Cattle health
Dr. Dan Thomson shares essential tips for injections, needle selection and syringe maintenance to ensure herd health and carcass quality.
Although mastitis, an infection of the udder, is often considered a dairy cow problem, the disease may also impact beef producers. Here’s what you need to know and look for and how to help protect your herd.
A number of causes and contributing factors can result in hair loss and itching, and last year’s drought has played a role as harvested forages may be low in vitamin A.
At cow culling time, producers often face some tough decisions. Optimum culling of the herd often seems to require a sharp crystal ball that could see into the future.
Crop protein content ties for lowest in decades on bad weather.
A blue-green algae outbreak in an Oregon reservoir has killed 32 cattle.
Starting calves can be as much art as science, which explains why some stocker operators and feedlots have more success than others.
A pair of bulls in Montana have tested positive for brucellosis.
The fear of bovine tuberculosis spreading has deer hunters dealing with strict inspections in Indiana.
Small steps on the farm can yield big differences at sale time.
Fetal programming is generally considered the impact of nutritional and health status of the mother during pregnancy and its impact on the health and productivity of the offspring.
On very rare occasions violative residues of pharmaceutical products have been found in carcass tissues of cull beef cows.
A good immune system protects cattle again disease-causing pathogens.
The last thing producers want to hear at pregnancy check time, is the call of “Open!” from their veterinarian. It is often assumed that open females failed to conceive; however, fertilization rates in beef cattle typically range between 90-100%. Nonetheless, only around 70% of fertilizations result in conception.
Price premiums are growing for preconditioned calves in every region.
It’s all about increasing calf performance and capturing a premium.
More than half a century after its discovery, bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) still wages war on cattle health and producers’ livelihoods.
Monday is the early bird deadline to register for Drovers Cow-Calf Cowboy College at a reduced rate.
Researchers say Montana elk are to blame for an animal disease spreading into new areas around Yellowstone National Park.
Genomic analysis shows elk serve as self-sustaining brucellosis reservoir.
Cattle feeders and veterinarians should keep an eye out for E. coli O165:H25, an enterohemorrhagic strain that can cause disease in cattle and potentially poses a food-safety hazard for humans.
Correct administration of any injection is a critical control point in beef production and animal health.
It’s not rocket science—controlling parasites is critical to herd health.
French officials found a suspected case of mad-cow disease in the northern Ardennes region, raising concerns that Europe’s biggest producer could lose access to export markets.
Beef cattle research faculty from Kansas State University and Texas Tech University will embark on a feedlot cattle production and health research program to provide beef industry outreach.
Grass tetany, also known as grass staggers, magnesium tetany, hypomagnesemia, and wheat pasture poisoning, is a nutritional disorder caused by either 1) an inadequate amount of dietary Mg, or, 2) other mineral related factor that is preventing (antagonizing) dietary Mg from being properly absorbed or utilized.
Severe winter conditions are commonplace in many geographical areas where beef is produced and this can lead to some less than desirable calving conditions.
Veterinarians today have access to better vaccines, better treatments and generally better overall cattle management than in the past, and yet the prevalence of feedyard death loss continues to run higher than just a few years ago.
Public access to nearly 2,500 acres of the Cimarron National Grassland has been halted after seven cattle were found dead last year.
The first few days an animal spends in a feedlot are critical to their health and overall performance through the feeding period.
As calving season looms in the not so distant future, the first things that come to my mind is considering plans for pre-calving vaccination of pregnant cows, and thinking about controlling calf scours.
If foot and mouth disease (FMD) were to break out in the United States, the disruption to our cattle industry would be significant, especially if the disease is not quickly identified and confined to a small area.