Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Foot Rot in cattle


Foot rot is a infection cattle can get at any age in there life. It is when there hoof starts decaying and the longer it goes untreated the worse it will be. Steers that are raised for harvest were used in a study. The steers that had foot rot gained 2.3 pounds per day while the steers without the infection gained 2.73 pounds per day. Overall twenty five percent of beef and dairy cattle are affected by foot rot. This infection is cause by a thinning in the skin or cut on the toes of the cow during long periods in wet conditions normally coming in the spring and fall. Some of the signs that will show in the beginning is lameness and some minor swelling around the hoof. Later in the hoof will start to open up in cuts and have a fowl smelling odor.  The cure to the infection is if caught early enough cleaning the infected area and letting the cow rest in an area with no ground water will fix the job, but people with big herds can not see every cow everyday so then veterinarians have prescriptions they can give to the cow along with washing the area. The best way to prevent foot rot is by keeping cattle out of mud, water, and mixtures of there own droppings.


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