be higher than the curb height. Allow for the incread[sic] (typically 4 inches) in all other vertical dimensions that are referenced from the top of the curb. The positions of the brisket board and the neck rail are both referenced from the curb. These two features and their proper placement are essential for encouraging cows to lie correctly in the stall.
Remember to consider cow comfort in your planning. Select freestall designs to minimize cow contact and that prioritize constuction that is firm, but flexible, over rigidly solid constuction. Do not pinch pennies in this regard if it means cow comfort will be compromised by an inferior design.
NOTE: IF INTEREST IN THESE STALL DESIGNS PLEASE GO TO:
http://dairy.osu.edu/bdnews/v001iss02.htm
Hope this helps. Even if you aren't raising dairy cows this is good information and it's a MUST to check the hocks of the cow and be sure there are no injuries to the legs, or problems with the teets.
Marcy
Yes, cows can get constipated, especially when they are sick. However, constipation is more common in calves than fully grown cows.
What effect can rust have on animals?
Well, rust is really iron that has been oxidized, remember. It doesn't really have much of an adverse effect on animals, but if it is consumed in a large piece, it could puncture a stomach or intestinal wall and cause serious infection.
What causes a cows hoof to rot?
Bacteria can enter a crack or wound in the animal's foot, be it in the hoof bone or the space between the hooves, and start to multiply, creating an infection. This infection can cause the hoof to "rot" if not treated with antibiotics and penicillin as soon as possible.
When do cattle get vaccinations?
Calves get vaccinations between 2 weeks and 8 weeks of age, and again when they're 6 to 8 months old, either before weaning (as pre-conditioning) or during weaning. Cows are usually vaccinated twice a year: once 3 weeks prior to calving, and again a few weeks after calving. Bulls are vaccinated usually once a year.
What virus causes foot and mouth disease in cattle?
It's caused by a virus. A rather highly contagious virus. It's not easily transmittable to humans, but if an outbreak occurred, it could be highly detrimental to the agriculture industry.
Is black leg in horses the same in cattle?
Blackleg is a bacteria causing spore that can infect some pastures. If the horse (or other cattle) ingests it or gets it in a wound, it can quickly become fatal. The animal can die in 48-72 hours of becoming infected. There are vaccinations available.
How long does it take cattle to recover from pneumonia?
If you fail to treat the calf it will keep coughing until it dies or recovers by itself, which could last weeks. If you treat the calf right away with the appropriate antibiotics, the cough should be gone in a few days.
Do cows go through complete metamorphosis?
No a cow grows and matures, metamorphosis is an abrubted change from two forms like tadpole to frog
E. coli, including the species that normally live in the intestines of cattle and cause severe illness in humans, is very susceptible to freezing, intense heat (hence why hamburgers should be cooked to 145 degrees F before being eaten), most detergents (ie, soap and water), extremes in pH (very acidic or very alkaline), drying out and irradiation. Most of these interventions, with the exception of alkaline application and irradiation) are used to reduce or eliminate E. coli on beef from cows slaughtered in the US.
Can cows transmit any diseases to horses if they are stabled next to each other?
No, cattle and cows are often kept together with no problems. If there where any risk of horses catching a disease from cattle than they would not enter horses in gaming classes with cattle (calf roping, team penning etc).
Can humans get mad cow disease?
People do not get Mad Cow Disease.
No human can get mad cow disease but humans can be infected by eating meat from a contaminated cow that has mad cow disease.
The disease in people that has been associated with humans is called variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) that is also a progressive fatal neurological disease.
What is the hemoglobin content in calf?
Haemoglobin is a substance on the red blood cells that is capable of carrying oxygen from the longs to other parts of the body.
What does a calf coughing mean?
It's possible they have a respiratory illness. Consult your veterinarian about this.
How do you know your cows are sick?
There are a number of was to tell, if the calf has a decrease in appetite, the hair looks dull instead of shiny, holding is head down, ears are down, the calf doesn't look alert, irregular breathing, irregular stool consistency (diarrhea), ears are cold and the nose can be cold and dry.
Hope this helps.
No, not all. They can see quite well, quite often better than humans can, and can often notice things much sooner or that are not obvious to us than we humans can.
Very few, if any, are born blind, but a fair few can become blind from maladies later in life, such maladies as cancer eye or untreated serious cases of pink-eye. IBR (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis) can also make cattle blind if not treated.
The possibility certainly isn't a remote one. Cows that lay down for days at a time due to injury or illness will first suffer from dehyrdation and starvation, second only via muscle deteroriation and consequential weakness in musculature and ligaments. Blood cannot flow to a cow's legs when they are bent up for too long, which may eventually cause the first stage of necrosis, or just a tingling/numbing sensation in the legs due to circulation being cut off and being unable to reach these extremities. But basically once a cow is down and can't get up, and even after attempts to try to get them back on their feet again that have failed, it is in the best interests of the cow to euthanize her rather than leave her die a slow, painful death.
How do you unconstipate a calf?
It is best to see your veterinarian about this. An enema may need to be done on the calves, as well as a change in diet that encourages high fibre feedstuffs, readily-accessible water, and use of suppository laxatives. Enema is only used in extreme situations, otherwise a high-fibre diet and a dose of laxative may help treat constipation.
When should you give cows shots?
It depends on what you need to vaccinate them for. Some calves get a Vitamin A shot a day or two after their born, then a few weeks later get their shots for 9-way Clostridia and Bang's disease and other illnesses, followed by a booster a few weeks later.
What shrubs are poisonous to cows?
One of the worst plants is "Ragwort". althouth it tastes bitter and generally horses wont eat it in the field, often bad farmers will quite happily make hay bales with dead ragwort inside. It is a very slow poison and damages kidneys etc. If enough is eaten by the time you notice your horse is ill, it is too late and the damage is done and the vet will have to put your horse down. If you see it growing in your field pull it out and burn it. Dont let it seed. Make sure you buy hay from a very reputable dealer and check the hay for dried ragwort first.
