PMVPH

Question 1

what acidity should the rumen have for effective fermentation?

Answer 1

neutral

Question 2

what is the size of the fibres needed for proper rumen health?

Answer 2

The diet needs to include sufficient fibre (2cm – 4cm) for proper rumen function (needs to be at least this size)

Question 3

how much time should a cow rest per day and why?

Answer 3

Cow lie down for 14h a day, they need it. We should not move them too much otherwise they become less productive.

Question 4

How to assess cow comfort?

Answer 4

1h before eating they should have spend 85% of their time lying down

Question 5

which % of the herd should be lying down?

Answer 5

60% of the herd should be lying down.

Question 6

what is the minimum size of the through space?

Answer 6

Proper trough space (=60cm at least) and access to clean water are important for cow nutrition.

we need a lot of space around the social trough because they like drinking together.

Question 7

what is the calculation of the dry matter intake?

Answer 7

DMI = 0.025xBW + 0.1xmilk yield

Question 8

what should be the dunk scoring description?

Answer 8

should fall flat on the ground, handclapping sound, boots do not stick to it.

Question 9

what is fat cow syndrome?

Answer 9

it occurs when slightly before or after the cow calves ⇒ more calcium demand ⇒ the cow cannot cope with the demand and becomes weak:

impaired muscle function, uterine inertia (inability of the uterus to contract properly), and increased risk of other metabolic disorders such as ketosis.

Question 10

what is the most important period in cows life?

Answer 10

dry cow period is the most important period to look at

→ there is a critical 6 weeks either sides of calving.

problems during the dry period can cause :

• Poor DMI after calving
• Metabolic disease- Ketosis, Fatty Liver Syndrome, Fat Cow Syndrome, LDA etc
• Poor Milk Production
• Poor Fertility§

Question 11

when do we do cows metabolic profiles?

Answer 11

4 times a year -
- soon after spring turn out to grass
- mid to late summer when pasture quality is highly available
- soon after housing
- late in winter housing period
- could also do it after major diet change

At each sampling take normal healthy cows which represent the cows on the farm on the day of sampling.

Question 12

what are common errors done when sampling cows?

Answer 12

• Sampling cows calved more than 20 days
• Failure to include some Lactation 1 cows in each group
• Sampling immediately after a major management change- always wait 10 days for things to settle down
• Including problem or poor cows.

Question 13

when do the heifers receive their first service?

Answer 13

15 month of age

Question 14

minimum weight and height of a calf for insemination?

Answer 14

minimum weight of 375 kilograms and a minimum height of 132 centimeters (measured at the hips)

Question 15

what should be the birth rate of calf?

Answer 15

should be 97% in cows and 92% in heifers.

Question 16

How to measure the quality of colostrum?

Answer 16

refractometer and it should be minimum 22%

Question 17

How much colostrum should the calf receive in the first 12h?

Answer 17

6L in the first 12h after birth

6 pints in the first 6 hours.

if there is a problem => humans do it :
2L in the 1st hour
2L in the next 6h
2L in the next 6h

Question 18

how much time can we keep the colostrum for

Answer 18

24h at 4d or you freeze it.

Question 19

How to know if the calf has enough colostrum?

Answer 19

• take a blood sample from a 2-7 days healthy calves (red top tube for serum ⇒ no anti-coagulant)
• measure the total protein due to a refractometer. Put a drop of the serum and check the total prot measure.

→ we want 55g/L or 5.5g/dl

this needs to be linked with the age of the animal.

Question 20

why do we subsidies farmers?

Answer 20

to keep the food affordable.

Question 21

what are normal blood calcium levels/

Answer 21

normal calcium levels are 2.2-2.5mmol/L

Question 22

why do we really need to be careful at calcium regarding calving cows?

Answer 22

Low blood calcium
levels in “healthy” animals within the first five days of calving have been associated
with a higher risk of
* Metritis
* Displaced abomasum
* Lower rumination rate after calving
* Higher fat mobilisation

Question 23

What is milk fever and how to prevent it?

Answer 23

it is when a cow is hypocalcaemic around the time of calving because of of increased calcium demand. It can lead to depression coma and death.

we need to prevent it by training the Ca2+ releasing mechanisms to produce Ca2+ in the body in order to cope with the calcium demand. => prior to calving we create a slight acidosis (by reducing K+ and Na+ in diet 3 weeks before calving + add anioninc salt containing chloride and sulfate) in the body because the way to re-adjust the pH is to extract some Ca2+ from the bones. Therefore this trains the mechanisms.

Question 24

if severe hypocalcaemia in your cow what should you do?

Answer 24

give 400ml of ca2+ solution. Give it slowly and always with Mg+ and monitor the heart at the same time.

Question 25

How big should be the feed space of cows?

Answer 25

10% of their bodyweight => 600kg cow = 60cm

Question 26

which drug is used to help obese horses to loose weight and what’s its effect?

Answer 26

levothyroxine - it increases the metabolic rate.

Question 27

how to measure obesity?

Answer 27

obesity is measured due to the BMI = height / weight
when 20-25% above ideal body weight = obese or overweight.

Question 28

what is the problem with stressed cat and obesity?

Answer 28

obese cat when stressed induce the break down of fat cells which induce a massive tsunami of fat which leads to hepatic lipidosis.

Question 29

how to evaluate the animals requirement of calories?

Answer 29

RER = 70 x (current body weight)^0.75

then :
feline neutered / entire / active = RER * 1,2 / 1,4 / 1,6
canine castrated / entire / acitve = RER* 1,6 / 1,8 / 2-8

Question 30

why do we contra indicate oral fluids for hypovolaemia?

Answer 30

because in hypovolaemia there is reduced absorption of water from the enterocytes because of the reduced blood flow to the GIT => prefer IV fluids

Question 31

How to rehydrate a 50kg calf with a 8% loss of fluids? which also has diarrhoea.

Answer 31

so the cow is 50kg.
the loss is 0.08 * 50 = 4L
the maintenance of the calf is 5ml/kg/h = 250ml/h
the diarrhoea maintenance is 5ml/kg/h = 250ml/h

before doing the CRI we need to give a bolus of crystalloid = 0.5 * 4 = 2L so we start by giving 2L straight away.
then we give the rest of the fluid deficit over 8hours + the maintenance + the loss

= 2L + 250mlx8 + 250mlx8 = 2L + 2.5L + 2.5L = 7L over 8h = 0.875L / h = 875ml / h

Question 32

how to make up for a base deficit?

Answer 32

well normally you should just give water and it should be fine but in case of severe base deficit you could do some other stuff:

first need to evaluate the base deficit in mEq.
then you give : base deficit * BW

to know how much you give it is : 8.4% bicarbonate solution = 1 mEq / ml
or if you make your own solution -> 1g of sodium bicarbonate = 12 mEQ.

Question 33

how much water do calf drink per day?

Answer 33

50L / day + 3L per litters of milk.

Question 34

how to do a fluid therapy for cows?

Answer 34

we cannot do just a CRI because there is too much fluids so we will first do a bolus of hypertonic fluids.
we do 4-5ml/kg for 5 minutes. then the animal should drink. if they don’t drink you do oral drenching

Question 35

which local anaesthetic do use for nerve block of cows and sheep?

Answer 35

procaine