Diseases of beef and dairy cattle
- Key People:
- Robert Colling
- Charles Colling
- John Macarthur
- Robert Bakewell
- Related Topics:
- feed
- dairying
- shepherd
- Australian cattle industry
- cattle drive
Dairy cattle are susceptible to the same diseases as beef cattle. Many diseases and pests plague the cattle industries of the world, the more serious ones being prevalent in the humid and less developed countries. One of the more common diseases to be found in the developed countries is brucellosis, which has been controlled quite successfully through vaccination and testing. This disease produces undulant fever in humans through milk from infected cows. Leptospirosis, prevalent in warm-blooded animals and humans, is caused by a spirochete and results in fever, loss of weight, and abortion. Bovine tuberculosis has been largely eliminated; where it has not, it can infect other warm-blooded animals, including humans. Test and slaughter programs have proved effective. Rabies, caused by a specific virus that also can infect most warm-blooded animals, is usually transmitted through the bite of infected animals, either wild or domestic. Foot-and-mouth disease has been eliminated from most of North America, some Central American countries, Australia, and New Zealand. The rest of the world is still plagued by the disease, which attacks all cloven-footed animals. Humans are mildly susceptible to this organism. Successful vaccinations have been developed for blackleg, malignant edema, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (or red nose), and several other diseases. Anaplasmosis, common to most tropical and semitropical regions, is spread by the bite of mosquitoes and flies. Anthrax, caused by a generally fatal bacterial infection, has been largely eliminated in the United States and western Europe. Rinderpest, once a common affliction, was caused by a specific virus that produced high fever and diarrhea; the disease was declared eradicated in 2011. An infectious fever sometimes called nagana, caused by the tsetse fly, attacks both cattle and horses and is prevalent in central and southern Africa as well as in the Philippines. Grass tetany and milk fever both result from metabolic disturbances. Bloat, caused by rapid gas formation in the rumen, or first compartment of the stomach, is sometimes fatal unless relieved. Pinkeye is an infectious inflammation of the eyes spread by flies or dust and is most serious in cattle having white pigmentation around one or both eyes. Mastitis, an inflammation of the udder, is caused by rough handling or by infection. Vibriosis, a venereal disease that causes abortion; pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs; and shipping fever all cause serious losses and are difficult to control except through good management. Broad-spectrum antibiotics (antibiotics that are effective against various microorganisms), as well as powerful and specific pharmaceuticals, are effective and profitable means of keeping cattle herds healthy, though their overuse in livestock farming is an important factor in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Vermifuges, which destroy or expel parasitic worms, and insecticides, which kill harmful insects, are also highly effective and much used.
Wesley Patterson GarrigusPigs
Pigs are relatively easy to raise indoors or outdoors, and they can be slaughtered with a minimum of equipment because of their moderate size (see meat processing: Hogs). Pigs are monogastric, so, unlike ruminants, they are unable to utilize large quantities of forage and must be given concentrate feed. Furthermore, pigs have only one primary economic use—as a source of meat (pork) and lard—unlike most other livestock, such as cattle and sheep, which have many other important economic uses.
Breeds
There are more than 300 known breeds or local varieties of pigs throughout the world. Following is a brief description of the better-known commercial breeds.
| name | use | distribution | characteristics | comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Duroc, or Duroc-Jersey | lard | North and South America | medium length; light gold-red to dark red | 1/2 Jersey Red, 1/2 Duroc |
 | Hampshire | meat | U.S. breed | medium weight; long body; black with white forelegs and shoulders | active, alert; good grazer |
 | Landrace | meat | northern and central Europe, U.S. | medium-sized; white, often with small black spots | several breeds; raised for bacon |
 | Spotted | meat | developed in U.S. | black and white spotted (ideally 50/50) | sometimes called Spots |
 | Yorkshire (in England, Large White) | meat | worldwide | white, sometimes with dark areas | a bacon breed; sows are prolific |
The Hampshire pig, which originated from the Norfolk thin-rind breed of England, is black with a white belt completely encircling its body, including both front legs and feet. There should be no white on the head or the ham.
The Yorkshire pig, which originated early in the 19th century in England, where it was considered a bacon type, is long, lean, and trim with white hair and skin. Found in most countries, this breed is probably the most widely distributed in the world.
The Duroc-Jersey breed originated in the eastern United States from red pigs brought by Christopher Columbus and Hernando de Soto. The modern Duroc, originated from crosses of the Jersey Red of New Jersey and the Duroc of New York in the late 19th century, ranges from golden-red to mahogany-red in colour, with no black allowed. This breed proved particularly suitable for feeding in the U.S. Corn Belt (parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma; all of Iowa) and has been extensively used in Argentina, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay. It is recognized for the quality of its meat.
The Poland China originated about 1860 in southern Ohio from a number of different breeds common to that area. The Spotted Poland China originated in Indiana about 1915 from crosses of the Poland China and the native spotted pigs.
The Chester White, which originated in Chester county, Pa., after 1818, is restricted to the United States and Canada.
The Berkshire, which originated in Berkshire, Eng., about 1770, is used for fresh pork production in England and Japan; a larger bacon type has been evolved in Australia and New Zealand. Like the Duroc breed, the Berkshire is noted for the quality of its meat.
The Landrace is a white, lop-eared pig found in most countries in central and eastern Europe, with local varieties in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. World attention was first drawn to the Landrace by Denmark, where since 1895 a superior pig has been produced, designed for Denmark’s export trade in Wiltshire bacon to England and developed by progeny testing (the selection of boars for breeding on the basis of the scientific assessment of their progeny). Sweden also has progeny tested from Landrace stock but for a shorter period. Pigs from Sweden were first exported to England in 1953, when prices of up to £1,000 were paid. This resulted in a worldwide Landrace explosion, and most major pig-producing countries have since taken stock.
The importance of the Asian pig breeds was recognized in the use of Chinese and “Siamese” pigs from southeastern Asia in the improvement of early European and North American breeds and is reflected in the name of the world-famous Poland China. China leads the world in pig numbers, and pork is traditional in the Chinese diet.
Breeding and growth
Purebred production, or line breeding, is used to concentrate desired genes—for example, litter size or growth rate—within a population of animals. White pig breeds are generally noted for large litters (a maternal characteristic) and coloured breeds for rapid growth and meat quality (paternal characteristics).
Before 1980 most genetic material was available through purebreds, such as Yorkshires, Hampshires, and Landraces, raised by many small producers. Commercial breeding companies in the 1980s began developing different lines of pigs based on the genetics of the pure breeds in a system called crossbreeding. Modern swine crossbreeding techniques involve mating a boar (male) from a breed with rapid weight growth and sows (females) selected for their history of producing large litters.
Sows have a gestation period of 110–120 days with a 21-day interval between periods of estrus, the time during which they will accept mating by a boar. Sows have an average litter size of 12 piglets (somewhat fewer for a first pregnancy and somewhat more for certain Asian breeds), each piglet with a birth weight of about 1.4 kg (3 pounds), and typically produce two litters per year. A mature boar can mate as often as five to seven times per week. Gilts (young females) are usually mated by eight months of age and typically have a reproductive life of three to six litters, although individual sows may have 10 or more litters.
Most countries with developed pork production rely on artificial insemination. In fact, the semen from one boar ejaculate can be diluted to make 20 inseminations, each containing two to six billion sperm. In addition to reducing the number of boars needed for breeding, artificial insemination allows the selection of boars with the highest genetic merit, which results in more rapid improvement of the herd population. The semen may be collected and processed from boars raised by producers or purchased from stud farms that specialize in semen collection and marketing.
Piglets move to the sow’s udder to begin nursing moments after birth and are weaned between two and five weeks, with about a 15 to 20 percent pre-weaning mortality rate from stillbirths and being crushed by the lactating sow. Pigs that weigh between about 18 and 57 kg (40 and 125 pounds) are known as growing pigs, from about 57 to 100 kg (125 to 220 pounds) as finishing pigs, and more than about 100 kg as hogs or market pigs because they are ready for butchering. Hogs are typically brought to market when they are five to six months old. Most males are castrated shortly after birth to avoid an off-flavour in their meat. Castrated males are called barrows.
Production systems
Pork production can lend itself to mechanization and reduced use of high-priced labour. Self-feeders, diets composed of grains and oilseed by-products, and construction of slotted floors and outside tanks or lagoons for manure storage have become almost universal among large-scale commercial producers in developed countries. Particularly in developed countries, most pigs are raised indoors with various means of environmental control. Air-conditioned barns for excessively hot summers and heated floors and space heating or heat lamps for cold winters are widespread.
Production methods have evolved into systems divided by the stages of the pig’s life cycle: birth, weaning, growth, finishing, and market. The three common operations are farrow-to-finish, farrow-to-feeder, and feeder-to-market. Farrowing refers to a sow giving birth. The farrow-to-finish operation is the historic foundation of the pork industry and includes all phases: breeding, gestation, farrowing, lactation, weaning, and subsequently growing the pigs to market weight. Typically, these operations have been on family farms, where owners raise pigs along with a grain operation in which much of the grain is fed to the pigs, saving the owner the cost of transporting and selling the grain. Additionally, the pig manure provides an excellent source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for fertilizing cropland. Historically, farrow-to-finish has been the most profitable type of hog enterprise. Many small-farm holders have full-time jobs in a nonfarming occupation and breed hogs to supplement their income.
Many pigs are now raised in vertically integrated systems, where ownership is maintained from the production farm through the meat-processing plant to the grocery store.
Farrow-to-feeder operations have the highest labour requirements, and many producers specialize in this part of the production cycle. It includes the management of the breeding herd, gestating sows, and piglets until they reach the growing (feeder) stage. The farmer retains control of the piglets until they are sold to another entity for feeder-to-market production. There are two common sale times—at early weaning, when a piglet weighs 5 to 7 kg (11 to 15 pounds), and at the start of the growing pig stage, when it weighs 18 to 25 kg (40 to 55 pounds) at about eight weeks. Most of these pigs are sold on a long-standing contract with a person involved in the final stage of production, feeder-to-market.
Feeder-to-market production has the lowest labour and management requirements. The producer in this stage purchases the feeder pigs and raises them to market weights in about 16 weeks. This part of the cycle requires the most feed and produces the most manure; therefore, it fits well with grain producers who have a lot of grain for feed and farmland that can use the pigs’ manure as fertilizer. It is the least profitable per head, however, and two or three times as many pigs must be produced to earn as much as a farrow-to-finish producer.
Basic dietary requirements
Pigs have the same basic nutritional requirements as humans, which include water, various vitamins and minerals, protein for growth and repair, carbohydrates for energy, and fat to supply essential fatty acids that are not synthesized in adequate quantities. Water is often a forgotten nutrient because it is usually readily available. As a guide, pigs need two to three times as much water as dry feed, depending on environmental temperatures.
The fat-soluble vitamins that must be added to swine diets include vitamins A, D, E, and K. Water-soluble vitamins—in particular, the vitamin B complex—that must be added include niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin B12. Biotin, folic acid, and choline are sometimes recommended in diets of young pigs and the breeding herd. Vitamin requirements are usually listed as International Units, milligrams, or micrograms per unit of feed.
Mineral needs can be divided into major minerals and trace minerals. Major minerals that need to be added to the diet include calcium, phosphorus, and common salt. Requirements for major minerals are usually listed as a percentage of the diet. Trace minerals that need to be added to pig diets include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine, and selenium. Although other minerals are required for growth, they are present in adequate amounts in feedstuffs. Requirements for trace minerals are usually listed as parts per million or milligrams per kilogram.
There is sufficient fat (about 1 percent) in the grain or feed of a pig’s diet to supply all of its essential fatty acid requirements. Protein is a source of amino acids, 10 of which are deemed essential dietary requirements for pig nutrition. An additional 11 or so amino acids can be synthesized by the pig’s metabolism and, although required for muscle growth, do not need to be present in the diet.
Corn (maize) is a favourite energy or carbohydrate source for pigs, but wheat, sorghum, milo, barley, and oats also are used if the price is favourable. Wherever abundant and reasonable in price, soybean oil meal is the favoured source of protein and amino acids, and other oil meals and high-protein by-products are used in most countries.
Special dietary requirements
The nutritional requirements of pigs vary according to their age, sex, and activities. For example, a boar’s nutritional requirements are based on its weight and the number of times it has ejaculated, whether by inseminating sows or by having its semen collected for artificial insemination.
Nutrient requirements during gestation are much lower than would be expected; the major concern is that the sows do not become overweight before giving birth. Gilts should gain about 45 kg (100 pounds) during pregnancy. This weight gain includes about 14 kg (30 pounds) for offspring, another 14 kg for products of conception (increased weight of uterus and fluids), and 18 kg (40 pounds) of general weight gain. Sows, which have already produced litters, should gain 27 to 32 kg (60 to 70 pounds). A daily balanced diet of 1.8 kg (4 pounds) of feed will meet the nutritional requirements of gestating pigs in temperate environmental conditions.
After farrowing, a lactating sow’s first milk is called colostrum, which lasts about three days. During this period, a sow needs 2 to 3 kg (4.5 to 6.5 pounds) of feed per day. Colostrum is very high in nutrients and factors that provide passive immunity to nursing piglets. This passive immunity is essential for disease resistance before piglets develop their own immunity, so all newborn piglets need to nurse immediately. Sows usually nurse their litters for two to five weeks, depending on the management system. Lactating sows have high nutrient requirements and at peak production may generate as much as 6 kg (13 pounds) of milk per day for their offspring. To prevent large weight losses in the sow, they need to be fed as much feed as they can consume. This can be as much as 10 to 12 kg (22 to 26 pounds) at three or more weeks after farrowing.
Weaned pigs are usually moved to a nursery where the temperature can be kept higher than 27 °C (80 °F) until they are about four weeks old. Piglets typically stay in the nursery for six to eight weeks. Newly weaned pigs have an immature digestive system, and their first diet after weaning until about four weeks of age should contain dried milk products in addition to energy and protein sources. Typically, nursery pigs are fed two to four different diets as they grow.
Growing pigs should be fed at least four distinct diets to optimize gain. As a pig grows, it eats more each day, but the nutrient density can be reduced.
