“ Is he unreasoning ? ” I quizzed inquisitively . “I’m not sure . He might have gotten poked by a tall slice of grass , ” my husband serve from the driver ’s seat on one of the first stumble out to the lea to check the freshly turned - out cattle .
We somewhat randomly resile through the jolty part of a Flint Hills pasture in the former good afternoon . We carefully reckon the random bunches of Bos taurus , watch for any injuries or ill that might have pour down up since they were turned out a few twenty-four hour period earlier .
Mineral Matters
The pickup was loaded with multiple sacks of mineral , picked up from a local feed mill . We distributed this at the various mineral tributary stationed throughout the pastures .
We put out this mineral via a medicated provender made specifically for cattle on pasturage . It helps to advance good weight gain and keep the herd salubrious . Some of the constituent used in one peculiar blend of mineral provender include calcium , salt , magnesium , atomic number 19 , copper , cobalt , tincture of iodine , zinc and a variety of vitamins .
scan more : Minerals are important , but be thrifty when providing them to livestock .
Head Count
We check the cattle throughout the summertime , usually at least once a hebdomad . Sometimes it ’s a passably immediate trip-up out there ; other day it seems to take forever to get the right reckoning . Even if you ’re off by just a couple , that ’s reason enough to involve a drive through the whole ruck again and to research until you find the stray .
They might have been down in a draw by themselves or just tucked in the dark of another bullock .
When we in conclusion touch the correct count , we labour through again and await at each animal to see if anything out of situation catches the middle . To a less experienced person , the cows can all look the same . “ Yep , four legs and a derriere ! Looks great ! ”
But to the seasoned cattlemen in the motortruck , just a swarm in the eye , change in the gait , or strange look to the manure can raise a red flag .
While we are n’t going to discuss how to treat all of these ailments , we ’ll at least campaign through some of the most rough-cut ones we retrieve in our cattle out in the grazing land .
Eye Problems
you may sometimes tell that a tip has an eye outcome by their behavior . If they ’re blind or the eye really bothers them , they will sometimes go off by themselves , away from the eternal sleep of the ruck .
My brother - in - jurisprudence , Kordell Krispense , explained that the eye might cry and the bullock will broadly hold his head out and turn the injured middle upwards towards the sky . Sometimes he will even squinch .
If the optic has more of a cloudy look and is n’t weeping , it ’s by and large scar tissue from a past combat injury that you see .
conjunctivitis is another stipulation that can plague cattle . This bacterial infection of the center can be spread from cattle that already bear it to others in the ruck , often via fly sheet . While usually treatable , it can cause inflammation and , in some cases , even temporary or permanent blindness .
If one confidential information appear to be infected with conjunctivitis , deal it cursorily before it spreads to others in the ruck .
Read more : How to protect and treat kine against conjunctivitis .
Lameness or Limping
Depending on the severeness of the injury , limping can be one of the easiest thing to spot as you push back through the pasture . Some vitrine might be due to a tip approximative - housing with another lead and pulling a brawniness or staining himself . Other times it could staunch from understructure rot or an infection .
This will usually cause the foot ( and possibly leg ) to intumesce up . abuse on a hard rock can also cause issues , as well as go from standing on soft ground in a pen to concentrated land in the forage .
Scours (Diarrhea)
As my husband , Kolton , later explained , diarrheacan be triggered by a variety of things including :
We check the rearward ends of the cows as we push through to see if any manure looks strange , raising a red flag .
Thinness
At times you will come across a steer that wo n’t gain much exercising weight — if any . exercising weight loss is not a honorable augury when cattle are out on grass and suggest something is severely wrong with the beast .
If it ’s lame , injured or even just has a bad eye , the creature might not require to graze as much and will become thinner than the rest . inner dirt ball can also do thinness .
Sometimes cows might need a mineral supplement or just simply increased access to salutary pasture grass . Do n’t wait until kine become thin to take them off grass . If they ’re still out in the grass and starting to seem thinner , you waited too long .
When we go out to check cows , we also keep an oculus on a few other thing in the pasture , such as :
Checking in with your ruck often will ensure that you catch thing quickly and can get on top of any job before they turn into major catastrophe !
