Herd Health

It’s that time again – when summer fun hits the neighborhood, unless your neighborhood is an operation with cattle herds suffering symptoms of heat stress.

“They don’t need that eye to eat,” is a common misconception when it comes to the impacts of pinkeye in the cattle industry. Research shows calves that are diagnosed with pinkeye will weigh between 20 to 40 pounds less at weaning than healthy calves, and a blind calf will weigh about 60 pounds less at weaning. This loss of weaning weight, in addition to the cost of treatment and labor, adds up to an estimated cost to the cattle industry of $150 million annually.

Sometimes it’s the small details that are the most important; take vaccine storage and handling for example. Just a slight misstep and the vaccine you’re relying on to protect your herd could be rendered useless. As branding season approaches and producers start to consider calfhood and pre-breeding vaccinations, it’s worthwhile to refresh your memory on proper vaccine management.

Ticks continually rob profits from beef cattle producers in several ways. Economic losses include reduced weight gain, diminished reproductive efficiency, increased costs for disease treatment and hide damage.

Most people think of damage as a tornado blowing through or a wildfire spreading across acres of land. Others imagine a wrecking ball tearing down an old building. For people in Texas, damage can be depicted by a group of wild pigs, a thought far more threatening than you would think.

A 10 percent calf crop – just the thought can make even the toughest rancher cringe. Although it sounds like a nightmare or a poorly managed cow herd, it’s actually what some Western ranchers are battling due to a tick-transmitted disease commonly referred to as “foothill abortion” or epizootic bovine abortion.