Please share this opportunity with your local middle school administrators, counselors, science teachers and youth groups. Vet Set Go together with Merck Animal Health and VCA Animal Hospitals is inviting rising sixth, seventh and eighth grade students to enter the sixth annual Vet Set Go Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest 2022. The online essay contest will award three … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – February 24, 2022
Last week’s most read post Customers speak with their wallets; beef producers can’t ignore the results. Link. Last week’s AHD Bulletin Animal Health Digest Bulletin, Thursday, February 17, 2022. Link. =========================== UK’s veterinary workforce crisis deepens; registrants drop by over two-thirds Source: British Veterinary Association, … [Read more...]
Get ready for calving
If everything goes right, very little is needed to support cows as they calve. However, its’s rare to have every calf born without any intervention. Miranda Reiman shares what is needed in a calving toolbox and other preparations to help cattle producers be ready for everything that might happen. Source: Angus Beef Bulletin, February 2002, page 6. Link. INSIGHTS: This is … [Read more...]
Simple trick for keeping cattle calm
To reduce chute stress and increase worker safety, blindfolding cattle, horses and wildlife is a time proven, humane way to calm a restrained animal. Blindfolding may help avoid sedative use and the potential risks associated with them. The blindfolded animal is calmer and this strategy is also more humane than many other types of restraint. We know a blindfold works for other … [Read more...]
Tear down the walls
Highlighting facts that as many as half of U.S. pets won’t visit a veterinary practice this year, Bob Lester, DVM, says the veterinary profession risks becoming a service available only to wealthy animal owners. He shares a list of 15 current or near-future models that would help more families and their animals benefit from veterinary care. A spectrum of care approach might … [Read more...]
Alert! Highly pathogenic avian influenza now identified in 13 states and counting
Opinion It can be hard to know how to react to disease incidence reports. Animal health pros tendency to to ignore reports until we see a disease is a concern, yet HPAI continues to show up in poultry and non-poultry birds. The next HPAI incident may literally fly over your location today . . . the time to ACT* is NOW!” – Kirk Augustine In Maine, a new case reported was … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – February 17, 2022
Last week’s most read post Emotions – make them work for you. Link. Last week’s AHD Bulletin Animal Health Digest Bulletin, Thursday, February 10, 2022. Link. =========================== Dog breeds that shed the most Source: Puppies and Pooches, February 10, 2022. Link. Prospective dog owners not prepared for the constant vacuuming and brushing … [Read more...]
Customers speak with their wallets; beef producers can’t ignore the results
Speaking at the recent National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Cattle Industry Convention, Randy Blach, CattleFax CEO, shared how value-added programs paying high premiums have boosted beef demand and spread wealth throughout the industry. Driven by premiums and value-added programs, CattleFax forecasts show strong price growth for calves, feeder calves, fed cattle and bred cows … [Read more...]
New direction in digital dermatitis treatment in dairy cattle
Research published in the Veterinary Record provides a clear welfare justification for giving NSAIDs to dairy cows with active digital dermatitis lesions, with significant milk yield benefits. The study suggests that the use of Ketofen in the treatment of pain and lameness associated with active digital dermatitis lesions may be beneficial for animal welfare as it is associated … [Read more...]
Best young farmers in America
The National Outstanding Young Farmers program has named winners for 2022 and 2021. Eight farming families were named for each year. Their farming profiles show the individual and collective diversification required for farming success. Take a look at the winners and other finalists listed. You may find one of your customers. Source: National Hog Farmer, February 15, … [Read more...]
What’s killing the chickens?
Wildlife predators are keeping close to dens in February as they anticipate new litters in March and April. Backyard poultry locations and pet food bowls left outside are easy targets for sustained nutrition during gestation and after litters are born. Gail Damerow shares ways to examine where, how and when a bird turns up dead or missing. Missing eggs are often an early … [Read more...]
Anti-mink farming bill should concern poultry, confined animal production industry
OPINION It’s easy to forget about mink production, especially if you live in a region where mink have never been raised, writes Roy Graber. The fact that a provision that would outlaw commercial mink farms in the U.S. made it into a larger legislative bill should be concerning to anyone involved in animal agriculture, he says. Animal agriculture has been under intense … [Read more...]
A coronavirus variant once helped the global pork industry. Could one protect us?
In 1946 veterinary researchers at Purdue University reported that something invading the guts of young pigs was causing diarrhea, vomiting and weight loss, ultimately killing most of them. The culprit was a coronavirus we know as transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV). TGEV has never harmed a human, and its relationship to SARS-CoV-2, the driver of COVID-19, is … [Read more...]
Urban wildlife and SARS-CoV-2 variants
Scott Weese, DVM, has kept information and perspective on SARS-CoV-2 updated and fresh over the past two years. He writes, “While control of the pandemic at this stage is pretty much still solely dependent on addressing human-to-human transmission, as things slowly get more controlled in people, other sources of infection and other sources of variants become more relevant. The … [Read more...]
Forage study: legumes in beef cattle bring MANY benefits
H.A.(Bart) Lardner, PhD, shares preliminary findings from his ongoing forage study evaluating plant production, nutritive value, animal growth and performance, soil nutrient profiles, water dynamics and more. Source: The Cattle Site, January 27, 2022. Link. We’ve put in a grass species with a legume species, and we feel legumes are really the solution to the long-term needs … [Read more...]
Knowing open cows more important than knowing pregnant ones
The most important controllable component of any breeding program is to identify your open cows, says Donna Amaral-Phillips, PhD. The faster open cows are identified, the sooner they can be rebred. Lost pregnancies are not just frustrating. They often cause long-term financial impacts. The more cows with extended days open, the greater the total cost.” - Donna Amaral-Phillips, … [Read more...]
Goals for first lactation dairy cows
We’ve shared considerable calving information in recent weeks. Healthy calves grow to be healthy cows. Rudimentary? Yes, but often unspoken. Calves and heifers that grow well and become productive cows is a target for every dairy farm. Mike Van Amburgh, PhD, shared some growth targets for dairy replacements, writes Abby Bauer. These include doubling a calf’s bodyweight … [Read more...]
What to do when activists arrive
Anthropomorphic characteristics continue to define how humans see animals. With this comes more activism targeted at current stewardship methods, regardless of how much improvement has been made in pain management, care, housing, handling and euthanasia methods. Animal health professionals need to be prepared for animal activist encounters. If you encounter an activist on … [Read more...]
All about bees
The veterinary feed directive put bees prominently into the mix of animals veterinarians must consider with specific products. We’re sharing a link to the special edition of Successful Farming that features six articles about bees and beekeeping. They are good resources to learn more about beekeeping from crops to insemination to mead wine made from honey. Source: Successful … [Read more...]
Americans projected to eat 1.42 billion chicken wings for Super Bowl
Need we say it? Animal health practices make wings safer than the quarterbacks will be winging the ball downfield at Super Bowl LVI. 😉 “Demand for chicken wings has been through the roof since the beginning of the pandemic. A shift from sit-down restaurants to takeout and quick service has boosted chicken wing consumption,” explains Tom Super, NCC. Source: Feedstuffs, … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – February 10, 2022
Last week’s most read post Catching up or just back to normal? Link. Last week’s AHD Bulletin Animal Health Digest Bulletin, Thursday, February 3, 2022. Link. =========================== It’s coyote mating season, and in my neighborhood that means trouble Source: Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2022. Link. The reign of terror in my Northridge neighborhood … [Read more...]
Breeding pint-sized Herefords
We thought this was a fun and interesting departure from most cattle articles we reference. Cow size is often a subject cattlemen discuss. Size is important in mini-Hereford breeding, as well. The origin of the miniature Hereford is the original English Hereford, which is a horned breed. Bred to hold the size to about two-thirds of traditional Hereford stock, the minis could … [Read more...]
New study examines social behaviors of dairy calves
This article adds to the recent post on calves referencing articles in the Bovine Veterinarian. Link. A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) examines young dairy calves’ motivation to seek companionship from other calves. The study results indicate that young calves are motivated for full social contact . . .“ Source: The … [Read more...]
Raising emus and emus as pets (video)
Sharing her experiences with raising emus, Alexandra Douglas found that emus make the best pets when they are young. Emus are very dangerous if you do not understand them, she says. Male birds are friendlier at least until breeding season. Emus are sociable creatures, they like water and do best with at least one other emu in their flock. Source: Backyard Poultry, February … [Read more...]
Wild pigs, a ticking time bomb on U.S. pork industry
Feral hogs pose a serious threat to the health of the U.S. pork industry specifically if African swine fever were to infect and spread in wild herds. There is no vaccine nor cure and the disease has a long track record of crossing international borders and wiping out billions of pigs. Source: PORK, June 29, 2021. Link. Wild pigs have exploded in numbers across the U.S., … [Read more...]
A pig’s role in human health
Xenotransplantation is the term for transplanting living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another, and the practice was first tried in the 1980s. Early in January 2022, as a last-ditch effort to save David Bennett’s life, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a pig’s heart into him. Bennett, a 57-year-old man, was not eligible for a … [Read more...]
All about calves
Complimentary Commercial Content In our review of this January’s Bovine Veterinarian, Rhonda Brooks shares calf content was 60 percent of the top-read content. This parallels our experiences with AHD content. For the first time, we’re not cherry picking specific articles but providing the link to the full online issue. We continue to see new developments of optimizing … [Read more...]
It’s time to cull “cull cows” from our vocabulary
Cull cow weight and cull cow price have long been top factors in herd profitability. Making the decision to remove a cow from the herd is not always an easy one. Determining when the cow leaves and how is equally important. Contrary to what many believe, dairy cattle contribute much more to the beef industry than just ground beef. Changing the vocabulary from cull cow to … [Read more...]
APHIS reports more wild birds with avian flu
Following our January 18 post <Link>, APHIS confirmed two additional cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild migratory birds in the coastal Southeast. High path bird flu can spread rapidly and wipe out a flock so poultry raisers are urged to review and enhance their safeguards against the viral disease. Source: Successful Farming, January 19, 2022. … [Read more...]
Bullvine’s Top 10 editors’ choice articles of 2021
The battle of sires, genetics and clones is complemented by a review of dairy consolidation. Of particular interest was article number 10, How milk producers can breed problem free dairy cows. No doubt dairy veterinary teams and company representatives will be hearing about some of these forward-looking concepts. Source: The Bullvine, January 21, 2022. Link. … [Read more...]