turning grass into beef
Well-known member
My wife is on Facebook. I am not. She came across this post a few days ago (It had a few pictures with it). It is from 2015 by someone named Dusty Hahn. I thought is was well written. I will copy and paste it below.
Dear #Subway, #Chipotle, and all #safefood advocates,
This is a steer calf that was weaned off my ranch, and came to my feedlot a couple days ago. His official ID is 0609, because that is his mother's ear tag number. His momma called him "Moo," but I don't speak cow, so his nickname is Dave. Anyway, it seems Dave contracted foot rot. He got it out on the open range. It's nasty stuff. Like athlete's foot on steroids. It's a bacterial infection. Its scientific name is infectious pododermatitis. Look it up. The definition includes phrases like: "It is extremely painful and contagious," and, "It can be treated with a series of medications, but if not treated, the whole herd can become infected." Yikes! I don't like the sounds of any of that! But luckily, I'm an expert at treating foot rot. So, I captured young Dave in the head catch. He didn't like it much, but anything has to be better than suffering from this foot rot. So, I cleaned out the area between his toes, and as the pic shows... yep, just as I suspected... foot rot. Luckily, since foot rot is a bacterial infection, I have a product called oxytetracycline that is FDA approved for the treatment of foot rot. The product I use is called Bio-Mycin 200. It has an approved dosage amount, which is conveniently located on the label. So, since Dave weighs 550#, he gets 25 milliliters of antibiotic. But, according to Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) guidelines, he can't have more than 10 milliliters of antibiotic in any injection site. Furthermore, Bio-Mycin is labeled, and again approved by the FDA, for administration by intramuscular (in the muscle tissue), subcutaneous (under the skin, between skin and muscle tissue), or intravenous (in a vein, directly into the blood stream) injection. Since I'm a BQA guy, I always opt for the sub Q (under the skin) route whenever possible. So, Dave got 3 injections of about 8 milliliters of oxytet under his skin in the neck area. No antibiotic went into the muscle tissue, and even if it did, Dave's going to be living with me for the next 150 days. The withdrawl period on oxytet is a whopping 28 days. Which means that his system will clear the antibiotic out in a MONTH! That means Dave will be drug-free for over 4 months when he leaves my ranch!! Yay! I could have chosen not to help Dave out, but that just seems WRONG! Plus, since foot rot is extremely contagious, I would just as soon not have his counterparts contracting it, too. I can post another video in 10 days or 2 weeks, but I guarantee that Dave will not be limping, will not be in pain, and will be as healthy as all his buddies. And, that is why I will continue to use antibiotics responsibly and judiciously at my ranch.
#ranchlife #Montana #agriculture #rancherscare
#beef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkNdAVOjiKs
Dear #Subway, #Chipotle, and all #safefood advocates,
This is a steer calf that was weaned off my ranch, and came to my feedlot a couple days ago. His official ID is 0609, because that is his mother's ear tag number. His momma called him "Moo," but I don't speak cow, so his nickname is Dave. Anyway, it seems Dave contracted foot rot. He got it out on the open range. It's nasty stuff. Like athlete's foot on steroids. It's a bacterial infection. Its scientific name is infectious pododermatitis. Look it up. The definition includes phrases like: "It is extremely painful and contagious," and, "It can be treated with a series of medications, but if not treated, the whole herd can become infected." Yikes! I don't like the sounds of any of that! But luckily, I'm an expert at treating foot rot. So, I captured young Dave in the head catch. He didn't like it much, but anything has to be better than suffering from this foot rot. So, I cleaned out the area between his toes, and as the pic shows... yep, just as I suspected... foot rot. Luckily, since foot rot is a bacterial infection, I have a product called oxytetracycline that is FDA approved for the treatment of foot rot. The product I use is called Bio-Mycin 200. It has an approved dosage amount, which is conveniently located on the label. So, since Dave weighs 550#, he gets 25 milliliters of antibiotic. But, according to Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) guidelines, he can't have more than 10 milliliters of antibiotic in any injection site. Furthermore, Bio-Mycin is labeled, and again approved by the FDA, for administration by intramuscular (in the muscle tissue), subcutaneous (under the skin, between skin and muscle tissue), or intravenous (in a vein, directly into the blood stream) injection. Since I'm a BQA guy, I always opt for the sub Q (under the skin) route whenever possible. So, Dave got 3 injections of about 8 milliliters of oxytet under his skin in the neck area. No antibiotic went into the muscle tissue, and even if it did, Dave's going to be living with me for the next 150 days. The withdrawl period on oxytet is a whopping 28 days. Which means that his system will clear the antibiotic out in a MONTH! That means Dave will be drug-free for over 4 months when he leaves my ranch!! Yay! I could have chosen not to help Dave out, but that just seems WRONG! Plus, since foot rot is extremely contagious, I would just as soon not have his counterparts contracting it, too. I can post another video in 10 days or 2 weeks, but I guarantee that Dave will not be limping, will not be in pain, and will be as healthy as all his buddies. And, that is why I will continue to use antibiotics responsibly and judiciously at my ranch.
#ranchlife #Montana #agriculture #rancherscare
#beef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkNdAVOjiKs