08/21/2008 02:03PM
Cow Calf: The Importance Of The Breeding Soundness Exam
Cattle producers should seriously consider getting a breeding soundness exam (BSE). Before you jump to conclusions, let me explain! The examination is conducted on bulls prior to the breeding season to assess their reliability and capability
01/19/2008 06:25AM
Despite our best efforts, a few calves will be born via a long, hard delivery. They may be sluggish or weak at birth and slow to find the cow and nurse. These calves are more prone to scours or pneumonia as babies and "poor-doers" later in life.
Resistance to disease is greatly dependent on antibodies
09/11/2007 10:37AM
Beef Management: Castration
Improving marketability, preventing males from breeding, reducing aggression and improving meat quality are just a few of the reasons producers incorporate castration into their operations. Often cattlemen discuss the premium they receive from selling steers rather than
03/28/2007 09:39AM
The key to correcting the problem of abortions is to identify the cause, so abortions can be prevented in the future. However, the success rate for accurate bovine abortion diagnosis is only in the range of 25 to 35 per cent.
Abortions often result from some incident that occurred weeks to months
02/09/2007 04:00PM
As the spring calving season gets underway, it can be quite valuable to understand the physiological process of parturition or delivery of the calf. The process called parturition or “calving” is generally divided into three stages.
Stage 1
The first stage of parturition is dilation of the
02/09/2007 03:56PM
Do you know where your OB chains are? Are there good batteries in your flashlight? Many Oklahoma cow operators are either starting their calving season or soon will be. A little time spent in preparation now can save a lot of frustration later.
Start by doing a walk through of your
02/06/2007 03:02PM
Prolapses in cattle are a dirty problem that can be a real health frustration for beef cattle producers. Uncared for or improperly treated they can result in significant economic losses.
Prolapses are the result of tissues that normally are a tube inside the body turning inside out and bulging
02/05/2007 06:14PM
What is a prolapse?A prolapse is defined as: the falling down or slipping of a body part from its usual position. Vaginal or cervical prolapses are two types that occur in beef cows. The complete uterine prolapse is most common at calving. This is when the uterus is completely expelled out behind the
01/26/2007 05:50PM
Calves born after a difficult birth are at a high risk of failing to receive adequate colostrum by natural suckling because of greatly decreased colostrum intake. Calves that are born to a prolonged stage II of parturition very often suffer from severe respiratory acidosis. Stage II is defined