Health care advice

sanhestar

You mentioned Johne’s.:(:mad: I think when you look at a calf for an ox it should be at the top of your list for things to look for. It is running rampant in the dairy cattle today. The last report that I had it is 100% fatal.:mad: The animal starves to death. There is not a lot of it in the beef cattle.

talking Johne’s
the very best method to prevent spread of infection in the newborn calves is to raise them separately: no contact to their mothers (especially their manure); which is actually exactly what you will be doing if you raise them by hand :rolleyes:
elke

oh, that’s a can of worms to open.

There’s sufficient research about vaccination in dogs and cats (and as mammals the results relate to other species, as well), over-vaccination, adverse reactions, vaccination intervals, chronic illness caused by vaccines, etc.

Cattle and other stock normally don’t live long enough to start showing the negative effects of vaccination (or exposure to the heavy metals included in most vaccines) but with a pair of oxen that’s supposed to live a long live……

Research in dogs and cats show that a proper immunization will protect a live long without the need for annual booster vaccination (there are some exceptions, rabies f.e.) and there have been studies in Switzerland on horses that show protection against tetanus (highly feared among horse people) for up to 10 years.

If you want to do your own research, you’ll find tons of information if you google for Dr. Ron Schultz and also Dr. Jean Dodd who both have done extensive research.

That’s the scientific point of view.

Adding to that the homoeopathic point of view, every vaccination is a intense and strong disturbance of an individuals health.

Starting with the point of entrance: vaccines are administered mostly by injection while bacteria and viruses enter via contact with skin or mucosa in most cases (some by bites) and therefore causing an other immune response than vaccines. Vaccines are more like a raid than a knock on a door.

Then the administration/exposure to heavy metals (aluminium and thiomersal are the most common but formaldehyd can also be found in vaccines) and antibiotica (added to the vaccine) for stronger (?!) immune response. Administration of foreign protein (vaccines cultivated on eggs or bovine cells or ape cells), giving reason for the development of allergic reactions.

Next the practice to vaccinate against more than one illness at a time. It’s very uncommon in nature to have more than one pathogen present at a given time but most vaccines contain pathogens against more than one illness.

First of all, my advice is to get a book or two. There aren’t that many on oxen and they aren’t expensive. ( i like to read and look at pictures, so trust me to recommend a book as part of your adventure with oxen.)
thoughts on the other issues that have been raised here: (comments are for information only and not meant to replace the advice of your veterinarian!)

vaccination IS a complex subject. the more you know about it, the more often you will find yourself answering questions with “it depends….”
whether or not you vaccinate, if you raise enough calves, you will lose a few. I think vaccination makes a difference in a minority of cases, practically speaking.
In the big picture, colostrum is the biggest factor in a healthy calf. A calf that gets enough colostrum will have some immunity to the same diseases that his mother was immune to, and those are the same diseases he is most likely to be exposed to. His mother has immunity to most of the the bacteria in her own manure for example, and unless the calf gets colostrum, he will NOT have any immunity to them. he can get sick and die from any of them.
of course, if you are taking the calf away from his home farm and exposing him to a whole bunch of new bacteria, viruses and etc., his mother’s colustrum is n’t going to help him unless his mother was vaccinated against those diseases. for example, a newborn calf from a cow vaccinated against rabies will have some immunity against rabies for a few months. but if his mother was NOT vaccinated, the calf will not have immunity no matter how much colostrum he gets. that is one reason why calves from auctions so often get sick, even if they did get colostrum at home.

About Johnes: Howie is right that the bacterium that causes Johne’s is present on many dairy farms in North America. Cattle get exposed to it in the first minutes and hours after birth, through the manure of adult cattle. a speck of manure on a piece of straw or on the dam’s teat is enough to expose the calf. most of the exposed calves fight off the infection and never become “johne’s positive”. a smaller percentage get a temporary infection and and eventually fight it off. these animals will have a postive blood test becuase they have been exposed to the disease, but they do not HAVE Johnes.
An even smaller percentage of animals that are exposed to the Johnes’ bacterium develop an infection and can’t fight it off. The bacteria live in the intestines and the lymph nodes and do enough damage that it interferes with digstion so the animal gets thinner and thinner. At some point, the animal with Johne’s disease starts passing bacteria in the manure, and the bactceria can survive a long time on the ground and in bedding: so this is how new calves get infected.
Adult cattle that are exposed to the bacterium don’t seem to get it. it seems to happen in the first few hours, like Howie said. calves from a Johnes positive mother that are whisked away immediately after birth, before they suckle or chew on straw in the calving stall, don’t develop Johnes IF they get colostrum from a healthy cow.

so, if you are followinng me here: you can get a calf from a Johne’s postiive farm, even a Johnes’ positive mother, but it’s important to know how the calf was handled if you want to be sure your calf won’t end up getting Johnes.

In the past few years there have been some big improvements in Johne’s testing. The lab where i work can do a test called PCR on manure; it is quite accurate and takes less than a week. costs about 50.00 at our lab.

don’t mean to monopolize the conversation, but wanted to add that milk replacer is generally cheaper than real milk, that is why dairy farmers usually feed their calves replacer. But if you or someone you know has a cow, it might be different. if you use millk replacer, get one that is 100% milk based. statistically there are more problems if you feed a plant (soy) based milk replacer. i’ll shut up for now!!

Sanhestar: Personally, I hope you don’t shut up. It’s just a discussion… it’s supposed to have differing opinions & viewpoints – otherwise it’s just a monotone. A symphony of knowledge, just as in a symphony of music, needs to have different notes & harmonies. I tend to agree with you on this particular point you’re making – but that’s irrelevant. What is relevant, is that it is fairly obvious that on this site, diversity is not just tolerated, but welcomed. I’m speaking only for myself, of course, but if I wanted to have just one point of view or opinion, I’d buy one book & consider it a “bible” on draft animals.
As I said, this is my opinion, for what it’s worth.