Your livestock preventative program?

[DixyDoodle]

Just curious what everyone else gives to their livestock (in particular, horses, goats, and chickens) on a preventative basis, to keep them from getting ill. My main concern is that occasionally I get new livestock in and want to make sure my own are well and healthy, and not going to likely catch anything from a newcomer. Sure, I ty to quarantine as much as I can, but sometimes this is not practical. And sometimes livestock looks healthy, and then 3 days later it doesn't (or in the case of one goat I had, IT stayed looking healthy, but mysteriously, several of my healthy does got pinkeye. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not).

I know some people are into herbal preventatives (such as DE) as well, so please feel free to post them also. I really don't want to go giving my animals a lot of chemical stuff that they don't really need, but if putting a dash of this or that into their food occasionally will keep the "bugs" away, perhaps sometimes that's the lesser of two evils. Particularly when I have, for example, cats and chickens that free range, so if they got a disease, there is a chance they could spread it from one breed to another, if only by the bottom of their feet.

Right now, I just get yearly shots from the vet. No meds in any food. Should I? The only other med I can think of offhand is worm meds for the horses(which they get every 3 months, which is rotated from brand to brand), not sure what I can use on goats, store stock for them is very limited here.

[stanb999]

I'm sorry to sound trite but the best medicine is......
Plenty of room.
Fresh water.
fresh feed with good variety.
Good dry shelter and feet.

If you can do this most animals will prosper. The ones that don't perhaps shouldn't.

[DQ]

The best thing you can do for your animals is practice good basic husbandry (beyond the scope of this thread but stan covered alot of it adn it didn't sound trite at all ),cull poor doers and buy from others who do the same. most "natural" medicines and supplements have very little even anecdotal evidence to support their effectiveness and even less hard evidence. I think you are looking at it in a too simplistic way. the body is very complicated. the immune system of a strong healthy animal will be far more effective at preventing infection than any additive to their feed could hope to be. you will find alot of stuff out there that says "supports the immune system". the only reason it might do that is because it is providing something that is likely lacking in the diet (in my opinion). for example...if you were lacking adequate amounts of vit. c in your diet, than a vitamin c supplement could be construed as an immune support supplement, and often is.

it is better to look to how their bodies were designed to interact with the enviroment to be successful and work that into your management plan. only worm when you need to through fecal analysis, any worming on a set schedule and rotating every time is an outdated managment practice and contributes to the development of resistant worms. if you encounter lots of worm problems you need to check feeding practices and dietary deficiencys to make sure they are not ultimatly responsible for the reinfection rate. quarantine is a pain in the rear, but as you found out the consequences of not quarantining can be more so. that makes it prudent to practice it.

the farther outside of the "natural range" of productivity or enviroment you expect your animals to operate in the more additives you will have to use. again for example.... for a dairy goat to produce the rather unnatural amounts of milk that is usually expected they will need concentrates added to their diet which is not the food type that their rumens were designed to cope with originally, although selective breeding has altered that to some extent. it then becomes a delicate balancing act adding enough concentrates to support the milk production without upseting the natural flora in the gut.

thats my very long 2c

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Ours only get medication if they show signs of getting sick/worms/scours/etc. Otherwise with good management and lots of healthy feed they don't need anything. No regular worming or vaccines here!

[Christiaan]

The only vaccinations I give are CDT for the goats, annually, because of the prevalence of both the diseases and goats in this area. Any cattle that will be leaving the place alive, that's just the heifers, get a Bang's shot per law.
Worming: the cattle get pour-on Ivomec twice yearly. The goats only after a flotation test. I have very little problems with internal parasites because I have the chickens (and this year the crows!) cleaning up the pastures. Much better than any chemicals. DO NOT alternate worming meds, this only increases the parasites resistance. Use one until it is no longer effective, then switch to another.
The only problem I get occasionally in the chickens are scale mites. These take 4 or more years to cripple the bird and I cull at 3 years so its not a problem. Because my chickens have complete run of the place it is impossible to eradicate the mites. I'm sure the visits from the wild turkeys, ducks and geese don't help matters.

[Shirley]

We don't give our animals anything other than to get rid of worms (from grazing). We feed them well and grain them thru the winter months.
Immunize them from what when there is no disease in our area and that includes no mosquitos (west nile).

[travlnusa]

Do not doctor an animal that is not ill. It is a waste of money and it annoys the critter.

I vaccinate cattle based on where they are most likely to head off to.

I worm them twice a year, always rotating between pour on and injectable.

Seperate new additons for at least 2 weeks upon arriving at my place.

Be with animals every day to see problems when they are small.

[DixyDoodle]

Gee, well, I guess I just assumed most people were using some sort of preventative program? LOL Similar to when you worm your horses, etc.

I have very little problems with internal parasites because I have the chickens (and this year the crows!) cleaning up the pastures.

The concern I have is what if my free-ranging poultry pics up something like coccidosis (sp?) from a wild animal and spreads it to my other critters. That they go around cleaning up my yard is exactly why it is such a concern to me. Theoretically, it's possible, right? I just thought maybe an occasional dose of "something" would head such things off at the pass, so to speak. I don't want to pen up my chickens though, because yes, they do an awesome job of picking up insects.

DO NOT alternate worming meds, this only increases the parasites resistance. Use one until it is no longer effective, then switch to another.

With horses at least, it is generally preferred to switch because horses tend to pick up different parasites (eg, bots) at certain times of the year. Many believe that not allowing parasites to have time to adjust to certain meds is preferable.....although I'm sure some disagree!

Anyone use holistic-type preventatives. I know there is DE, is there anything else?

[RedHogs]

Dixy, I think you will find many of answers here on this board will be inline with the majority of users....That is not to say that it is the only way or even the majority way in farming.

I vacinate a regular 7 way every 5 months ,
I worm on a 28 day cycle
I feed medicated feed to the very young

I participate in a state and federal validation and testing program with drawn blood being tested according to a percentage of current threat level every 90 days.

I have been somewhat lax in years past of using farm quarintine, but after a close call last fall.. I am religous about separation of any new, or reentry animal on the farm with a blood test.

Biosecurity is concern number one on my farm, I have a farm sign that reads.....BioSecurity: RISK, RESPONSE, RESPONSIBILITY with a finger pointing at you.

Many on here may disagree, but the cost associated with restocking quality pedigreed stock...I feel it is a necessary responsibility..... If a farm is out to lose $500 dollars in animals, the cost of the preventative measure would not merit the cost of a program, when it is a necessity for survival of both family and fortune and farm...I don't see how it can be faulted or ignored.

I feel you have been given some bad advice if you meet some of the criteria I have suggested. I hate to be all about money, but the answer to your question most first be how much are you willing to lose....The answer will dictate your response.

I will now get flamed by those who disagree....

[titansrunfarm]

No flame here. When I moved here I consulted the local vet for advice on dog, cat, goat and horse vaccines for this area and follow his recommendations. I worm horses every three months and rotate brands. I worm dogs, cats and goats twice a year and chickens I have not but would if need be. Works for me, after not being able to trailer out for about 3 weeks earlier this year due to the equine herpes virus outbreak that began with unvaccinated horses (see VDACS website) it just makes good sense to me to vaccinate. I'm not a great fan of supplements, I feed an excellent quality complete feed and the best hay I can find, I add soaked beet pulp in the winter and my old mare gets a probiotic to help her gut. I also check on everyone at least once a day and head off any problems I see early.

[sammyd]

We feed medicated milk replacer to the calves, medicated starter to the chicks.
We keep areas clean. tether the grazers around with plenty of time between uses of an area. No vacs or wormers for anyone unless I'm raising a dairy replacement heifer for sale. She gets a Bangs shot at least.