Husbandry

With skyrocketing horsekeeping costs, the number of abandoned and neglected horses is on the rise in the U.S. Slaughter plant closures and a booming horse population have also contributed to more unwanted horses in the United States, according to panelists at Montana State University’s fourth annual equine conference. 

Some horse owners owners are dealing with hard times by abandoning their horses on federal land. Others are selling their horses at auctions, and the animals end up being slaughtered in Mexico or Canada.

Sandy Gagnon, panel moderator and MSU Extension Horse Specialist, said the rising cost of transportation, energy, feed and hay is making it harder for people to care for their horses. Hay costs between $300 and $500 on the East Coast, he said.

Les Graham, executive secretary of the Montana Auction Yards, recommended that horse owners be educated in all phases of horse care. They should not only learn about pastures, vaccinations and nutrition, but about the eventual disposal of their horses, even if those deaths are 30 years away. “If someone buys horses, they need to learn what’s involved.”

Source: MSU News Service

Beekeepers surveyed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Apiary Inspectors of America report a total loss of about 36.1 percent of their honey bee colonies from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) during the winter of 2007-08, up about 13.5 percent from the previous winter.

The combined survey, which was conducted by telephone interview, checked on nearly 19 percent of the country’s 2.44 million colonies.

The cause or causes of CCD is still being investigated by ARS. Details are available in the May/June issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Source: Agricultural Research Service, USDA

The addition of vitamin E to cattle’s feed appears to reduce the problem of off-color or off-flavor in steaks cut from beef cattle fed a diet heavy in wet distillers grains, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) researchers

Wet distillers grains are an economical cattle feed in areas with a steady corn supply, but UNL researchers have found that these ethanol and corn-processing byproducts increase the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids — PUFAs — in beef. And that leads to faster oxidation.

The quicker oxidation doesn’t seem to matter with vacuum-sealed beef, but meat repackaged onto foam trays, covered in plastic wrap and set out in grocery store displays turns brown quickly and can develop off flavors..

“It’s hard to describe off-flavor. There was a different flavor in some steaks that some panelists didn’t like — usually when vitamin E was not included in the diet,” said UNL meat scientist Chris Calkins of the reaction of tasters in the research.

“We simulated retail display, so additional work is needed to measure the color and flavor changes under actual retail conditions. Some popular cuts of beef are likely sold before color and flavor differences would occur.”

Tenderloins and flat-iron cuts were most susceptible to the discoloration and off flavors. Ribeyes seemed more resistant to the oxidation.

The higher percentage of wet distillers grains fed to beef, the greater the impact. The livestock tested were fed a diet consisting of up to 30 percent of distillers grains on a dry matter basis. “Not everyone is feeding that much distillers grains in the diet, which may be low enough to minimize color and flavor issues,” Calkins said.

The solution to the problem is to add vitamin E to beef cattle’s diets during their finishing phase. “It suppresses or controls that oxidation,” Calkins said.

The vitamin E must be added to the feed to get it into the membranes where some of the PUFAs gather; simply injecting it into meat wouldn’t be expected to work.

Calkins said his research next will attempt to determine how much vitamin E must be added to the feed to be effective.

Source: University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Confused about your dog’s vaccinations? You are not alone. Many pet owners are uncertain about what vaccines are necessary, advisable or discretionary.

Dr. Arnon Gal of the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, Illinois explains that vaccines fall into three categories: core, non-core, and those that are not recommended due to lack of efficacy or fear of harming the animal.

Who decides what vaccines are core and non-core?  That responsibility rests in the hands of the Canine Vaccine Task Force, which meets each year to review research and data from all over the country to develop the best vaccination protocol.

A core vaccine means that it has been decided that this shot is very important to the health of your dog, and that if the animal is not vaccinated, there is a good chance it will become seriously ill.

“Parvovirus, distemper, adenovirus, and, of course, rabies which is required by law,” Dr. Gal points out. The first three items on this list are usually combined into one vaccine so the animal does not have to receive four different shots at one time.

In many cases, these vaccines will last three years.  However, your veterinarian may recommend a different schedule for one reason or another.

The second category of vaccines, called non-core “usually depend upon where the dog lives and whether or not it is in an endemic area,” says Dr. Gal.  He gives the example of an animal living in an area known to harbor leptospirosis, like Urbana, Illinois.  This bacteria is spread in urine and can be zoonotic; this means the other animal in your house, the one-year-old human kind crawling on the floor, can contract the disease as well.

Many of the non-core vaccines do not last as long as the core vaccines, so they may need to be boostered every six months to a year.

In short, there is no cookie-cutter recommendation for dog vaccines.  Other than making sure your animal has received the core ones, it is up to your veterinarian to determine what additional shots should be given.

“Every vaccine has potential side effects,” Dr. Gal points out, but reported incidents of adverse reactions suggest the risk is quite small.

Source: Dr. Arnon Gal
University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

Please, Don’t Go!

That’s what dogs with separation anxiety are saying when they notice their owners grabbing car keys and heading for the door. This behavior disorder, which is often confused with other behavior problems linked with too little exercise or under socialization, is one of the biggest problems behaviorists see today.

“The most obvious feature of separation anxiety is that stress-related behaviors are shown only when the caretaker is not present,” says animal behaviorist Linda P. Case of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

Dogs with separation anxiety are very attached to their owners, and upon their departure become extremely stressed. They may begin to bark, pace, vomit, or exhibit destructive chewing.

Case explains that dogs with separation anxiety notice our “pre-departure cues,” such as grabbing a purse or putting on shoes. At this point, the animal becomes anxious and upset.

Case recommends desensitizing your dog to departure, which means not habitually performing the same activities before leaving. The other more important and timely task is to teach the animal to sit-stay and then leave it alone for a few minutes and reinforce calm behavior. Once the dog can sit contently for a few minutes, increase the time it is left alone while you are out of view until a reward is given. Any type of punishment only increases anxiety levels and makes the problem worse.

“Dogs that experience a regular and consistent level of exercise, training, and attention tend to have lower anxiety levels,” notes Case.

Source: Linda P. Case, MS

Flies in poultry houses are more than a mere nuisance. They can also spread food poisoning bacteria like Salmonella enteritidis to chickens and their eggs.

Agricultural Research Service scientists have found that the common housefly, Musca domestica, readily picks up bacteria from its surroundings. When the chickens eat the flies, the bacteria get inside the birds.

In three experiments, researchers placed chickens in individual, adjacent laying cages. Fly pupae were introduced just 48 hours short of hatching as flies, ensuring that the flies were not exposed to any microbe prior to emergence. The fly pupae were placed in an open box in the bird room. Three days later, hens were orally infected with Salmonella.

The researchers detected the bacteria in and on 45 to 50 percent of the flies within the first 48 hours of the flies’ hatching.

Next, uninfected hens were exposed to the newly infected flies. Just being around the flies didn’t cause healthy birds to become infected, but eating infected flies did. This showed that simple physical contact may not be the primary method of transfer of Salmonella bacteria to different surfaces in a poultry house. But, according to the researchers, a hen’s eating of contaminated flies does seem to be the primary mechanism of transmission of Salmonella from flies to birds.

Source:  ARS News Service, Agricultural Research Service

Dairy producers need to be cautious about how they respond to current feed costs challenges, according to University of Illinois Extension dairy specialist Mike Hutjens.

Decisions that appear on the surface to make sense may make things worse, such as removing feed additives because they add to feed costs; dropping expensive fuzzy cottonseed; adding five pounds of straw to the ration to reduce forage levels; dropping hay from the ration; or simply assuming that the answer to high feed costs is to lower them.

Because of current milk prices and milk component values, it is a mistake to sacrifice milk production. By reducing feed intake by one pound of dry matter, for instance, you may save 10 cents but lose 36 to 40 cents a day in milk income.

A similar situation can apply to yeast/yeast culture additives. Research indicates that yeast/yeast culture products have a benefit to cost return of 5:1.

If the yeast product costs six cents, it can result in 30 cents return due to higher feed intake during the transition period, higher milk yield, improved rumen environment, and/or less metabolic problems.

While fuzzy cottonseed emerges as too expensive when put through breakeven prices software programs, it does provide other important factors that can’t be measured by computers. These include functional fiber, slower release of unsaturated oil, and complementing high corn-silage based rations.

If too much straw is added to reduce forage levels, it will reduce total dry matter intake, reducing nutrient levels and milk yield. Before adding straw, evaluate the current ration levels and what the straw will add.

Generally, add one-half pound of straw to the ration and monitor cow response–milk yield, milk components, and manure score–for one to two weeks. If the response is favorable, consider adding another half-pound of straw. But adding over two pounds of straw may be too high for your enterprise.

Even though high hay prices are a tempting factor to trigger cutting its use, Hutjens noted that it also can improve rumen digestion and microbial growth.

Adding five pounds of high-quality hay could increase milk yield by three to five pounds. If milk is worth 18 cents a pound, each pound of hay is worth 11 to 18 cents a pound or $220 to $360 a ton.

Also, be sure to monitor milk price and feed cost changes as these two factors continue to shift due to spring planting intentions and consumer dairy product demand.
Source: Bob Sampson, University of Illinois College
of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Dog owners are bombarded by countless brands — Purina, Hills, Eukanuba, Iams, and the list continues. How do owners decide between lamb and rice, prime cuts in gravy, or all natural? What about a $7 generic feed, or a premium brand for $20?

All complete foods marketed for dogs must meet the minimal AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) requirements, which should satisfy the needs of most pets, according to University of Illinois veterinary nutritionist Dr. Kelly Swanson.

Every pet food on the shelf at the grocery store should be adequate for the average, healthy dog.

The difference in food pricing, however, can be drastic. Dr. Swanson explains that “in general the higher the price, the greater the digestibility of the food, so the less the animal will need to be taken out for bathroom breaks.” For a Pekinese living on the 15th floor of a New York City high rise, it is convenient to feed the animal a more expensive, highly digestible diet. On the other hand, a farm dog that is free to roam hundreds of acres probably won’t mind being fed a less expensive, less digestible feed. Either way, both feeds should meet the dog’s nutrient requirements.

Although pet foods are highly regulated by federal and state laws, labels such as premium, super premium, or gourmet are not regulated. Don’t be fooled by the hype; legally speaking they mean nothing.

In short, feeding any name brand dog food should keep your pooch happy and healthy. Despite the recent large-scale recall in pet foods contaminated with melamine (a toxic product used to increase protein levels), the biggest issue in companion animal nutrition is not regulation–it’s obesity.

Dr. Swanson mentions that owners should use the feeding guide on the back of the bag as a general recommendation, not a rule set in stone. Although the package may suggest feeding your dog two cups per day, it may need much less — especially if its main occupation is resident coach potato or kitchen floor vacuum cleaner. Owners should feed according to their pet’s exercise habits and current body condition.

With the majority of dogs in the U.S. overweight, most animals need a run around the park much more than that bag of gourmet dog food.

Source: University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine

Living with Sheep: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Flock
by Chuck Wooster
Lyons Press, 2007

Here’s a welcome beginner’s guide to raising sheep — a friendly, unpretentious and down-home guide to breeds, feeds, fences and fleeces.

Unlike other texts that deal with specific aspects of ovines, this one goes for the big picture: what sheep are like, why you should want to raise them, where they live, what they eat, and what accommodations you’ll have to make to husband them effectively.

“Buying lambs in the spring, raising them on grass for the summer, and slaughtering them in the fall is by far the best place to start if you’re getting into shepherding for the first time,” author Chuck Wooster advises. But to really get to know sheep, or to be “fully fleeced” as he puts it, requires a full-time, year-round commitment.

The eleven chapters of this book, ranging from choosing a flock to butchering for meat, are directed primarily to owners of a year-round breeding flock. But since the details of sheep husbandry are pretty much the same, part-timers will find pertinent advice for their situations as well.

“Regardless of which approach you decide to take, my strongest piece of advice is to buy your sheep from a friend or neighbor whom you know and trust. Reading books is great — especially, and hopefully, this book. But book learning will only get you so far, and there is no substitute for having an experienced eye look things over from time to time and help you sort out the worrisome from the normal,” he explains.

The book’s appendixes include a chronology for a typical shepherd’s year, a ewe gestation table, a directory of tools and resources, and lists of breed associations and cooperative extension offices.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conditionally approved a new system for feedlot manure management.

In the new system, designed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, runoff containing manure solids enters temporary storage basins at the base of a sloped feedlot. The basin is large enough to hold runoff for several hours to allow the solid waste to settle to the bottom. The remaining liquid is then drained through distribution tubes that provide even dispersal over a grassy field or “vegetative treatment area” (VTA).

Distribution of the liquid is controlled so that a full basin would empty in 6 to 8 hours, though the process begins as soon as the liquid separates from the solids in the basin. In the fall, solids are removed from the basin and used as fertilizer on adjacent cropland.

The VTA system has many benefits. It requires minimal management, significantly reduces waste storage time, eliminates the need for costly runoff pumping, and removes standing water.

This manure-disposal technology could also be applied to other livestock. The system should be less expensive to construct and maintain than the traditional system, though the cost and suitability would vary with topography, climate and animal type.

Source:  Agricultural Research