Farm & Ranch
The Dr. McDonald Column – Throwing your weight around
By Steve McDonald, DVM
My son was a career Army soldier and was stationed in Germany where he met and married a German girl. One summer we visited them in Germany, meeting the young lady’s family and getting the lay of the land. I won’t bore you with the details, safe to say that the German people are extremely polite, and we had a very good time.
While there, we went to many places frequented by tourists, and I must say that just about all the obese folks I saw were Americans. It’s the sort of observation that a person makes and then forgets about until something reinforces the initial observation.
Yesterday a new client brought in a few heifers to be brucellosis-vaccinated and a couple of others to be pregnancy tested. The cattle were grossly overweight, as were the owners. We have all observed that overweight people tend to have overweight pets, but in this case the problem extended to the livestock.
As is often the case, the cattle, gentle though they were from a lifetime of easy living on the largesse of their owners, had arrived at the clinic in a trailer that was somewhat undersized to accommodate their considerable cumulative bulk.
To read more pick up a copy of the December 2017 NTFR issue.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Rayford Pullen
Fall is here which means winter is closing in on us and before we officially get into winter, we need to make sure our factories are either producing or will be producing in a few months.
We have been pregnancy testing our cows this fall and if they are not bred or nursing a calf, we are bidding them adios. With annual costs somewhere between $900.00 and $1,000.00 per cow, those cows not producing a live weaned calf are costing us quite a bit.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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