Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Prayer of the Goat


Lord, let me live as I will
I need a little wild freedom
A little gladness of heart
The strange taste of unknown flowers
For whom else are your mountains?
Your snow, wind? - These springs?
The sheep do not understand as they graze
All of them and always in the same direction
And then eternally Chew the cud of their insipid routine
But I - I love to bound to the heart of your marvels
Leap your chasms
And, with my mouth filled
With intoxicating grasses
Quiver with an adventurer's delight
On the summit of the world.


Poem: Translated from the French by Rumen Goddem

Crockpot Chicken Marsala

4 half chicken breasts
1 stick butter
8 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup Marsala cooking wine
2 cans mushroom soup
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste.

Cut chicken breasts into cubes. Place chicken, butter, water and spices in slow cooker. Mix cream cheese, wine and mushroom soup until combined and pour over chicken. Cover and cook for 4 to 8 hours on high. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Another Milking Ration

4 parts whole oats
2 parts whole wheat
1 part cracked corn
1 part Calf Manna
1 part B.O.S.S.

Thinking of modifying... rationale...oats are significantly better than wheat for humans... I can get spelts rather inexpensively, change cracked corn to whole corn as it is cheaper....

Calculating a Goat Ration

Calculating a ration requires 7 steps (Haenlein, 1995):

  1. determine body weight to calculate maintenance requirements of energy, protein, fiber, calcium and phosphorus from tables;
  2. determine milk yield and fat content per day plus a challenge factor in early lactation of 10 percent for calculation of production requirements of energy, protein, fiber, calcium, phosphorus from tables;
  3. add the two requirement categories for each of the 5 nutrients on a dry-matter basis;
  4. determine the composition of your eaten hay (minus the refusals) for the 5 nutrients from tables or actual lab analyses;
  5. determine the daily actual hay intake by your goat in question and multiply this with the nutrient composition on a dry-matter basis;
  6. subtract the results of step (5) from the total of step (3), giving you the nutrient deficit, which must be provided by a grain supplement on a dry matter basis;
  7. determine composition and price of various alternative commercial or farm-grown grain supplements and multiply with the most probable intake level to arrive at the nutrient deficit total, remembering that ration calculations and feeds offered can not exceed the normal level of daily dry matter intake by goats between 3 to 5 percent of body weight. If goats are found to eat less than 3 percent of body weight on a dry-matter basis, they are either starving or their feed is not palatable to them.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Farm Liability Ins.

$500-$700 per million $ of coverage typically

$5 million - $2,000-$5,000 for policy

Valbazen

27 day withdrawal
give to does the day she kids and at 6 weeks post-partum

Bovi-Sera

10cc each side of neck under skin
or
35cc orally

Nuflor

Q. What is Nuflor?

A. Nuflor is a fast-acting, long-lasting injectable antibiotic containing florfenicol, available only from Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. It is highly effective in the treatment of bovine respiratory disease (also called BRD) and foot rot.

Q. What is florfenicol?

A. Florfenicol is a novel, broad-spectrum antibiotic discovered and developed by Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp. It is approved for veterinary use in treating BRD and foot rot.

Florfenicol is distinctly different from other antibacterials used in animal health. It is chemically similar to chloramphenicol but has no human safety risks.

Unique Benefits of Nuflor

Q. Why is Nuflor unique?

A. Nuflor is effective against all three major bacterial causes of BRDMannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida and Haemophilus somnus. Because BRD usually involves more than one organism, it is vital for first-line therapy to eliminate as many of those as possible. Now it’s easy to do that with just one subcutaneous or two intramuscular doses of Nuflor.

Because Nuflor rapidly goes to work against all three bacteria, disease progression is inhibited, reducing the need for costly retreatments and the incidence of chronics.

Speed of Therapy

Q. How quickly is Nuflor absorbed and distributed to the site of infection?

A. Nuflor rapidly goes to work, reaching therapeutic levels within 30 minutes after one subcutaneous or intramuscular dose. The rapid absorption means fast action to help reduce retreatments, repulls and chronics.

Nuflor limits the effects of respiratory disease quickly, before lung damage occurs. Within 24 hours, you should see improvements in the animal’s condition:

  • lower temperatures
  • less nasal discharge and coughing
  • more normal respiration

Dosage

Q. What is the recommended dosage of Nuflor for high-risk cattle?

A. One subcutaneous dose at 6 mL/cwt.

Q. What is the recommended dosage of Nuflor used in the hospital?

A. One subcutaneous dose at 6 mL/cwt.

-or-

Two intramuscular doses in the neck, 2 days apart, at 3 mL/cwt.

Q. Should Nuflor be used Sub-Q or IM?

A. The Nuflor formulation is consistent. So, in the hospital, you may choose whether Sub-Q or IM is best for your operation, depending on your management practices. For high-risk cattle on arrival, Nuflor should be used Sub-Q.

Comparison to Micotil®

Q. How does Nuflor (florfenicol) compare to Micotil (tilmicosin)?

A. Nuflor has a broader spectrum of activity than Micotil. This is especially important for high-risk calves, since they can arrive at the feedyard with infections by mixed bacteria. Nuflor, Sub-Q or IM, is labeled to treat all three major bacterial causes of BRD. Micotil is not labeled for P. multocida or H. somnus. The approved dosage regimens for Nuflor provide 4 full days of therapy with one course of treatment, while Micotil provides 3 days of therapy.

Administration

Q. Can Nuflor be administered via an automatic syringe?

A. Yes. Nuflor 250- and 500-mL vials have a protective package and built-in hanger for use with automatic injection equipment.

Q. What is the withdrawal period?

A. For One-Dose Sub-Q Nuflor, the withdrawal period is 38 days prior to slaughter. For Two-Dose IM Nuflor, the withdrawal period is 28 days prior to slaughter.

Q. Can Nuflor be used in lactating dairy cows?

A. Nuflor is not recommended for use in lactating dairy cows because studies to determine a milk withdrawal time have not been conducted.

One-Dose Sub-Q Benefits

Q. What are the benefits of One-Dose Sub-Q administration of Nuflor?

A. One-Dose Sub-Q administration provides for:

  • Less labor
  • Less animal stress
  • Fewer injections than the two-dose IM regimen
  • No damage to muscle tissue

Benefits of Treating High-Risk Cattle

Q. What are the benefits of treating high-risk cattle upon arrival at the feedyard?

A. Treatment of high-risk calves on arrival can reduce respiratory pulls by 50 percent.* The use of an effective broad-spectrum antibiotic on arrival returns the investment by limiting pulls, retreatments and death loss.

*Data on file at Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp.

Packaging

Q. Does Nuflor need to be refrigerated or reconstituted?

A. Nuflor does not require refrigeration, so it does not take up valuable cooler space. It should be stored between 36° - 86° F. It can be kept out in the open, within easy reach. Lower temperatures may decrease syringeability, so a warming device is available.

Nuflor does not require reconstitution. It is ready to use when needed, and valuable product is not wasted by reconstituting more doses than needed at one time.

Q. In what sizes is Nuflor available?

A. For flexibility and convenience, Nuflor is available in three vial sizes: 100, 250 and 500 mL. The two larger sizes have a protective cover to help prevent damage to the vials during handling and administration.

Safety in Cattle

Q. What is the margin of safety of Nuflor in cattle?

A. Nuflor has been administered at 10-fold the recommended dose given twice, 48 hours apart. Only a temporary decrease in feed and water intake and body weight were observed. Some animals may experience this side effect temporarily during treatment. Nuflor has no long-term effect on body weight, rate of gain, or feed consumption.

Q. Are there any interactions between Nuflor and other commonly known antibacterials or vaccines?

A. None are known.

Use in Breeding Animals

Q. What is the effect of Nuflor in breeding animals?

A. The effect of Nuflor in bulls and pregnant cattle has not been determined.

Food and Human Safety

Q. Are there any concerns for human handler safety?

A. There are no concerns unique to Nuflor. Normal precautions for injectable veterinary products are recommended. Please refer to Product Disclosure.

Nuflor is a registered trademark of Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation.

Micotil is a registered trademark of Eli Lilly and Company.

Excenel RTU for Pneumonia

EXCENEL RTU 100 ml
EXCENEL RTU
EXCENEL RTU

More information on ordering a prescription
EXCENEL RTU offers effective treatment, along with the peace of mind that comes with no milk discard.
Once you discover the efficacy, cost savings, ease of use and versatility of EXCENEL RTU, you�ll wonder how you ever ran your dairy without it.

EXCENEL RTU is indicated for treatment of:
Acute postpartum metritis (uterine infection) caused by organisms susceptible to ceftiofur, Bovine respiratory disease (pneumonia, shipping fever, BRD) due to Mannheimia spp.

(Pasteurella haemolytica), Pasteurella multocida and Haemophilus somnus, Acute bovine interdigital necrobacillosis (foot rot, pododermatitis) associated with Fusobacterium necrophorum and Bacteroides melaninogenicus.

Acute metritis (0�14 days postpartum) associated with bacterial organisms susceptible to ceftiofur.

Item# Item Name Market Price Allivet Price Qty Add
26520 EXCENEL RTU 100 ml $79.99 $69.99

Random Notes to Self

LaRue
814-445-7229
Goat Processing

Up the Creek Farm
Levels, WV

Ben Cooper
NCRS Project Grass

Multi-Ring Show?
Sanctioning Fees?
Show Chair, Show Steward
$5-$8 head/100 animals breaks even