As county fairs across the nation begin, a K-State Livestock Specialist offers some reminders for youth participants on caring for their livestock.
One of the key points is the importance of maintaining animal health.
According to Joel Derouchey, “One of the things and when we get into this time of year, we just want to make sure that they’re staying cool at home, but part of that too is that they’re healthy, and again, as we get closer to fair, most— for our market animals that will end up going to a locker or to be sold for the meat for somebody else, we have to really start to be cognizant of withdrawal times and so we’d encourage if an animal does get sick here before fair... working with the veterinarian to make sure we’re using the proper antibiotics if needed.”
To minimize the risk of illness spreading among animals at the fair and to help with airflow in the barn, he suggests some practical steps for setting up their pens.
“One of the things is we look at both from an illness and then just a comfort to coolness standpoint. Oftentimes some of the barns are going to be arranged so all the fans go the same way, that may keep all the airflow going so all the animals stay cooler... then also from a health standpoint, you know those animals are very much intermixed. And so again, as you try and have any separation, that’s possible a lot times trying to prevent nose-to-nose contact. We recognize that’s really hard when a lot of these pens and you’ll be penned next to somebody else that may, that has livestock, but we do encourage if there’s enough space. That’s where you can create your tack pens and basically have tack in a pen... and anytime we decrease nose-to-nose contact with an animal— that is certainly a huge plus,” he adds.
To also mitigate risk, he encourages families to use personal buckets or containers to water their animals, rather than relying on shared water sources.
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