• increases likelihood of cows remaining in herd
• increases number of cows that spend life in profitable milk prod
• increases calves born per year
• reduces involuntary calving

peak dry matter intake occurs:

2-3 weeks after peak milk production

#cows pregnant/#cows eligible to become 

or heat detection rate x conception rate

o   colostrum

o   cleanliness

o   comfort

o   calories (nutrition)

o   consistency

by palpation is 35 days;  earliest via US 26-33 days

• BVDV 1 and 2
• bovine herpes 1
• BRSV
• also:
• Leptospira 
• Clostidia
• core endotoxins
• Brucella?

25%

linearly

>280g Ig

good= >50g/L Ig or 5-6L needed 

excellent= >70g/L Ig  or 4L needed

1. single radial immunodiffusion (RID)
2. ELISA
3. zinc sulphate turbidity (ZST)
4. sodium suphite precipitation (SSP)
5. glutaraldehyde test (GT)
6. serum total protein (TP)

protective effects of absorbed colostral Ig last at least:

6 months

1.  clean and dry
2. good (natural) ventilation
3. prevention of calf-to-calf contact

>2 hutches apart

moved every 3-4 days in wet weather, 10 days in dry weather

• fresh (pasteurized) milk or hi qual milk substitute
• feed 2x daily
• feed out of open-faced bucket INCLUDE WATER
• higher enviro temp, lower lb milk/d requirement
• all equipment MUST be cleaned and sanities after every use
• Vit E and Selenium for prevention of white muscle disease
• Vit A and D

which of the following is false?

1. worldwide there are more goats than cattle

2. Boer, Spanish, Kiko are popular meat goat breeds in US

3. Small ruminant milk typically has a lower somatic cell count than cow milk

4. meat and wool prod are the most common uses of sheep in the US

·         sheep: tail down, no bear or wattles, upper lip divided by distinct philtrum, often more lateral, curly horns

·         goats: tail up, many are horned, beards, wattles, shallow philtrum

Campylobacter jejuni, Q fever (more direct contact), Listeriosis (from illegal imports)

Brucella melitensis

goats-standing or recumbent

sheep-recumbent

·         altho many lamb producers feed out their own lambs to market weight, others sell them as feeder lambs, almost all goat producers feed out their own kids

·         2 breeding/kidding seasons/year are common in goat enterprises

·         less concentrates fed for finishing off kids than lambs

goats: sideways hooking, rear on hind legs, high pitched sneeze

sheep: butt head on, butt head on, snort and stamp one forefoot

which of the following is false?

a. if male kids are castrated prior to puberty, the scent glands on the head do not mature.

b. goat kids should generally be disbudded in the first week of life, except nubian, pygmy, and angora kids can be disbudded at 10-14 days

c. to disbud kids, an electric dehorning iron should be applied to the bud for ~60 seconds.

d. lidocaine should typically be diluted to 0.5% prior to use for disbudding goat kids.

 which of the following is false?

a. internal parsites are the most important production-limiting problem of small ruminants in the SE US.

b. bottle jaw, poor body condition, and pale mm are common signs of internal parasitism.

c. pasture management (rest periods, avoiding overgrazing) and keeping supplemental feed of the ground can help reduce parasite exposure

d. the FAMCHA scoring system is useful to detect animals with heavy trichostrongylus 

e. witholding feed or feeding only dry hay for 12-24 hours prior to deworming can increase the efficacy of oral dewormers due to a slowed gut transit time. 

Which is false?

1.      pet sheep and goats tend to become obese and should be limit-fed to maintain a BCS of 2.5-3/5

2.      sheep prefer to obtain ~80% of their diet by browsing

3. urine acidifiers are often used in diets of pet wethers to help prevent urolithiasis

4. ewes and does typically require supplemental feeding in late gestation, especially when carrying multiple fetuses

5. to avoid rumen acidosis when feeding large amounts of grain, it should be fed as part of a TMR or following hay feeding.

how much grain should be included when feeding non-breeding, non-pregnant, wethers, and pet small ruminants?

• §  ewes: 2-2.5lb cereal grain (oats or corn) during late gestation
• §  does: 1-2 lb concentrate during late gestation
• during last 6 weeks: 70-80% fetal growth 

o   concentrates should be fed as TMR or after hay feeding to avoid acidosis

puberty: 5-12 months

breeding at ~70% of mature size: 7-10 months

gestation 147 days for sheep, 150 for goats

seasonal polyestrus

short-day breeders-melatonin, shortening of day

induction of cyclicity by abrupt introduction of male.

            ewes must be in shallow anestrus

            ovulation in 48 hours (no signs of heat)

estrus in 17 days

·         does: flagging, vocalization, mounting

·         ewes: subtle, will stand for ram to mate

easily trained, can be trained to use halter or collar, can be restrained by horns by grasping base, with second hand on tail, or by straddling at withers.

transport in groups, not overcrowded, avoid transporting preggers in last 4-6wks of gestation, heat and cold stress considerations

listless, inappetance, poor BCS compared to others, lagging, resting/walking on knees

progesterone >5 days post breeding

ultrasound 45-90days post breeding

·         5-7 day does, 3-5 day bucks

·         Nubian , pygmy, angora goats at 10-14 days

·         xylazine, ketamine, butorphanol or gas mask or restraint devices

·         local nerve block dilute 2% lidocaine to 0.5% with sterile water, inject 1ml over each of 4 nerves in kid weighing >3 kg

·         cornual branch of lacrimal and cornual branch of intratrochlear nerve

·         located posterior-medially to horn bud. if castrated prior to 7.5 months, will not develop these.

• check sinuses for fighting injuries in rams
• teeth: dental problems common cause of poor doers
• urine: briefly occlude nostrils in ewes to get sample
• udder: sheep and goats have udder in halves not quarters
• weigh often, at deworming, medicating, birthweight

o   Burdizzo

o   surgical

o   elastrator bands (predispose to tetanus)

·         4-14 days of age

·         pets: delay until 6-8 weeks to potentially reduce later problems with obstructive urolithiasis, especially in pygmies or mini breeds

·         >24hrs to 7 days of age, definitely by 6 weeks

HOT

Haemonchus (SE US), Ostertagia (temperate climates), and Trichostrongylus 

• o   don’t feed on ground, feed troughs that young won’t play/sleep/defecate in
• o   anthelmintics
• o   pasture management: avoid overstocking, use pasture rest periods, use clean/safe pastures, supplemental feed in times of pasture stress
• o   multi-species grazing with cattle or horses
• o   graze tannin-rich forages that help control nematodes
• o   zero grazing (feedlots)
• o   genetic selection for parasite-resistant populations

• don't dose by calendar/regularly,
• minimize number of treatments
• treat after heavy rain,
• NEVER underdose
• use FAMACHA to detect anemic animals
• change out/rotate effective treatments yearly

• enterotoxemia (C. perfringens C and D) 10wk, booster in 1 month
• tetanus 10wk, booster in 1 month
•  contagious ecthyma (orf) only if existing problem. 4wk, booster in 1 month

·         parasitism

·         pinkeye

·         pneumonia

·         pododermatitis (footrot)

·         predation

·         pregnancy toxemia

95% of mastitis is due to:

• Strep agalactiae
• Staph aureus
• S. uberis
• Strep dysgalactia

coyotes and domestic dogs.

use of donkeys, llamas (not intact males), well-fed guard dogs. active elimination of predators (trap, shoot) 

• orbivirus
• spread by mosquitoes, 
• severe clinical disease, abortion, facial erosions
• really bad in lambs, longterm effects
• seem to recover, then tank and die.
• vx only in California
• try and control mosquitos
• usually occurs in sheep that are brought from non-bluetongue states

corynebacterium ovis.

good sanitation, don't buy infected, sanitize shears

• Dichelobacter nodosus (foot) and Fusobacterium necrophorum (soil)
• severe lameness, exudative inflam and necrosis with foul odor
• recovered animals can be carriers. 
• prevent with trimming and foot bath, quarantine, vx

hunched stance, weakness, dehydration, hypothermia. poor BCS, recumbency, death. 

• E.coli, salmonella, C perfringens type C, rotavirus, crypto 
• northern parts of US. 
• confinement exacerbates 
• management and sanitation key, also colostrum. 
• just symptom treatment.

Coccidiosis. greenish/yellow diarrhea, rarely blood tinged,  off feed, wt loss, fecal material smeared around rectum. 10-50% morbid, 10%mortality.  proper sanitation. amprolium or sulfa drugs. worst is at weaning or high stress

in US: BSE, Brucellosis, Tuberculosis

NOT in US: FMD (aphthovirus), heartwater (ehrlichia rumenantium), texas cattle fever (babesia bigemina and bovis

• generally ketosis, but term also used to refer to hypocalcemia syndromes
• ewes/does during advanced pregnancy (postpartum in cows). 
• more in multiple fetus carriers. 
• neg energy balance, hypoglycemia, increased fat catabolism, ketonemia, ketonuria with CNS signs. 
• tx: C-section, induce parturition, IV dextrose, oral propylene glycol, Ca

teat canal

smooth muscle

keratin squamous epi

keratin-baceriostatic

Blitz treatment:

§ post-milking teat disinfection

§  dry cow therapy (Abx up in teat)

§  ID infected cows and treat 

• environmental
• opportunistic
• peracute to acute
• likely to kill the cow
• E.coli, Klebsiella, Serratia, Aeromonas
• higher quality milk producing herds are at higher risk

the amount of bacteria growing after pasteurization (thermophiles)-indicates how well equipment is cleaned.

<300 bacteria/ml

<100,000 bacteria/ml 

standard plate count

• good for screening subclinical mastitis
• good at id'ing cows with high SCC (>1 million)
• not good at differentiating infected from non-infected (<or > 200k)

linear SCC4=200,000 actual SCC= milk loss 3lb/d

fed-cattle: cattle raised from calf to 21 months of age with purpose of becoming meat

non-fed cattle: some other function in life, but now entering food chain (culled dairy cows, beef cows raising calves, etc).