Cattle lab practical Flashcards
what are seeders used for?
y-shaped tool that is placed in the vagina to administer progesterone
wait 5 days before removing and then watch for 24-72 hours to see if the heifer/cow goes into heat —> if she does choose a bull’s semen to administer
how is the semen prepped for administration into a female after being removed from the nitrogen tank?
canes in the nitrogen tank holds the straws
warm the straw with a warming device for 30 secs-1 min after removing from the tank
use an applicator to administer the semen and make sure to squirt some in both uterine horns
OB chains and handles
used for dystocia
the handles (which are connected to chains) go around the calf’s legs to try and pull it out during a contraction
if that doesn’t work you can use an OB puller
how do we trigger breathing in a newborn calf?
use straw to trigger sneezing which causes them to start breathing
what do we do if a calf isn’t nursing after birth?
fed colostrum through an esophageal calf feeder
put a little milk on the cow’s teats and some in the calf’s mouth afterwards so the calf can taste the milk and then find the proper milk source
tuberculosis testing
administer 0.1cc of tuberculin in the caudal tail fold
read after 72 hours —> if the spot is larger than a pea the animal has tuberculosis
don’t administer tuberculin on thursdays since vets don’t usually come out on sundays
how do we obtain a sterile milk sample?
wear gloves and scrub like we would for surgery starting at the far teats to the near teats
then milk the cow for sample from near to far (can touch near teats if needed to reach far ones without worrying about breaking sterility)
bulk tanks
holds milk and allows us to test SCC
SCC levels for tank should be < 750,000 cells/mL
how is milk measured?
in pounds
1 gallon milk ~ 8 lbs
colostrometer
hydrometer that measures specific gravity and converts it to Ig concentration
it tells us the quality of the colostrum
how do you use a colostrometer?
fill the colostrometer almost to the top with room temperature colostrum and place the hydrometer in the milk, the hydrometer will bob around and once it comes to a stop the area (green, yellow, or red) will indicate the quality of the colostrum
works like a traffic light: green is best quality
on other side of hydrometer you can read the specific measurement of Ig concentration in mg/mL
ear tagging
don’t do too close to the head or tip of the ear: tag in the middle
watch you don’t tag into a vein
tattooing
put letters/numbers into the tattooer which punctures little holes into the ear, smear tattoo ink over it so the ink fills the holes
benefits of colostrum
acts as a laxative, fights infection, stimulates growth
what type of breeders are sheep and goats?
seasonally polyestrus
