Care of Livestock during April

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 84, Issue 3, 15 March 1952, Page 190

Care of Livestock during April

Contributed by the Animal Research Division

CARE OF CALVES

r T’HE best way to prevent calves dying during winter is to treat them properly during autumn. They should never spend more than 2 or 3 days in one paddock, and

should be rotated ahead of the cows through the best paddocks available. Good-quality hay should be provided for them daily, especially when the feed is growing fast after autumn

rains. At the first sign of scouring they should be drenched with phenothiazine.

DRYING OFF DAIRY COWS

A dairy cow requires a reasonable spell between lactations, and should be dried off at least 6 weeks before she is due to calve. This should be done even if she is still

milking heavily. The drying-off process need not be prolonged: it is quite safe just to stop milking, provided any

quarters affected with mastitis are treated with the usual course of 3 tubes of penicillin, the last tube being given after the cow is milked for the last time.

AUTUMN-SAVED PASTURE

Early-calving cows are nearly always short of feed during July and August, and often during September. In most seasons pasture is not growing fast enough during

these months to meet the requirements of milking cows. Crops are expensive to grow and concentrates are even

more expensive to buy.' It costs nothing, however, to shut up pasture in the middle of April and let it grow for use in early spring. About a sixth of the dairy area should be shut up in this way. Advice regarding the best paddocks to spell and the best method of feeding the autumn-saved pasture by the use of electric fences can be obtained from local officers of the Department of Agriculture.

CARE OF EWES

If rams remain with the ewes for more than 4 weeks, they should be raddled on the brisket so that the late lambing ewes can be drafted off. Once the ewes are in lamb

the level of feeding should be lowered to prevent their becoming too fat. By increasing the rate of stocking during autumn some paddocks can be shut up and pasture allowed

to grow for grazing during the 3 weeks before lambing. These measures will greatly assist in reducing “sleepy sickness”, which is most prevalent in fat ewes which are inadequately fed just before lambing.

CARE OF LAMBS

If the summer and autumn have been wet, lambs are likely to be suffering from worms. Drenching with phenothiazine 2 or 3 times at 3-weekly intervals will help. This applies particularly to the tail of the flock,

which should be drafted off for special attention. Feed, however, is the most important consideration. During autumn lambs do best

if grazed on pastures which have been allowed to grow to a height of about 6in. Hay aftermath and red clover are both very good. If these are not available, the lambs should be distributed thinly over the dairy paddocks or on hill pastures. They should on no account be concentrated in large numbers on short, rapidly growing pastures, especially if these have previously been grazed by ewes and lambs.

RED WORMS IN HORSES

Red worms can seriously reduce the efficiency of working horses, and are responsible for many deaths in foals.

Phenothiazine is a very effective remedy, but is best given under veterinary supervision, as, in certain conditions, it may

prove dangerous. Treatment should be administered before winter.

DECEMBER-FARROWED PIGS

Litters farrowed in December should be sold as pork. If they are carried on to bacon weights, no milk will be available for the later litters, which will have to be sold

cheaply as stores or wintered on expensive concentrates. Available root crops may be

fed to sows, but they require supplementing with milk or meat meal.

TUBERCULOSIS IN POULTRY

Tuberculosis not only causes considerable loss in poultry, but it frequently spreads to pigs, with consequent condemnations at the meat works. If

this disease is suspected, veterinary aid should be sought with a view to eliminating affected birds.