VETERINARY PRACTICE

Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1929, Page 13

VETERINARY PRACTICE

GREAT ASSET TO FARMING DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSION DETECTION AND CURE OF DISEASE There was a good attendance of members of the Farmers’ Union at Lepperton hist night when Mr. W. Maurice Webster, B.Sc., M.R.C.V.S., gave an interesting lecture. Mr. IT. E, Blyde, president of the branch of the union, was in' the chair. Mr. Webster, taking as his subject "The Modern Ideals of Veterinary Science,” said he intended to make a departure from the stereotyped style of lecture outlining the symptoms and routine treatment of the common ailments of dairy stock and, instead, taking a broader outlook on cattle diseases in general and concentrating on their prevention rather than their cure. The popular conception of a veterinarian as simply the horse or cow doctor, whose sole service to the community lay in prescribing some treatment for the individual sick animal, and carrying out a certain amount of somewhat rough and ready surgery in the field was far from correct nowadays. The veterinarian of to-day had a. much wider sphere of service to the farming community, as it was becoming more generally recognised that most of the diseases of stock were largely pre- • vcntible and were due to faulty management on the part of their owners rather than inherent weaknesses in the constitution of the stock themselves.

Thus the present day veterinarian, in addition to a knowledge of the treatment of disease, had wide expert knowledge of feeding, pasture management and animal management in its widest sense. They had expert fields instructors who advised the farmer how to increase the yield of feed available by better cultivation and manuring of his pasture, whilst the veterinarian could work hand in hand with him, showing the farmer how to utilise that feed to the best advantage so as to keep his stock in better health and free from digestive and other troubles. Similarly they had dairy instructors who showed them the importance of sanitation about the shed to improve the quality of the dairy produce, and again the veterinarian could teach them the importance of those same and further sanit.i’-y measures in safeguarding the health of their stock.

In short, if the farmer would se?k the veterinarian’s advice on the better feeding and management of his stock so as to maintain them in good health rather than wait until they were sick and then to seek a cure, lie would find it a much more economic proposition in every way, for the fact that the great bulk of sickness amongst slock was preventive by the adoption of better and more intelligent management conld not be too strongly stressed. The three most important factors which, singly or in combination, were responsible for most of the sickness amongst dairy stock, were: (1) Improper feeding; (2) faulty sanitation; (3) failure to appreciate the individuality an animal. IMPORTANCE OF FEEDING. Any complete food was made up with various ingredients, termed proteins, fats and starches, together with various mineral salts. The fats and starches were grouped. together and called “carbohydrates.” They formed the mainstay or “bread and butter” of any diet, and their chief purpose was to serve as fuel, maintaining the warmth of the body, and so on. The proteins, were much more concentrated, the “beef steak," so to epeak, of the diet, and the animal body used them chiefly in production, either of work as in people themselves, or the horse, or of milk or beef in the case of cattle. The mineral salts, of which the most important were phosphorus and lime, had various' functions, chiefly the production- of bone. It had been shown that not only were all those ingredients necessary in any diet which will maintain normal health, but further they had to be present in that diet in more or less definite proportions. For example, if one of those present made a long meal entirely of roast pork—almost pure protein—the results would not be happy as far as their digestion was concerned. The proportion of proteins to carbohydrates (the fats and starch) was termed the “nutritive ratio,” and in making up any ration for stock it had always to be taken into consideration.

Experience had shown that the best .nutritive ratio for dairy cows was one of protein to five or six of carbohydrates. This was approximately the ratio of preen pasture. However, parficularly in the early spring, other feeds were given to stock .which-had nutritive ratios widely differing from the optimum. If such were given indiscriminately without any regard for balancing the ration, then one had to expect digestive and other troubles in the herd. As examples, green vats and cowgrass were both well known sources of acute indigestion in cattle unless great care' was exercised in feeding them. The explanation lay in the nutritive ratio, which was one to 1.5 for oats and one to three for* cowgrass. In other words, they contained too much protein. On the other hand, feeds such as hay, roots and ensilage, had a ratio varying from 1 to 10 to 1 to 12. In those feeds they had not sufficient protein and in addition they were bulky ami contained much indigestible fibre. Again, if hay or ensilage was the mainstay of the cows’ diet in the early part of the season they might anticipate digestive trouble. BALANCING OF DIET. The remedy lay in so balancing the diet that when feeds such as hay or eentrate such as bran, with a ratio of the mainstay of the herd, some concentrate such as bran, with a ratio of just under 1 to 4, or linseed nuts, with, a ratio of 1 to IA, was added to the ration. On the other hand, if green oats or cowgrass, with their narrow ratios, were available on the farm, lie strongly advised the feeding in addition of hay or, preferably, a starchy concentrate, such 'as crushed oats or maize meal, with a comparatively wide ratio.

In short,-the aim of the farmer should be to always endeavour to balance his cows’ diet to a ratio in the neighbourhood of 1 to 6. If he did so he would be amply repaid not only by the im- £ roved health of his stock, but also by icreased factory returns. It was a well-known scientific fact that any cow should be at the peak of her production within three to four weeks of calving. However, in New Zealand the peak production: was reached three months in-.

stead of three weeks after calving—when thers was an abundance of natural feed with a balanced ratio. A cow which was two months late in reaching her peak production was obviously not such a payable proposition as one. which was properly fed and reached her peak at the proper time. He repeated that more attention to the feeding of the dairy herd in the early spring months would pay handsomely, not only in improved general health, but also in increased butter-fat cheques. In illustration of the importance of good feeding in the dairy cow it would doubtless surprise most of them to know that an average cow produced in her milk each season approximately 50 per cent, more protein and carbohydrates than was contained in the entire carcase of a fat bullock. In addition, her season’s milk would contain about 561 b. (Acwt.) of mineral matter, chiefly phosphate of lime. This illustrated another aspect of the important question of top-dressing. If each cow was taking £cwt. of phosphate of limo off the farm every season, it was most important that this be made good by regular top-dressing; otherwise tho stage of mineral deficiency of the pastures would be quickly reached with its resulting disease in the herd, typical of which were chronic lameness and rheumatism, general unthriftiness and certain forms of sterility. HEAVY’ DEMANDS ON COW. Another point to bear in mind was that the dairy cow had heavy demands upon her to grow a calf each season. This, of course, absorbed considerably more protein and and particularly phosphate of lime, as 90 per cent, of bone consisted of those minerals.

Before leaving the question of feeding Mr. Webster touched briefly on the subject of pigs. On the average farm the pig was looked on, not so much as a paying proposition as a means of getting rid of otherwise waste products. There were two main feeds used for pigs—whey and skim milk. These two foods had widely differing nutritive ratios. Whey had both the protein (casein) and the fat removed, and contained little else than the milk sugar—a carbohydrate —hence it had a wide nutritive ration, in the neighbourhood of 1. to 7. Skim milk, on the other hand, had the fat only, i.e., part of the carbohydrates, removed, and consequently contained relatively jnore protein than whole milk and had a narrow ratio, somewhere, about 1 to 5. In addition, however, both these foods were extremely diluted and the unfortunate pig had of necessity to deal with .relatively enormous quantities to satisfy-its appetite. ’ The pig required a somewhat narrower ratio than the cow, in the neighbourhood of 1 to 4 or 1 to 4j. Thus, to keep pigs healthy and get them out early, it was a necessary and paying proposition to feed them some small amount of concentrate to balance the ration. In the case of whey, either linseed meal or meat meal was indicated, whereas when skim milk was fed a meal with a wider ratio such as barley meal or crushed maize would balance the ration and give best results.

SANITATION POINTS. Faulty sanitation was responsible for the spread of most infections and contagious diseases—those diseases due to (1) germs or bacteria, (2) internal parasites. Germs were almost inconceivably small and were present everywhere in untold numbers. Most disease germs, although flourishing only when actually invading the animal’s body, could nevertheless survive for long periods outside the animal body so long as conditions were favourable. Such conditions were shade and moisture and even temperature. The most potent disinfectants w ?re fresh air and sunlight, but they were the least appreciated because they cost nothing. Layers of dirt and filth on the floors, walls and particularly the handles of the doors in a walk-through milking shed formed ideal shelters for disease germs, a u in such places they were hidden and protected from drying winds and sunlight. Muddy surroundings to a shed meant that disease germs could be protected in the mud for long periods, whereas if the approaches to the shed could be metalled and kept reasonablv dry, a great deal would be done towards limiting outbreaks of mammitis and foul foot in the spring months.

Long rank roughage in the pastures afforded shelter to germs which would be killed off much more quickly if the pasture could by good management be kept always short and young. Diseases such as tuberculosis, contagious abortion and actimonycosis were spread almost entirely by way of the mouth, animals picking up the germs when grazing after the infection had been spread over the pastures by the discharges from already infected members of the herd. They would thus sec how important it was to isolate immediately any animal suspected to be affected with these and similar diseases and take steps to get rid of them if necessary. No means of curing contagious abortion once a cow has become affected had been, or was, he thought, likely to be discovered. However, affected herds could be and were at present in New Zealand being cleared of this disease and kept clean by intelligent sanitary measures. The aborted calf, the membranes and the subsequent discharges from the cows were teeming with abortion germs and, if allowed to be broadcast over the paddocks, would certainly infect- other cows. However, they could tell by a blood test whether or not a cow was affected with the germ and likely to abort. Thus, in cleaning up a herd it was divided by means of the blood test into clean and infected groups, each of which was alloted to its own paddocks and run as a separate herd. The infected group was disposed of as occasion offered and could be replaced by heifers or other cows bought in subject to a blood test. Thus, at little cost, beyond some extra trouble, a clean herd could be established in the course of a year or two, and once it was clean it could easily be kept so. The Department of Agriculture ■ was only too willing to undertake all the blood testing and advice necessary to the establishment of a clean herd on the above lines for any farmer desirous of doino- so.

Seoura in calves was another frequent source of loss which again was solely due to faulty sanitation. Too frequently calves were seen fed out of filthy buckets or tins and kept in dirty, dark, insanitary sheds. Clean tins, scalded daily, and a clean shed with a concrete floor which could be easily washed and disinfected did more than anything else to prevent calf losses. Of course the question of proper or improper feeding was closely related to sanitation in this particular trouble. Improperly fed calves were much more susceptible to infectious diseases due to insanitary surroundings than properly fed calves which would naturally have higher powers of resistance. Sterility amongst the dairy herds was

a burning question at the present moment, and as his hearers were doubtless aware the department was making every endeavour at the present moment to find the cause and cure. Although they had a Jong way to go yet, he thought he was safe in saying that in very many instances this disease wag definitely infectious and spread from cow to cow by the bull. Experience in the past had shown that once this disease had made

its appearance in a herd it would run its. course, and no method of douching the cows had any curative value — doubtless owing to the fact that the disease was too deep-seated for douching to roach the site of tho trouble. In some herds the trouble could be clearly traced to one particular animal, and every cow in the herd served subsequently to him would come back. Every effort should be made during the season to keep free from infection a bull which was presumably clean at the commencement of the season. This system involved a careful washing out of the bull’s parts immediately after every service. It had been carried out in one or two herds during the past season with excellent results, and it was intended to carry it out on a number of further herds during the coming season under close supervision. However, at the present stage of the investigations, it was by. far the best advice he could give to avoid the losses due to sterility in the herd. Contagious mammitis was another disease in which sanitary measures could go a long way towards checking its spread. Such measures included washing the teats and cups before and after milking each cow and disinfecting the teats after milking was possibly more important than before milking. At-

tention should also be paid to the hands of the milker after handling any possibly infected object such as stool, bucket, etc. The latter were points which were often overlooked.

Hitherto Mr. Webster had dealt with sanitary measures against bacterial disease, but before leaving this subject he wanted to spend a few minutes on the measures to adopt against parasitic worms which were the cause of such great loss amongst weaners, hoggets and pigs. There were many varieties of these worms, but their life history was essentially the same. The adult worms lived

in the stomach and intestines of tho animal, where they bred and lay enormous numbers of eggs, which passed to the outside. Outside—given suitable conditions of moisture and shelter—they could exist for long periods. The eggs or the embryos which hatched from them were sw lowed again by the animal during grazing, reached the stomach and intestines, where they reached maturity and repeated the cycle. The common practice on most farms was to have a small calf paddock and a big paddock, in both of which the feed was not infrequently somewhat rank. It was thus little wonder that as years go by these small paddocks became heav-

ily infested with parasites—often to such a degree that it was a matter of extreme difficulty to raise young stock successfully. The remedy lay in changing the calf paddock or pig paddock on to clean ground and putting the plough into tho old infested paddock. It was good farming practice to run the pigs and calves on fresh paddocks each season as far as possible.

INDIVIDUALITY OF ANIMALS. Mr. Webster touched briefly on the failure to consider the individuality of each animal. Some could eat without ill effects certain indigestible articles of diet which would have disastrous effects in others, One man could get cold and wet and think nothing of it, whereas his neighbour would be laid up in bed with a chill. The same thing applied to the animals. There were always one or two cows, in the herd which got blown on turnips sooner than others. There was too great a tendency among farmers to look on their stock as factory made, so to speak; in other words, to regard food or treatment which suited some animals as fit for every member of the herd. This was not the case. Animals had their peculiarities, and the successful farmers studied the individuality of each animal in his herd and treated it ac-

cordingly. One important example he had in view is the use of milking machines. One cow would be milked out- by machines in half the time that another required, yet in the avert"© shed the machines were left on every cow approximately the same time, this being governed by the speed at which the strippers could work. Recent research which the department had carried out seemed to point to this practice more than any other ag responsible for the spread of contagious mammitis through the dairy herds, as it was almost invariably the easiest milking cows which were first affected.

An exceptionally high producing cow required more supplementary feeding than her average sister, otherwise she would maintain her high production at the expense of her constitution and good health. He repeated that it paid to treat the animals a« individuals, not as cogs in a wheel.