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Cow latin
- Bos taurus - temperate climates (here)
- Bos indicus- hot climates
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Dairy cattle characteristics
prominent pelvic bones, long heart girth (longer than beef cattle), long, thin legs. High body fat, wide udder, 30 pounds of milk per day, 4 teats. must test each teat separately for mastitis. Milked twice a day
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dairy breeds
holstein-friesian, guernsey, jersey, ayrshire, brown swiss.
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Holstein-Friesian
dairy cow, black and white, high quality milk, bulls used for veal or beef
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Guernsey
dairy cow, brown and white, lots of milk, low milk-fat
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Jersey
dairy cow, mostly 1 color, small head, lots of milk, low fat content
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Stanchion barn
Most restrictive housing. Cow has individual stall with room to turn around and lie down, rubber mat or sawdust for bedding. Spend most of time in stall--good for putting on fat
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free-stall system
feeding area and resting area. Most farms use this. Can wander around--not locked in
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pen "loose" housing
least restrictive housing. Open to the outside for ventilation, all animals together in a big pen. Eat and wander as they want to Lots of bugs.
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bulk tank
large tank automatic milkers pour into. Has an allowable amount of bacteria.
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Dairy calves are weaned at
3/4 months. Go on formula after 1-2 days
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heifer
a cow old enough to give birth that has not yet had a calf
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drying off period
2 months at end of pregnancy when cows are allowed to dry up and stop being milked to prepare for birthing. Cows give birth every year, starting at 2.
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mastitis
inflammation of mammary glands (usually bacteria)
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beef cattle characteristics
lots of muscle, stocky, small udder, short, thick limbs. Give some milk.
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Breeds of beef cattle
European, Indian, US-developed and emerging. US: Angus, Hereford, polled Hereford. Brahman
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Hereford
beef cow. Long-standing breed. American south and southwest
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polled hereford
beef cattle. No horns
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Brahman
beef cattle--Bos indicus. Hump, no horns, long, floppy ears
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Beef cattle housing
rarely use confinement housing--tend to be open-pasture.
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"turning out"
letting into pasture
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feed lot
close to slaughter, beef cattle are brought into large, fenced-in lot where food (hay and pelletted feed) is brought to them. Easy to develop disease (fecal parasites). Separated by sie and age.
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pasture-rearing
cow grazes over territory that has been planted to increase nutrition and increase muscle mass
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open range
cows graze over an unrestricted area that has not been planted. need lots of space, can encroach on endangered species. Need big barrels of available water (50 gallons per day) that is not allowed to freeze over, or they'll get sick. Healthier than feed lots, but hard to watch individual animals
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4 chambers of a cow's stomach
reticulum, rumen, omasum, abomasum. Regurgitate from rumen. Abomasum adds enzymes and sends to intestines.
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Cow mastication
pick up food with tongues and rarely chew. Do not have upper incisors, instead have dental pad.
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IDing cows
ear tags to indivate vaccinations, sometimes tattooing. Working on nation-wide ID system
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rumenostomy
a hole cut in the rumen of a cow to allow people to watch digestion and to act as rumen-donors to re-seed bacteria in rumen of other cows.
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cows eat
- roughage (any vegitation)
- hay (dried grass)
- silage (grains-fermeneted corn or wheat in a silo)
- occasional proteins in beef cattle
- dairy cattle feed is tightly controlled--lots of energy while lactating. Graze 6-9 months
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beef calves weaned at
6 months. Then graze open pasture until 15 months, then move to feed lot
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ways to control cows
ring through nasal septum or squeeze chute, nose tong or rope lead
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dehorning
before 8 weeks, done universally for safety, not during fly season. Electric is best. "Debudding" on a calf
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neutering
before 3 months. Surgical, emaculatome (crushes spermatic cord)
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medicating
balling gun, drencher (gas can), syringe, tube
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supernumerary teats
usually removed early. Risk of mastitis high, even after removal
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Estrus
cattle are seasonally polyestrus with 21-day cycles. Lasts 18 hours and ovulation comes 12 hours afterwards. Timing is crucial. Dairy bred by AI to prevent STDs. Beef bred by natural cover. Breeding occurs again 2 months after parturition
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Puberty
can be before 1 year, but not bred until 15 months
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calf care
precocial. Need shelter. Need 2 quarts of colostrum within 6 hours of life. After 1-2 days, fed by pail or bucket, usually formula.
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milk letdown
calf nuzzling or washing the udder stimulate pituitary to send oxytocin to cause teats to express milk. Produced in alveoli of udder
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stripping
taking the first couple squirts of milk to examine for blood, debris or flakes (mastitis).
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California Mastitis Test
a handle/paddle with four little cups for the four udders. Strip that changes color in presence of bacteria.
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Withdrawal Time/Pre-Slaughter interval
time after giving an animal medicine before animal or products can be used for food. Withdrawal refers to drugs, pre-slaughter can refer to calving or dewormer
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Tuberculosis
M. bovis = bovine TB.
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Brucellosis
B. abortus. Can be responsible for abortion storms (whole herd miscarries). Brucella is zoonotic (blisters and flu-like symptoms)
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Vaccines
lots of bacterial diseases, bovine viral diarrhea and brucella for females. Males are not vaccinate for brucella--can give to females during mating.
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Cattle diseases
displaced abomasum (ventralmost part, causes bloat), hardware disease (traumatic reticulopericarditis), skin diseases. White muscle disease (selenium deficiency), milk fever (lack of calcium due to poor nutrition before calving)
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