Farmers Review Africa July/Aug 2017 Farmers Review Africa July/Aug 2017 | Page 76

Livestock
Four key steps in treating cattle
Beef producers deal with infectious
conditions throughout the year. Challenges
such as respiratory disease, scours, foot-rot
and pinkeye keep you hopping with
preventive tactics. When that fails, it's time
to pull the sick ones and treat them.
If you have calves hitting the ground this
spring, scours will be the next big health
challenge. e people responsible for
nding and treating sick cattle at your place
probably have varying skill and experience
levels.
Regardless of the disease or the caretaker's
experience, the keys to successful treatment
are the same:
·
Identify sick cattle early in the
disease process.
·
Correctly identify the disease and
causative agent.
·
Administer appropriate therapy.
July - August 2017
·
Monitor sick cattle to continue
therapy in a timely manner if
needed.
If you evaluate cattle for illness, you are
either consciously or subconsciously
picking out signs of a disease. ese signs
make up your “case de nition.”
Writing down a case de nition for a disease
is a way of teaching others with less
experience. If the de nition accurately
represents your criteria for selecting sick
cattle, then it is also valuable for “adjusting
your dial” if the results suggest you are
treating too many cattle or getting to them
too late.
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REVIEW AFRICA
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