Tag Archives: pet’s welfare

Maintaining your Livestock’s Health

Whether your livestock animals are pets, for show or are raised for sustenance, their maintaining their health is important. Some livestock veterinarians still provide home service. You may also be able to do some of the maintenance, such as vaccinating your animals, yourself.

Home Visiting Veterinarians

If you have a large farm with dozens of livestock animals, it isn’t exactly possible to take them all to the vet. For some herds, it can look like a convoy heading down the roadway. While the cost of going to the vet’s office may be less, transporting all of the animals there can make the process more expensive.

When a vet can come to your home or farm, it is considered to be a convenience service. Some may charge a trip fee. When there are bulk services provided, you may want to inquire about a discounted rate due to the volume.

DIY Vaccinations

Some farmers and livestock owners prefer to administer their own vaccinations. It is important to read the instructions on the label to ensure that you are providing the right dose in the right area on the animal. It may be more cost effective to administer vaccinations yourself.

There may be an advantage if your get horse vaccines at vet products direct when buying in bulk. Some discounts may be offered. Make sure to order only what you will actually need as vaccinations do have shelf lives.

When you are administering vaccines to your livestock yourself, it is important to keep a log of vaccination dates. If your livestock are assigned names, make sure the name corresponds with the vaccination name and date. Keeping the vaccine’s batch number in those records is also ideal. When numbers, brands or tags are used as identification, ensure that the number matches the entry in the log. Keeping this list in a computer is ideal because it can be saved and backed up. It is also a good idea to create a master list to print out every time vaccinations are needed.

Quarantining Ailing Livestock

If you notice that one, or a few, of your livestock has fallen ill – quarantining them is a good idea. If the ailment is communicable, the entire herd or group can also fall ill. Herd illness can be expensive to treat.

Once the animal is well again, it can return to its previous habitat. If you notice that symptoms are still present, keep the animal in quarantine until you haven’t noticed symptoms for 2-3 days. This helps maintain the health of the rest of your livestock.

When you own a number of livestock animals, it is a good idea to have a dedicated “safe area” where animals that are ill can be quarantined. This may also be used as a birthing area since it should be separate from the rest of the animals. It should also be constructed to be cleaner and allow less passage of germs and bacteria.

Healthy Diets and Proper Exercise

Just like humans, livestock also need a healthy diet and enough exercise. A well-balanced diet helps the immune system of the animal stay strong and able to fight of germs/bacteria itself. Exercise helps keeps the animal’s body strong and toned. It also helps the animal properly digest its diet.

Some livestock owners elect to make their own feed. This has advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages are using your own crops as components, controlling the ingredients and customizing diets for each animal. A disadvantage is not mixing the right amount of ingredients to provide ideal nutrition for the animal.

Closing Thoughts

When you are maintaining the health of your livestock with healthy diets and a proper vaccination schedule, it can reduce the risk of mass illness. If you are a farmer that raises livestock for human consumption, reducing the risk for potential infections and communicable illnesses is important. Some illnesses may render the meat of the animal unfit for mass public consumption.