Tag: cattle
The importance of proper animal handling
Estimated reading time: 5 minutesAnimal handling involves techniques used by a handler to understand and respond to the inherent behaviour of livestock. These techniques...
Keep your calf crop healthy by banishing brucellosis
Estimated reading time: 4 minutesIt is completely normal to have one or two animals that abort in a herd. However, when more than...
Nodular worm: One of the most damaging parasites in sheep
Estimated reading time: 4 minutesThe nodular worm (Oesophagostomum spp) (Afrikaans = knoppieswurm) is a parasitic roundworm. The adults occur in the caecum and colon,...
Anaplasmosis: A tickborne disease to be reckoned with
Estimated reading time: 4 minutesAnaplasmosis, or gallsickness, can wreak havoc in cattle herds. Despite the possible underreporting of gallsickness cases, the annual average mortality...
Mineral supplementation for ruminants
Estimated reading time: 4 minutesThis article provides a brief overview of a very important but complex subject. The aim is to give the ruminant...
Focus on hoof care (Part 5): Vertical fissures
Estimated reading time: 4 minutesIn last’s month’s article I focussed on horizontal fissures in dairy and beef cattle. There is a difference between...
Focus on hoof care (Part 4): Horizontal fissures
In the first three articles in this hoof care series, I discussed the role that management and the environment plays in claw problems, as well as...
An on-farm feedlot setup: The basics
A well-designed feedlot handling facility where animals can be safely kept and controlled, usually makes use of several different structures as well as equipment....
Focus on hoof care (Part 2): Genetics and conformation
Estimated reading time: 5 minutesIn part 1 of this series, I explained why we often see cattle with long claws and I touched on...
Rotational grazing for animal productivity
The term ‘rotational grazing’ is very often misinterpreted and has become closely aligned with a very rigid system where decisions based on actual veld...
