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Pink eye in cattle
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Pink eye in cattle
Last year my herd got hit with pink eye. I had 5 calves that were affected with 2 recovering fully and 2 that have partial site. the last one is blind. How do other cattle farmers deal with pink eye. I purchased some meds for prevention but still concerned about the upcomming spring calving season. Any Comment?
maverickspecial2- Posts : 2
Join date : 2012-03-10
Location : Ohio
Pink Eye in Cattle
Although it is not possible to stop pink-eye in your cattle completely, you can contain it through good management. One of the worst insects for spreading pink-eye from one cow to another is the face fly. By controlling the flies, you will minimize the spread of the pink-eye. You can also vaccinate against the pink eye bacteria, however, as an organic farmer I shy away from these things where I can.
You have to look at the causes, rather than just treating the symptoms. Vitamin A is particularly important for the health of the eyes — an outbreak of pink eye (keratitis or kerato-conjunctivitis) is a sure sign of a deficiency. Feed your cattle cod liver oil. Not only will you not get pink eye, but their coats will shine, and you will see that they are in top health.
It is also important to protect the cattle's eyes from the sunlight when they get pink-eye. If not you will get blindness, which is what happened. There are eye patches that you can purchase, however the trick is making sure that they stay on!
Catching the disease early is most important, because then you have a chance of making the changes and implementing a treatment.
For flies, if you are looking for an organic approach, there are a number of herbs that you can plant around the barn and paddock as hedges that will keep the fly population down. These are tansy, lavender and basil. There are others, but all of these are good for biting flies.
Regards
Kathryn
Countryfarm Lifestyles
You have to look at the causes, rather than just treating the symptoms. Vitamin A is particularly important for the health of the eyes — an outbreak of pink eye (keratitis or kerato-conjunctivitis) is a sure sign of a deficiency. Feed your cattle cod liver oil. Not only will you not get pink eye, but their coats will shine, and you will see that they are in top health.
It is also important to protect the cattle's eyes from the sunlight when they get pink-eye. If not you will get blindness, which is what happened. There are eye patches that you can purchase, however the trick is making sure that they stay on!
Catching the disease early is most important, because then you have a chance of making the changes and implementing a treatment.
For flies, if you are looking for an organic approach, there are a number of herbs that you can plant around the barn and paddock as hedges that will keep the fly population down. These are tansy, lavender and basil. There are others, but all of these are good for biting flies.
Regards
Kathryn
Countryfarm Lifestyles
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