FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 53, 4 March 1925, Page 13

FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY.

ON THE DAIRY FARM.

(•'ANCHORITE.' - )

ilie prevalence of abortion of late hae caused dairy farmers through- • Ilt the land grave concern. The impor- °" c of this complaint, and its farreachino- consequence-, have urged the necessity of exhaustive research.

Investigations. jor many years investigators have ton (seeking to discover some organism ; n the uterus of caws which might be credited with the setting up of abortion, and tertai " bacteria have been -ound in that organ. It was also beVeved that if conditions brought about L invasion of another uterus by these bacteria abortion would result, or, in words, thtt-t the disease is contagious, heiiee the name "contagious aboriinong many dairy farmers the idea fiat abortion is contagious and limits its ravages to the pregnant cow. has gained consfderable credence. The result of this l, a 5 led to the manufacture and distribution of vaccines and preventives which are used with llic 5 ol combating tide great annual loss. At one time it ivaa believed that the organism causing abortion entered the uterus from the varina during pregnancy, although this theory is scarcely logical, as the formation 'of the uterine seal early in pregnancy is a barrier to outside organisms. Others hold the opinion that the onanisms enter the body through the digestive tracts of the in-calf cow, and thence through the blood to the womb, hut such a method of entrance is practically the same as injecting bacteria into ihe blood in an effort to cause bacteria, and exhaustive experiments have shown, this to be quite wrong and practically impossible.

s jioie Common in Young Females. Investigations have shown that abortion is far more common in heifers, and especially so among herds where the rate of genital infection is marked. It is the custom of some.dairy farmers in this territory to separate the heifer calves from the other cattle when quite young, and to keep them apart until they are fit to be placed with a sire.

This is evidently a very excellent plan, and reduces the chances of infection while pregnant, and, according to the belief of many, this practice should be j great safeguard against abortion. The presence of the abortion organisms in milk ha 6 led to the belief that po-sibly the bacteria were taken in by tie young animal, lived in a dormant stage until pregnancy, and then became active. However, it has been noted that only under certain conditions did abortion occur in first calves. Moreover, the

study of abortion has disclosed that the

ratio of premature birth, metritis and abortion run on a line with the prevalence of calf scours and lung trouble, from which they suffered when young. In many cases calves which were born apparently healthy have later fallen victims to pneumonia, dysentery, or indigestion. Laboratory experiments have shown that this is traceable to infection before Wrth, which the systems of the young animals could not overcome. Further investigations have shown also that if a calf, healthy at birth, is kept in good health for about three months and then slaughtered, its genital tract will be

found to be culturally negative as far as abortion-tausing bacteria are concerned, whfle if.it suffers from dysentery or pneumonia or lesser symptoms and is slaughtered, the genital tract is comnionly infected.

Scientific tests have shown that infection in the womb of a pregnant female, in the digestive tract of the foetus and new.born calf are apparently identical. Although hut little work has yet been done to detect bacteria in the genital tracts of cattle in the period between calfhood and the breeding age, it is blown that many animals reach the latter stage and are sterile. The conclusion has now been reached that the ratio of abortion in a group of heifers can be foretold by the state of their health when calves, provided they were mated with perfectly sound sires. This belief is founded on the fact that bacteria known to have an affiliation for the genital tracts of females are to be found .in the digestive tracts and lungs of heifers, and which were transmitted to them while still in the womb of their

mothers, or directly from the semen of a diseased sire. Damage to the digestive and pulmonary tracts through dysentery and pneumonia naturally allows a favourable opportunity for "the bacteria to get to the organs for which they have a natural affiliation, because of the reduced resistance powers of the animal. It is the considered opinion of many tod-owners that the female is not alone responsible for abortion. Many owners know of cases where one sire would produce progeny without trouble, WJu le another used o"n the same herd would hare a high percentage of failures. Investigation of numbers of cases aas shown that, while the sire may be able to cover a cow, he is genitally unsound, and unable to beget calves, fesiuse of diseases with which lie has toen troubled. According to Dr. W. L. Williams, retired professor of obstetrics and the V f ses of breeding cattle at the New a> ,.. State Veterinary College, "all portions are due fundamentally to inaction. Occasionally abortions take j"«e jn a ii herdS; and a Tatio af five W en Pef Cent is overl ooked by the til °^ nCr, as at the time of ° c curlav i J are inc orrectly believed to othp -- 11 the Te3ult of a sli P. fall » or can 1D^ Ury ' and tllis is accepted bennt ri° er COWs on the same farm do B P n=^ eWise abort " Jt frequently hapffilinl i a herd which has been havin S urn trouble from abortion suddenly IboJ? Ver Jt - In some high-grade herds *W lOn, sterilit y and similar troubles Xf'j , continue for a long period the £ evidence of any immunity to otlio becoming established. In tier ,**?** if; lias been found that abor- ™ and sterility has been traced to the W?n tbat llis rem oval from the herd «s iouowed by a decline in the number 01 c as.es of abortion." fording to Dr. AVilliams "any focusOl th l, solely upon the females eraflt + din an effort to control or to To aborti °n will result in failure to d u° m P lish desired result. Efforts Cv"w C l, the geilital ° r^nS Of the afoS, , prove worthless so long as i*£uJ alh are used -" This se&ms to it ig -TV and one ni «st conclude that sexuali fundame ntal importance that a *xut £ SQUnd fenmlL ' be bred onl y to a %bt v • SoUnd sire - In the dairymen's to T^ 8 *" 18 , 4 abor tion the aim should be ' ttotW °. alves carefully from sound i m ortlcr t0 llave stock comsire a r l Sistant to d isease. Tlie herd r ecord s nf m c - examined frequently and Careful eir v '' ork as sire s should be im V made and retained-