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Herd health programs support healthy cattle markets
Cow-calf producers have embraced management strategies that make their livestock a better value to the rest of the U.S. beef cattle industry, but Bovine Respiratory Disease continues to be an area where improvement is needed. “Better BRD control is going to require an industry-wide effort that fo...Read more -
Have colostrum supplies on hand at start of calving season
Cow-calf operators who have not already stored several doses of colostrum or colostrum replacer should do so before the start of spring-calving season, said Barry Whitworth, Oklahoma State University Extension veterinarian and food animal quality and health specialist. “Calves born after a diffic...Read more -
Biosecurity Considerations when Transitioning Newly Purchased Cattle into the Herd
The objective is to avoid new diseases introduced through replacement stock and airborne diseases. Typically, new animals are quarantined for at least 30 days and more typically for 60 days before being introduced into the herd. If on-site, the isolation area should be of some distance and downwi...Read more -
Annual Cow Costs – The Big Three
When looking at annual cow costs and doing an economic analysis, three categories tend to make up the largest percentage of total costs: feed, labor/equipment and cow depreciation. Other expenses occur, such as breeding expense and veterinary costs, but they tend to be significantly less than the...Read more -
A backwards calf will need assistance at birth
Cow-calf producers should review how to help their livestock through a difficult calving beforehand, said Oklahoma State University experts. Most calves are born headfirst with their front feet extended, but a few are positioned backward and might not survive without help. “A cow that is in early...Read more -
Useful Tips for Combating Livestock Parasites
The livestock industry as a critical sub-sector of agriculture contributes to the livelihoods of human population in various ways such as income generation, food production and provision of employment. High local demands for livestock products such as meat mean that these animals have to be healt...Read more -
Rabbit Meat Healthy and Flavoursome
Meat – animal flesh/ tissue – has been a part of human diet for thousands of years and it is an excellent source of essential amino-acids, proteins, B vitamins, minerals, among others. As one such diet, Rabbit meat is an all-white meat product, rich in protein and low in fat, sodium, and choleste...Read more -
Piglet Anaemia Causes and Prevention
Piglet Anaemia also known as Iron Deficient Anaemia is a hypochromic-microcytic anaemia generally associated with young, rapidly growing piglets deprived of iron in their diet or from their environment. Piglet Anaemia also known as Iron Deficient Anaemia is a hypochromic-microcytic anaemia genera...Read more -
Nursing a Newborn Calf – A Step by Step Guide
The care given to a calf within its first 24 hours of life is essential as well as mandatory, as it determines the status of the animal for the rest of its life. A calf not adequately cared for in the first 24 hours of birth is susceptible to diseases or might remain weak and become an under-perf...Read more -
NIGERIA’S UNDERGROUND LIVESTOCK TRADE IS THRIVING ON FACEBOOK
Poultry farming has become so lucrative that many young people have ditched their city jobs — once a key marker of social mobility — to raise and sell chickens full-time For the past few weeks, Essein Harmony Paul, a 48-year-old farmer from Ibadan, Nigeria, has been messaging me to ask if I want ...Read more -
Nigeria Govt Begins Pilot Implementation of Livestock Transformation Plan in Nasarawa
Following a €400,000 funding support from the Netherlands, the federal government has commenced talks with the Nasarawa State government for the kick-off of the pilot implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP). The plan, which includes the establishment of grazing reserve...Read more -
Grooming Ethiopia’s Livestock Industry for Export
The conditions for a vibrant and competitive livestock industry abound in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, a young rural workforce, and close ties to one of the world’s largest meat markets, the Middle East. The Government of Ethiopia is aware of the livest...Read more -
Gestation in Ewes – Nutrition and Health Management
Ewes are female sheep which are usually kept for the purpose of breeding or reproduction. While gestating, ewes undergo a number of physiological changes upon conception and the state of their health and nutrition largely determine their successful lambing. Good nutrition is essential for a healt...Read more -
Exploring the Art of Poultry Processing
Poultry production has become a big business throughout the world. It is a highly competitive industry and feed suppliers, producers, processors, manufacturers of equipment have all appreciated the economies of scale. By so doing, they have gone on to develop bigger and more automated systems of ...Read more -
Novel Vaccine Technologies in Veterinary Medicine: A Herald to Human Medicine Vaccines
Citation: The success of inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines has enhanced livestock productivity, promoted food security, and attenuated the morbidity and mortality of several human, animal, and zoonotic diseases. However, these traditional vaccine technologies are not without fault. The eff...Read more -
Decline in Egg Production – The Causative Factors
As productive as poultry farming is, there are cases where production rates drop drastically, owing to certain factors. In the production of eggs, this situation is often referred to as ‘Egg Drop’ – a steep decline in the production of egg or the failure to achieve the usual peak in egg productio...Read more -
CBPP in Cattle Symptoms and Prevention
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a disease caused by Mycoplasma mycoides. It attacks the lungs and membranes that line the thoracic cavity (the pleura) causing fever, labored or rapid respiration, cough, and nasal discharges. Cattle, both Bos taurus and Bos indicus, are the main hosts ...Read more -
All you need to know about rearing Rabbits!
Domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a descendant of the wild rabbit belonging to the family leporidae. Rabbits are herbivores animal with high feed conversion ratio. Under effective production system, rabbits can convert about 20 percent of feed (protein) consumed into edible meat. In orde...Read more -
African Swine Fever All You Need to Know About the Dreaded Virus
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic pigs, caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family The disease which affects pigs of any age can result in a high mortality rate and is responsible for the recent production and economic losses in so...Read more -
8 Breeds of Dairy Goats You Should Know
Dairy goats are the breeds of goats that produce a good amount of milk during their lactating season. There are numerous milk-producing goats available around the world. Goat milk is very healthy and nutritious. In fact, most people nowadays prefer to have one or a few milker goats for their dail...Read more -
Unravelling how animal diseases impact human health, wellbeing
A new research program has been launched to identify the individuals and communities most impacted by endemic and emerging diseases. Animal health leaders and researchers from the Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) programme have secured US$7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Founda...Read more -
The Meatmaster locally developed for low input costs
In the late 1980s, a number of sheep farmers in different parts of South Africa began to see the need, both nationally and globally, for an adaptable, economically viable mutton breed that could produce on the veld with minimum care and low input costs. After much discussion, it was decided to fo...Read more -
Spotting cows from space
Cows don’t seem to have a whole lot going on most of the time. They’re raised to spend their days grazing in the field, raised for the purpose of providing milk or meat, or producing more cows. So when students in UC Santa Barbara ecologist Doug McCauley’s lab found themselves s...Read more -
Predicting the next pandemic virus is harder than we think
The observation that most of the viruses that cause human disease come from other animals has led some researchers to attempt “zoonotic risk prediction” to second-guess the next virus to hit us. However, in an Essay publishing April 20th in the open access journal PLOS Biology, led by...Read more
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