CARE FOR YOUR MARKET STEER & SHOW HEIFER
Allow your newly weaned calf to become accustomed to it's surroundings. Provide a quiet environment with fresh clean water and grass hay. Check the vaccination history to be sure your calf has had a clostridial 7 or 8-way vaccine and a viral 4-way (IBR,BVD,PI3,& BRSV) vaccine. Both of these vaccines need to be boostered preferrably one to two weeks before weaning. If there is any question on vaccine history, quality, handling, etc., always repeat the series. When handling your animal, use a chute if available. Always pay attention to the head of your calf for the possibility of choking when in the chute. If your animal goes down in a head catch that narrows, the carotid artery may be obstructed and your animal will be dead in minutes. Follow instructions on your injections. Always use subcutaneous (under the skin) routes first and muscle injections in the neck. Avoid muscle injections in the hip region. Injections cause tissue reactions and scar formation so it is best to avoid injections in the best cuts of meat.
Before purchasing your animal, physically examine the steer for condition, hair coat, retained testicles, horns or scurs, warts, ringworm, nasal or ocular discharge, coughing or increased respiration rate, and a dirty tail or diarrhea. The most common problem is discovering horns, a missed testicle, warts, etc. only 1-2 weeks before fair when most medications and vaccines are unavailable due to drug withdrawl times and healing time. It is wise to always have your leader or someone with experience examine your steer before purchasing.
Parasite control is important. Ivomec is an excellent cattle dewormer (anthelmintic) and is available in injectable or pour-on. Ivomec will eliminate all stages of stomach worms, some lice, and grubs. Liver flukes are generally not a problem unless you have cattle over 2 years due to the 6 month maturation cycle of the fluke. A snail is an intermediate host in the fluke life cycle so the cattle have to be grazing near standing water for the highest potential of fluke infestation. Lice are best controlled with a Lysoff pour-on or CoRal powder. Coccidiosis is a protozoal parasite that is in a class of its own. It causes regular diarrhea or bloody scours and can only be eliminated with sulfa medications or amprolium (corid). The best way to determine your animal's parasite load is to deliver a manure sample to your veterinarian for his evaluation and recommendations.
The following diseases and problems are the most common seen in fair animals before, during and after the fair.
Indigestion - (carbohydrate) grain overload
An alteration in your steer or heifer's diet can cause an upset in digestive organisms in the rumen. Higher carbohydrates (grain, potatoes, etc) and a lower fiber diet will decrease the Ph or make the rumen contents more acidic. If the digestive organisms are not preconditioned to higher carbohydrate diets they will die and give off gas. The severity in indigestion and bloat varies on the amount of carbohydrate intake from a mild belly ache, kicking at their bellies, diarrhea, loss of appetite to severe bloating, convulsions and death. Indigestion is easily prevented. Always start your new animal on grass hay and free choice water. After adjusting to the new environment and grass hay diet, start the calf on grain gradually and decrease the amount of hay. When feeding steers, allow the steer the amount he will clean up in a 30-45 minute period twice daily. Within a couple weeks he should increase from 1.5% to 2.5% of his body weight. Your steer should eat 2-4 pounds of high quality grass hay per day with grain. Refer to the Junior Cattleman's Fact Sheet on feeding steers and heifers for specifics. This information is available through the extension office. Be sure all grain storage areas are secure as well as adjacent alfalfa or legume fields.
Foreign bodies can cause obstruction and sudden bloat/death.
Pneumonia is a very common problem in young cattle. The calf's resistance to viruses and bacteria are weakened by many different stress factors. Stress factors that lead to respiratory disease include castration, dehorning, vaccinating, over crowding, weaning, feed changes, transporting, exposure to new cattle and environments. Vaccinating or preconditioning your calves before weaning with IBR, BVD, PI3, & BRSV is the best way to avoid problems. It is also wise to booster your animal at least 3 weeks before fair to ensure protection and avoid drug withdrawal periods on market animals.
Ringworm is a contagious fungal infection of the skin and hair. It causes a dry, flakey, hairless gray patch as the fungus infects the hair roots. It is harmless to the health of the animal but eliminates an animal from the fair due to health requirements. Treat ringworm locally with iodine solutions or captan, a garden orthocide fungicide at 2 Tablespoons per gallon of water. Isolate your animal if there are other cattle who have ringworm.
Warts are a benign skin tumor caused by a virus. They are very contagious to young stock and will prevent your animal from entering the fair. Start treatment immediately by removing the warts and vaccinating your animal. The vaccine has a withdrawal period of 3-4 weeks. Consult your veterinarian in severe or resistant cases.
Pinkeye is a contagious disease caused by a bacteria Moraxella bovis. Due to its infectious nature it will ban your animal from the fair. The bacteria causes corneal ulcers in calves that can lead to ruptured eyes and blindness if not treated quickly. First indication of pinkeye is increased tear staining (production) under the affected eye or eyes. The eye will develop white opacities in the center of the corneas and spread outward. The eye may look like a volcano with a crater in the center when it is in the final stage before rupturing. Prevention is best by avoidance of areas heavily concentrated with livestock. Flies transmit the bacteria from calf to calf, so sanitation is a must to control fly breeding areas. Fly dust bags will also reduce face and horn flies. Fly tags also work but observe withdrawal times for market steers. The vaccine has not worked well in my experience. Treatment involves most antibiotics topically to the eye, injected under the subconjunctiva, and tetracycline (LA 200) in the muscle. Again, watch withdrawal times and consult your veterinarian.
Surgical procedures
Castration, dehorning, wart removal, etc. must be performed at least four weeks before fair to allow proper healing and to allow for possible drug withdrawal times.
Parasites
Internal parasites include stomach worms, lungworms, coccidia protozoa, and flukes. The most deadly to young stock in Central Oregon are coccidia protozoa and stomach worms. Coccidia have a very short maturation process of 2 weeks. They will multiply quickly in the intestinal cells of stressed cattle with low resistance. Most calves will show signs of bloody diarrhea, loss of appetite, dehydration, and possible death. Deliver a stool sample to your veterinarian for confirmation and treatment recommendations. Round- worms can destroy digestive glands in the abomasum which can lead to poor feed efficiency (weight gain), diarrhea, rough hair coat, and even weight loss, dehydration, and death. Ivomec kills all stages of the developing stomach worm where most other dewormers kill adult stomach worms and require a second dose 2-3 weeks later to eliminate all stages of the worms. If your market steer is not gaining and looking poor, be sure to deliver a stool sample to your vet for an accurate diagnosis and treatment. Flukes, due to their 6 month process and requirement for a snail in its life cycle, will not affect most steers or heifers before fair time. Flukes are a definate concern in a reproducing herd. Lungworms can be a problem in calves but is seen primarily in the valley. Most all dewormers kill lungworms. External parasites that cause the most problems are lice and flies. Lice can cause anemia (bloodloss), weightloss, or poor weight gain as well as severe itching and hair loss. Most powders and pour-ons work best to kill lice but avoid products that kill grubs and lice from December 15 through April 15th. Ivomec will kill sucking lice but not biting lice. Flies will transmit pinkeye bacteria, cause skin sores, and irritation.
Clostridial disease
Black leg, malignant edema, redwater, entero- toxemia, etc. all cause acute death in cattle within 24 hours. Make sure your calves are fully vaccinated or preconditioned before purchasing or booster them immediately. Clostridial bacteria are natural to your cattle but an anaerobic or no oxygen in a tissue area of your animal can convert friendly clostridial bacteria into toxin releasing killer bacteria. Blackleg is the result of bruising to the leg that reduce blood supply and oxygen to the muscles. Malignant edema is similar to blackleg but occurs in the chest area and has a fluid jelly appearance under the skin. Redwater is caused by damage to the liver tissue (flukes, etc.) and enterotoxemia is due to a sudden diet and ph change in the intestine that stops the flow of feed material and reduces oxygen.
At the fair: Provide: 1. Fresh cool water from a bucket 1-2 weeks earlier so your steer is accustomed to it. 2. Shade and fans in extreme heat.
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