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Herd Health Management

Factors Affecting Health of Livestock

Generally animals are born free of diseases of parasites. But they acquire these
maladies either through
1. Contact with diseased animals.
2. Improper sanitation, feeding, care and management
The animals are kept healthy:
1. by confining purchases to healthy herds,
2. by proper quarantine at the time of bringing in new animals
3. by employing sound principles of sanitation, management and feeding
4. by judicial use of appropriate and dependable vaccines and sera for disease
prevention are the practical and economical ways to avoid loss from diseases.
Different kinds of animal diseases:
Factors which are responsible for classification is based on the cause of
1. Infectious diseases 2 Contagious diseases
3 Parasitic diseases 4 Deficiency diseases
4 Metabolic diseases 6 Allergic disorders
5 Poisoning 8 Congenital defects
6 Injuries 10 Miscellaneous troubles
1. Infectious diseases : Infectious diseases are due to a specific organism, bacteria,
virus or protozoa. These may not always be transmitted directly let animals. All infectious
diseases are not contagious but all contagious diseases are infectious
e.g. wooden tongue, tetanus and Lumpy jaw.
2. Contagious diseases: Contagious diseases are those transmitted from one animal to
another by direct or indirect contact. These are also caused by a specific pathogenic organism
parasite
e.g. FMD, Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) and black quarter (BQ) .
3. Parasitic diseases: Parasitic diseases due to different kinds of internal parasites
like stomach worms and external parasites like Mange.
4. Deficiency diseases: Deficiency diseases due to different kinds of nutritional
deficiencies
e.g. Rickets , Goiter .
5. Metabolic diseases: Metabolic diseases due to some kind of an upset in metabolism
that affect important body processes
e.g. Milk fever, Acetonemia.
6. Allergic disorders: Allergic disorders due to allergic reactions
e.g. Photosensitization, Serum shock
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7. Poisoning: Poisoning occur in animals due to eating something that destroys

tissues or interferers with normal body activities
e.g. Sweet clover disease, Cyanide poisoning
8. Congenital defects: Congenital defects due to heredity or improper foetal
development and are found at the time of birth.
e.g. White heifer disease, Free martins,
9. Injuries: Injuries are damages done to body by cuts, blows, falls and other incidents and
result in broken skin surface, fractures etc.
10. Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous troubles include those that cannot be classified under
any other headings.
e.g. Tumours, Prolapsed uterus, Bloat etc.
Sings of illness
Symptoms shown by an animal will help diagnose whether it is healthy or diseased.
Important symptoms of ill health in animals are
1. The general posture of the animals, its movement and behaviour will change.
Animals standing with head down or showing undue weariness or tendency to
separate from the herd.
2. Healthy animals eat greedily. Loss of appetite and stoppage of rumination are
early signs of several diseases – make sure not due unsuitable feed, dirty feedings
troughs or lack of water etc.
3. The skin of animals should be soft elastic and pliable. Skin texture can be felt by
grasping a fold of skin over the side of neck between thumb and forefinger. A
coarse and dry skin indicates diseases.
4. Raised hair coat, falling or brittle and lusterless hair is undesirable. The coat
should not have patches. Patches usually indicate rubbing to relieve irritation
caused by parasites such as lice. The condition of the coat will vary with housing
condition and grooming, but when cattle are infected with worms or having
wasting diseases their coat loses bloom. In sheep the coat must not be dull and
showing signs of falling off.
5. Muzzle and nostrils of healthy animals will be moist and free from any discharges.
The muzzle will be dry in animals having high temperature.
6. Variation in body temperatures can be measured by inserting a clinical
thermometer into the rectum of an animal for half a minute. High temperatures are
usually associated with the increased activity of the body fighting of disease.
Cattle 101.50F (38.60C)
Buffalo 98.30F (36.80C) winter 1030F (39.40C) summer
Sheep 1020F (38.90C)
Goats 102.50F (39.10C)
Pigs 102.60F (39.20C)
Horse 100.50F (38.10C)
Camel Morning 97.00F (36.10C) Evening 100.30F (37.90C)
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7. Variation in pulse rate reflects at which the heart pumps blood through the body.
Cattle – under the tail (coccygeal artery)
Sheep & goats – at lower jaw where it turns up wards or at femoral artery
inside the hind limbs rather more than half way bet stifle and hip joints.In Pigs
as sheep
Cattle 50-60 beats/min
Buffalo 40-50 beats/min
Sheep & Goat 70-80 beats/min
Pig 70-90 beats/min
Horse 36-42 beats/min
Camel 32-44 beats/min
Pulse rate in young and pregnant animals generally higher.
8. Variation in rate and depth of breathing occurs in fevered conditions. The normal
respiration
Cattle 20-25/min
Buffalo 15-20/min
Sheep & Goat 20-30/min
Pig 10-20/min
Horse 8-12/min
Camel 5-12/min
Respiration rate can be measured by counting the rises or falls of flanks with
each respiration or by counting the hot gushes of expired air blowing against
back of palm kept near the nostril of an animal.
9. The eyes in healthy animals are bright and alert. Sunken eyes with a fixed staring
look often accompany the onset of fever. Discharge from both the eyes indicates a
systemic ailment.
10. Dung of healthy cows should be semi-solid in consistency, rich green, free from
gas bubbles or blood clots.
11. Urine should be clear and straw colored. It should not be dark or bloody in color.
12. Vulva and tail should not show any evidence of discharge from the genital organs.
13. Change in quality and quantity of milk yield is one of the early symptoms in
several diseases. Blood and clots in milk indicate mastitis.
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Prevention of diseases/controlling
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is the watch word for herd health
management. The objective of herd health program

To minimize

Non-genetic culling
Mortality
Economic losses due to diseases

This is achieved by

The systematic prevention of diseases and other health problems

rather than

Sporadic treatment of various conditions

This needs daily observations of herd, keep adequate health records, feed and manage well
and provide a sanitary and healthy environment in animal shed by the farm manager.
Appropriate vaccinations programs, prompt and correct diagnosis and treatment, pregnancy
test etc. are the responsibilities of the veterinarian. Some targets for achievement in herds
1 Calf mortality below 8 %
2 Adult mortality below 3 %
3 non-genetic culling below 15 %
Health care programs vary from farm to farm, however the basic principles remain the same.

1 Disease prevention
a) Preventing the animals from getting exposed to infectious organisms.
Good sanitation and cleanliness, quarantine of oncoming animals and eradication of certain
diseases etc. are important steps in this direction.
b) Maintaining a high degree of resistance by
i) Vaccination against diseases.
ii) Providing adequate nutrition
iii) Ensuring a comfortable environment.
2 Reducing the spread of diseases that do occur by
a) Quick accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment.
b) Isolation of sick and in contact animals.
c) Elimination of carriers
d) Proper disposal of carcass
e) Control of vectors
3 Maintaining and using an accurate health record system.
Good records are useful in the diagnosis of problem, help alert herdsmen to
potential problems and ensure that important details
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First step to control a disease in its diagnosis. Once it is known control

measures should be based on
1. the knowledge causal agent
2. the way it is eliminated from animal body
3. the mode of infection.
As soon as an outbreak occurs:
1. Segregate apparently sick animals.
2. Stop all animals, vehicles and persons coming into the farm.
3. Gear up sanitation and hygiene
4. Call in a veterinarian for advice.
The control measures constitute:
a. Certain steps to be taken routinely for the elimination of potential
harbourers of disease.
b. Steps to be taken in the case of an actual disease outbreak.
Isolation
Means segregation of animals which are known to be or suspected to be
affected with a contagious disease from the apparently healthy. Such segregated animals
should be housed in a separate isolation ward situated for away from the normal animal
houses or one end of normal buildings away from healthy stock.
Attendants working on sick animals and equipments used for them should not
be used for healthy stock. If it is not practicable i.e. the same man attends both sick and
healthy, then sick must be attended to last daily and the attendant must take due precaution, to
cleanse himself before passing the non-infected stock. The period of isolation must extend
beyond the recovery of animal i.e. full recovery.
Quarantine
means separation of the apparently healthy animals (especially animals bring
brought into the herd for the first time) that have been exposed to the risk of infection from
those animals that are healthy and unexposed to the risk of infection. The object of quarantine
is to give sufficient time to disease that the quarantined animals may have to become active
and obvious. Quarantine time or periods depends on the incubation period of a disease. 30
days of quarantine period covers almost all diseases – rabies six months, FMD 15 days.
Sanitation is a process of adopting hygienic measures which nullifies the factors
which deteriorate health and create conditions to secure production of good quality products.
It removes most of germs and parasites along with dirt. It includes the following points
1 Proper sanitation discovers causes of all preventable diseases.
2 To provide most favorable conditions of life in respect of water, air, well
sanitized sheds etc.
3 To increase the efficiency of animals.
4 To make life vigorous and productive.
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5 Decrease rate of mortality and increase longevity of animal.

6 Prevent occurrence of diseases and establishes conditions that ensure
preservation of health.
7 Minimum contamination and production of good quality milk and milk
products.
Sanitation program means
1 Adequate ventilation
2 Proper lighting
3 Adequate drainage
4 Proper cleaning
5 Proper disinfection
Cleaning and disinfection
Disinfection means the conversion of a place, person or thing from a
potentially infective state into free from infection. Cleansing of infective material is a
necessary combination with disinfection as micro-organisms find temporary resting places in
and are hidden by dirt and dust.
Disinfectant: Disinfectant is an agent that destroys pathogenic organisms and their
spores.
Efficient disinfectant: is one which does the work required of it with in reasonable
limit of time.
Suitable disinfectant: is an efficient disinfectant that does not materially damage
other substances with which it is brought in contact and which is especially adapted to the
particular purpose for which it is used.
Disinfectants may be physical or chemical.
Physical Air/wind, sunlight, heat and electricity
Chemical Gases, solids or liquids
Fresh Air and Wind: Fresh air and wind are germicidal though their action is slow.
Fresh air has an oxidizing effect which is enhanced if it is well charged with ozone. It dries
up moist dirt that holds bacteria and desiccates micro organisms.
Sunlight: Sunlight posses strong disinfecting properties. Animal houses must be so
constructed that sunlight falls in the sheds during the day for some time - Virtue of violet
ultra-violet rays.
Heat: Application of heat by steam by hot water, by burning or by boiling is an
effective method of disinfection, though some time it is not priceable to use heat.
Utility, strength, specificity etc. of some common chemicals, disinfectant (method of
application):
Bleaching powder (chloride of lime) not < 30% available chlorine (dusting)
Boric acid 6% solution (splashing)
Caustic soda 2% solution for general use
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5% against spores of anthrax, black quarter

(splashing)
Cresols 2-3% (splashing)
Lime, CaO, burnt lime deodorant as well as disinfectant, (sprinkling,
scrubbing or dusting)
Phenol (carbolic acid) 1-2% (splashing)
Quaternary ammonium compounds
(QAC) (Dairy sanitizers) 0.1% solution
0.5% cream (teats and hands)
Wiping of udder with wetted clothes in 0.1%
solution
Na- hypochlorite 300ml Na- hypochlorite + 200 gm washing soda
in 100 liters of hot H2O for utensils
60ml + 10 liters clean H2O for udder wash/
rinsing, wiping
Washing soda 4% solution (scrubbing)

Vaccination schedule in Bovine dairy farm and nature of immunity

Name of Type of vaccination Time of vaccination Duration of

disease immunity
impaired
Foot & Mouth Polyvalent culture vaccine At about 6 months of age One season
with booster dose 4 months
late, thereafter yearly once (
September – October)
Rinderpest Tissue culture vaccine or Once in 3 years 3-4 years
lapinised avianised vaccine
for extic xbred cattle,
caprinised vaccine for zebu
Anthrax Spore vaccine Once in an year ( Pre One season
monsoon period)
Haemorrhagic Oil adjutant Once in an year ( Pre One season
septicaemia monsoon period)
Black quarter Polyvalent vaccine Once in an year ( Pre One season
monsoon period)
Tuberculosis B.C.G vaccine At about 6 months of age, 1 or 2 years
to be repeated every 2-3
years
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Disposal of carcasses
Disposal of carcasses may be disposed of by sending them to knackery or to a
destructor or by burial or cremation.
Proper disposal of carcasses of animals died of contagious diseases is of
utmost importance in preventing the spread of diseases. Carcasses should never be disposed
off by depositing them near or in a stream of flowing water. An animal died of contagious
disease should not be allowed to remain longer in sheds as biting insects rodents etc. can
reach it.
Burial of carcasses: Burial of carcasses most common method, safe reasonably if
done deeply enough and in soil from which there is no drainage to neighbouring places. It
helps to prevent worms carrying bacterial spores to the surface and jackals. Pit should be
1.5m deep so that highest part of carcass buried in the pit.
Burning of carcasses: The most sanitary method of destroying carcasses close to the
site of their death without dragging them. Trench should be dug 0.5 m deep, shallower
towards the ends and comparting in width and length to the carcasses size.
Control of internal parasites
The adult parasites i.e. (round worm, tape worms and flukes) live in the main
host i.e the farm animal and lay large number of eggs that are voided outside through excreta
of the hosts. These eggs, under optimal condition of temperature and humidity hatch out. The
resulting larvae generally enter an intermediate host i.e. (fresh water, land snails, slugs, ants,
insects, beetles, man, pig etc.). The infective forms of the larvae after coming out of the
intermediate host harbour themselves on herbage to be grazed by animals. In case of round
worms (about 1/3rd or those affecting animals), the parasites follow the same cycle with
exception that that there is not intermediate host. Eggs hatch and infective form settle on
herbage.
The aim of control of internal parasites should be:
1. Ridding the animal off internal parasites by deworming.
2. Preventing infestation of animals by keeping premises free from infective forms
of parasites known as disinfestations.
3. Elimination of intermediate hosts.
Deworming: Young – every month, older – 4-6 months intervals
In hot and humid areas it is almost essential to deworm livestock regularly when
anthelmintics (deworming agents) are used all the animals in the herd or locality should be
dewormed so that the drug becomes an ecological agent rather than a means of treating
affected animals.
To obtain maximum benefits from anthelmintic treatments and to affect
economy in their use, the drug to be used, the timing of medication and class of animals to be
medicated must be carefully selected in order to combat worm infestations at a stage when
they have little opportunity to harm their hosts. The most suitable time of deworming is
early stages of infection when the worm load is less
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Commonly used anthelmintics

Anthelmintic Worms
Piperazine salt Ascarids and nodular worms
Thiabendazole Strongyles and other worms
Phenothiazine Strongylosis
Hexachloroethane Flukes, stomach worms of ruminants
Carbon tetrachloride Liver flukes in sheep
Hexachlorophene Round and tape worm
Dicestol Tape worm

Disinfection: Comprises of eliminating sources of parasitic infection, preventing

animals from sources of infestations and elimination of intermediate hosts. To achieve this
following points are:
1. Prompt and proper disposal of manure and other filth from farm.
2. Regular scrubbing and cleaning of feed and water troughs as well as white
washing – once a week.
3. No stagnation of water in and around the animal houses.
4. Better to have piped water supply to farm animals.
5. Housing animals in clean houses with paved floors. Younger animals should never
be mixed with older ones.
6. Proper deworming of all such animals before putting them in a shed or farm.
7. If grazing is practiced adopt rotational grazing. Feeding of cultivated fodders is
more helpful in checking pasture borne infections.
8. To prevent humans from defecating on pastures or around farm – tape worms.
9. Control of snail population may result in control of liver fluke infestation CuSO 4
in infected area, ponds, streams.
Control of ectoparasites
Insects (flies, ticks, mites, fleas, lice) are harmful to animals directly by biting, blood sucking,
irritating etc. as well as indirectly by transmitting bacterial, viral and protozoan diseases.
Abodes of insects: Manure, filth, damp and dark corners, stagnant water etc. are all
favorite breeding places of insects. Eggs of ticks and mites deposited in cracks, in the walls,
floors and wood works of the animal farms or on pastures, hatch out and larvae feed on
animals during certain duration of their life cycles. Mites also live on animals’ skin. Lice and
fleas are more or less host specific and live on animals. Control should be aimed at clearing
the abodes of arthropod parasites as well as ridding the animals and animal surroundings of
them.
Control measures:
1. Periodical (once in April-June and once in July-September) dipping or spraying of
animals with suitable insecticides, malathion, parathion, etc.
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2. Inside of animal house should be scrubbed and cleaned daily to remove filth –
house dry and clean. No stagnation of water, airy with sunlight.
3. Interior of animal sheds should be cleared regularly of cobwebs and spider webs
and sprayed with insecticides at least once in a month.
4. Dusting of animals with lorexane, gammexame to control flies etc.
5. Treatment of individual animals that are seriously affected with Mange myasis
(larval infestation of tissues) – use the benzyl benzoate.
Administration of medicine
Drenches: are used to give medicines in liquid forms and should be employed in cases of
respiratory complaints because of increased risk of choking.
Boluses (balls) pills.
Electuaries: These are thick viscid mixture prepared with treacle and placed on the molar
teeth or back of the tongue. Powders are often given by this method. Common way of giving
medicine for respiratory complaints or when swallowing is difficult
Stomach tube
Injections I/V, S/C, I/M
Intra mammary infusions
Inhalations