COWS CREATE

CAREERS

By 'Ragazze di Uptown'

Introducing… POPPIN & PUMBA!

• These two beautiful baby girl calves arrived at Avila on the 30th of August. They came from farmer Lyndsay Anderson's farm in Drouin. Their identification numbers are 7413 for Pumba and 9743 for Poppin. We kept the calves in a concrete shed, with a fenced enclosure of about 10 square metres. In the fenced area lots of hay was placed on the ground for the calves. In the unfenced area, we kept all equipment needed to care for the calves eg. Food and measuring equipment.

INTRODUCING POPPIN AND PUMBA

• On the baby girls first day at Avila, they first appeared to be timid in the new environment and seemed startled by all the new people that were surrounding them, but it didn't take them very long to settle in.

• Some problems that we encountered were that Popping insisted on drinking out of the bucket feeder instead of the feeder bottle, it took her a few days to grow out of this.

• We also found it a little difficult to do the measurements of the calves, but this was due to them being timid and still not used to everything.

THE TASKS• The tasks that we had

to do with the cows were feeding them, cleaning out their sleeping area, checking their weight and health and giving them TLC! One group every day would have a morning duty, lunchtime duty and an after school duty.

MORNING DUTY• Every morning we had to

remove any soiled straw from the cows sleeping area, feed the calves their breakfast, replace water, calf starter and feeding hay. After the cows had been fed the cleaning equipment was thoroughly cleaned by one person while another monitored each of the cows behavior on the behavior checklist. The main morning duty was feeding Poppin and Pumba their milk. Pumba was a hungry little cow straight from when we got her and we had no problems feeding her. Poppin on the other hand didn’t like drinking out of the bottle so we had to feed her from a gray milk tub that you could hang on the fence.

LUNCHTIME• At lunchtime we made

sure that the cows were ok.

• We measured their weight and temperature and showed them dome good old T.L.C!

• We also made sure that their bedding was clean enough to last until the end of the day

AFTER SCHOOL• The after school duty

is done the same way as the morning duty. We had to feed the cows, clean their hay out, make sure measurements were done and play and have fun with them! Then we locked them in for the night and even sung a lullaby or two!

JERSEY CATTLEJersey cattle originated on the largest island in the Channel Islands, called Jersey, which is just off the coast of the coast of France. Jersey is the only type of cattle found on the island and the purity of the breed has been maintained thanks to a strict ban on imports of other stock to the island.

Jersey cows have traditionally been bred for their milk. Although they have been bred for their meat this idea is not as common as breeding them as dairy cows.

The quality of the milk produced by this breed is widely known for its excellence. It is extremely nutritional and scientists have proved that Jersey cows are more efficient in their milk production than other cows and this can be very helpful when large orders need to be shipped. Compared to the ‘average milk’, milk produced by the Jersey cow contains 25% more butterfat, 18% more protein and 20% more calcium.

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Poppin

Pumba

GRAPHS

This graph shows the heart rates measured over the time the cows were staying with us. The results are quite even throughout with a few exceptions which were probably because of incorrect measurement because there was nothing unhealthy about the cows. Some days don’t have measurements of heart rate as the calves were sometimes too excited and it was very difficult to get the stethoscope steady.

Weight

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The weight of the calves was measured every day using a special tape measure which converts the centimeters into kilograms. There are some large varies in the data recorded because the technique of measurement (eg. tape placement, firmness, etc.) depended on who was measuring which changed everyday. The cows weight appears to be at a slower gain rate on days when they were having trouble eating, especially for Poppin who wouldn’t use the standard bottle. At times when they were feeding aggressively and have healthy looking manure their weight is showing a steady gain. Although the graph is a little up and down, there is a clear overall weight gain for both claves.

PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTERED

During the cows stay, fortunately there were not too many problems encountered.

One of the few was the fact that Poppin was having trouble with feeding. She would not feed from the normal feeding bottle that we were using for Pumba, and would become very uncomfortable and restless when it came to feeding time.

This issue was fixed by a simple changing of bottles. Pumba would still use the original feeding bottle, whilst Poppin would use a bucket feeder, which she found a lot easier and less stressful to feed from. No other problems were met, the cows had a smooth and relaxing stay at Avila.

OVERALL OUTCOMEWhen Poppin and Pumba came to Avila, our goal was to make the calves gain as much weight as possible and to hand them back to their farmer as healthy as possible.

Popping and Pumba each started out weighing under 40kgs. When they departed they weighed around 42kgs-50kgs. Overall that is a good result for us, and we were quite happy with it.

By the end both calves were feeding very well and feeling quite comfortable in their new environments.

During this program, our group learnt how to feed and handle calves effectively. And how to work and manage animals in general. By using a roster system we also improved out skills in group work.

Overall we thought that this project was very beneficial for much needed skills for later in life.

PESTS AND DISEASESUnfortunately, just like all other aspects of life there are downfalls to dairy farming. One particular problem that can be very serious if not prevented or properly treated is the issue of pests and diseases in cattle.

Bovine Johnes disease, or BJD, is a fatal disease caused by a particular bacteria called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis.

Although the effects of the disease are not usually noticed until the cow is a few years old (the effects usually appear after a stressful experience), the cattle are usually infected with it before they are even 12 months old. The bacteria that spreads the disease can live in swampy or wet grassy areas of farm land.

The disease can be treated and the usual method of treatment is doses of isoniazid and rifampicin over a period of nine months.

The disease can be controlled in different ways depending on the situation. All infected cattle should be moved away from healthy cattle to undergo treatment and to make sure that the healthy cattle do not become infected.

There are also programs developed to make sure that the disease doesn’t spread to other properties or states.

BOVINE JOHNES

MASTITISMastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland and blockage of the milk ducts and is causes by various bacteria entering the body of the cow.

Mastitis can also appear in cattle through unhygienic milking, injuries on teats, and unhealthy environment that is being lived in or it can be caught from other infected cattle.

Infected cattle should be removed from the herd and treated with antibiotics. The disease can be prevented by knowing the correct way to care for and milk the cattle and keeping their living area clean and dry.

Special antibiotics can be given to the infected animal and the damaged teat and the teat canal should be disinfected.

GRASS TETANYGrass Tetany is also disease that dairy cattle are prone to. It causes a large inconvenience in the health of cattle. The disease is prone to cattle who have extremely low blood magnesium levels from low magnesium levels in food or after pregnancy when a heifer must provide for her calf.The symptoms of the disease include things like restlessness, aggressiveness, staggers, being excitable and an ‘over-alert’ looking appearance. In severe cases, which are less common, cattle can experience seizures or just unexpectedly die.Grass Tetany can be caused by cattle changing paddocks, grazing in pasture or crops without having any hay, and undernourishment or profound use of nitrogen and/or potash fertilizer on food can also play a part.

The disease can be easily treated but will only have a positive effect if the treatment is given without delay. A simple calcium and magnesium solution can be injected under the skin to flow throughout the body. The cow should be left to rest after medication.For dairy cattle, they are at risk of catching the disease one month before, and two months after calving. If they are supplied with adequate amounts of magnesium during these times they should be prevented from developing the illness.

MILK FEVERMilk Fever is associated with cattle who are about to calve or have just given birth and is caused by a lack of calcium in the blood stream.

The cows are usually not affected by the illness if they have only had one calf. Cows that have given birth to two or more calves are more commonly diagnosed with Milk Fever.A cow who is playing host to the disease will first become unsteady on their hind legs before they eventually can’t hold themselves up and will collapse under their own weight.

Milk Fever can be treated by injecting a calcium solution into the neck vein of the infected cow.To avoid the disease, cattle should be constantly observed for signs of Milk Fever around times of calving especially if cows have given birth before. Calcium levels should also try to be kept at appropriate levels through correct and beneficial feeding during the gestation period.

To keep pests and diseases in animals and plants under control, there are many jobs throughout the nation that are involved in this. They would require specific qualifications and knowledge about pests and diseases. Some of them are:

-Zoologist -Vet-Marine Biologist-RSPCA Animal Attendant-Farmer-Customs Worker (quarantine)-Forest Ranger-Land Surveyor-Animal Keeper-Animal Breeder

CAREER OPTIONS

By Ayesha, Emma, Laura and Ella