OAK ISLAND

OXEN HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION.

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      Occasionally, an ox teamster will come to me and ask what he or she did wrong when their ox got sick. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen very often as oxen have very strong constitutions and possess great immune systems. There are a few things to consider, though, when preventing, or dealing with their few illnesses. Proper nutrition and cleanliness are paramount. Employ proper bedding, and ensure timely removal of excrement. Keep rats, mice, birds, and other nuisance animals from contaminating any food areas. Ensure paddocks and pastures are free of lead, putty, batteries, motor oil, old leaded paint, antifreeze, fertilizer, chokecherries, lupins, cocklebur, bracken fern, lechuguilla, rubberweed, milkweed, water hemlock, lambskill, castor bean, sorghum, sudan grass, jimsonweed, buttercup, and rhubarb. Brushing, washing (no water in the eyes or ears), clipping, and combing are beneficial ways, while bonding, to check and keep your animal clean and parasite-free. Check for ticks, warts, fleas, warbles, lice, mites, and ringworm. Check the jaw line for hard lumps, and the tongue for hardness. Check in and around his eyes for cloudiness, undue redness, sunburn, skin growths, swelling, or weeping. Check his feet and hooves for inflammation, soreness, foul odour, cracks, laminitis, and improper foot posture.

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            If you suspect any malaise, observe the following conditions and behaviours. This will help you analyse a simple, solvable problem, or at least, give you much information you can relay to a veterinarian if and when you call for aid. Obtain the animal’s temperature. It should be between 100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 to 38.9 Celsius). Is he breathing properly meaning 15 to 35 breaths a minute, or is he raspy, coughing or choking? Is he eating and chewing his cud properly? Is he defecating and peeing regularly? Is he stretching, straining, lying down too long, or standing prolongingly with an arched back acting stiff? Is he staring, worried, rigid, depressed, lame, wobbly, or bloated? Observe the conditions around his eyes, nose, mouth, sheath, rectum, joints, and feet. Does he have any sores, cuts, bumps, abrasions, or skin ailments?

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Some common infirmities affecting an animal, as a young calf or older ox are:

• Blackleg – may occur in a weight-gaining animal under 2 years old. Will appear lame, stiff, and breathing fast, with high fever, body swelling, and no appetite. Could lead to a swift death. Vaccine available.

• Bloat – gas build-up in stomach. Often occurs with sudden diet change, so avoid. Besides large, over-stretched belly, may appear stomping his feet, kicking at his belly, breathing heavy, urinating, and defecating frequently. Pressure must be relieved soon by administering vegetable oil, mineral oil, or other anti-foaming agent via a stomach tube; or with the insertion of a trocar and cannula; or in dire emergency situations, puncturing the abdomen in the correct spot with the tip of a clean knife. Odour will be foul-smelling. Beware of infection.

• Foot rot – seen as feet swollen, hoof foul-smelling, walking painful, and animal may have a fever. Avoid constant standing in mud, wet areas, or other contaminated water sources.

• Hardware – ingestion of small nails, wire, fence staples, and other metal items leading to obstruction of food movement and digestion. Animal may exhibit an arched back and move stiffly. A cow magnet imbedded will, usually, prevent ill effects.

• Pinkeye – area around eye appears red and swollen; eyes weepy and somewhat closed, commonly seen when flies are plentiful in summer. Very treatable with medication. Make sure animal has adequate minerals and vitamins.

• Ringworm – contagious, crusty, circular, greyish scab on skin that itches and burns. Troublesome to treat, even with an iodine solution, but, usually, doesn’t reoccur for the life of the animal. Vaccine available.

• Scours – occurs early in life. Seen as vile diarrhoea. Animal appears sluggish, dehydrated, and stunted. Important for calf to receive colostrum. Good hygiene very important, especially around milk and milk replacing products. Giving electrolyte very beneficial, as well as Keopectate.

• Shipping fever – commonly seen when transporting younger animals. Will appear as coughing, breathing hard, having a high temperature, and weak. When moving an animal, keep warm and draft-free. A time of quarantine will eliminate an outbreak. Vaccine available.

• Coccidiosis – usually occurs in younger animals. May have a rough coat, diarrhea, no appetite, weak, strained defecation, and poor weight. Caused by internal parasites. Important to keep pastures and paddocks clean and dry.

• IBR – (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis). Often called ‘rednose’ because of red-coloured, ulcerated nasal region. Common cause of shipping fever. Vaccine available.

• Leptospirosis – may be seen as bloody urine and yellowish mucous. Caused from contaminated water and food sources. Keep these areas clean. Vaccine available.

• Navel ill – occurs in very young animals. High fever; no appetite; hot, stiff joints with swollen, very sensitive naval. Make sure calf receives colostrum as a newborn, and has navel treated with iodine solution.

• Warts – caused by virus, usually, in younger animals. Warts will run their course, then fall off. Contagious, so separate an affected animal from others.

• Urethral calculi - blockage of the urethra because of calcium stones. Animal appears unable to stretch or pee. Make sure to offer plenty of water.

• White muscle – young animal losing the use of legs. Remember to give vitamin E/selenium injection as a newborn.

• Winter dysentery – type of scours brought on by virus with sudden temperature changes in winter time. Kaopectate works well.

• Choking – caused by improperly ingested food items such as apples or potatoes. It’s very beneficial to have apples, potatoes, etc. cut up, or, at least, ensure animal is not hurried or combating when eating suspect foodstuff.

• Acidic rumen – occurs when gut PH drops below 5.5. Will appear with a dull coat, no appetite, little to no cud chewing, diarrhoeic, and shocked. Don’t feed too much grain, and assure enough roughage.

• Lump jaw – hard lump on jawbone, or jawbone area. Caused by bacteria entering the lining of the mouth. Develops over several months, and may be hard to treat. Causes chewing and breathing difficulties. Don’t feed rough, stalky, roughage.

• Wooden tongue – caused by same bacteria as above resulting in painful chewing. Tongue turns hard like a board, partially protruding from mouth, and animal often drools. Early antibiotic treatment important. Again, don’t feed overly-coarse roughage.

• Colic-like impaction – obstruction of food through the gut. Animal may be prone to this due to his eating, chewing, and swallowing habits. Offer plenty of water.

• Loss of cud chewing – may happen when animal is sick, stressed or tired. Remedies include: offering a different food item; yeast and warm water; placing a handful of cud from an abattoir into his mouth; or forcing a salted herring down the gullet (never seen this remedy fail).

• Laminitis – hooves inflamed, painful, or internally damaged resulting in being sensitive, narrowed, and thin with circular, bumpy lines or rings. Often occurs with a fat, high-grain-amount fed animal, especially one kept on a hard surface.

• White line disease – slight or conspicuous, hollow line between inner sole and wall of hoof. May result in sore foot and limping. Caused by bacteria from wet, contaminated areas. Copper napthenate and turpentine are effective remedies.

• Hard, contracted hooves – overly hard, flaky, brittle, possibly cracked hooves. May appear walking stiff, stumbling, and encumbered. Occurs when standing on dry floors and spaces constantly. Avoid this by letting an animal travel through clean water holes, grassy fields, and forest trails.

• Difficult eating – often occurs when getting old, and teeth are bad or missing. May have to chop up fibrous feed material, and offer more grain, or soft foods. Also, a mature ox may be seemingly ‘off’ his food for a bit because he has a bad tooth. Usually observed in this case is a few days of him working his tongue, extracting the bad tooth and then regaining regular eating.

• Yellow line disease – occurs when an ox wanders onto a busy highway. Can be very expensive to owner(s). Keep fences in good repair.

 

If one keeps these proper preventative measures in mind when dealing with oxen, there should be very few instances of wondering what he or she may have done wrong. Remember, vaccines are available for many maladies.

 

COMMON OX HEALTH BASICS

 

If one wants to keep oxen, or any cattle, healthy and disease free, he or she needs to have certain items at their disposal, and be familiar with their use. These include, but may not be limited to:

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• Solid salt blocks, either blue or red (more trace minerals), are beneficial for oxen; also, can be offered loose.

• Suitable tweezers for tick removal.

• Rectal thermometer.

• Cattle magnet.

• Electrolyte.

• Stomach tube.

• Different sizes of syringes.

• Trocar and cannula.

• Iodine solution.

• Vitamin E/Selenium.

• Balling guns (or bolus guns).

• Ivermectin, and other related medicines.

• Fly control spray, lotion, or powder.

• Pinkeye medication.

• Copper napthenate.

• And grooming supplies.

 

     If unfamiliar with any or all of these articles, and the procedures utilized with them, make an appointment with your local veterinarian. He or she will be only too glad to explain the proper knowledge and techniques you need to know. Say to the veterinarian, I have an ox, or oxen, and I want to be informed about the following, and have this list based on the above items, or something similar, to present to him or her.

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• What type of salt blocks or additives to give an ox based on soil conditions in the area?

• How to properly remove a tick.

• How to use and read a rectal thermometer.

• How to deliver a cow magnet.

• What types of electrolytes are there, and how do I administer them, and can I make my own?

• How to properly use a stomach tube.

• Where and how to use a syringe both intramuscularly and subcutaneously.

• How and when to use a trocar and cannula.

• What vaccines are available?

• Why and how to administer iodine solutions, Vitamin E and selenium.

• How to use balling, or bolus, guns which mainly come in two sizes.

• When and how to properly apply Ivermectin, and other like substances.

• How to administer other medications such as a pinkeye remedy, or copper napthenate.

• When and how to employ fly prevention measures, especially for those pesty horseflies.

• And what grooming tools work the best?

 

     A lot of satisfaction will come from a visit with your veterinarian, and much peace of mind knowing how to deal with most ailments you may encounter with your ox. With any medications, beware of expiration dates, and keep medicines in safe, suitable locations.

 

 

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