long distance cud transfer

[Alice In TX/MO]

The young man who has his cattle on our place came by this evening. We always have a great time talking about critters. He is a manager for Wolf Point Ranch. http://www.wolfpointarabians.com/wolf-point-ranch.html

He said there's a breed of cattle in Africa that survives on browse like goats. Someone has set up a business harvesting cud when these cattle are sent to slaughter and shipping it to the U.S. where it is drenched into cattle here in South Texas. It has a 12 to 14 day shelf life, so by the time it gets here, you better have your cattle penned and ready.

I'm glad I was already familiar with cud transfers in goats, or I never would have believed it!!

[Ford Zoo]

Alice, is there any benefit to transfering cud from African cattle?

[Minelson]

Boy that would be one stinky job!

[harvestmoonfarm]

Seems dangerous, as far as spread of infection and/or disease is concerned.

[Alice In TX/MO]

The breed of cattle they are harvesting cud from is able to digest rough browse and thrive. They are hoping that the ability to digest browse is inherent in the rumen bacteria of the donor cattle. The transplanted cud is going into cattle on drought damaged grazing lands here to see if their ability to digest rough fodder improves.

I sure wouldn't just assume that cattle in Africa are diseased. They have been surviving in harsh conditions for waaaay longer than cattle here.

[Ford Zoo]

Are those Brahmas that have done so well in poor African conditions?

Not knowing anything about disease transfer with cud, I would also be concerned with transmission possibilities. But its an interesting concept!

[southerngurl]

Maybe you could give them some goat cud.

[harvestmoonfarm]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

The breed of cattle they are harvesting cud from is able to digest rough browse and thrive. They are hoping that the ability to digest browse is inherent in the rumen bacteria of the donor cattle. The transplanted cud is going into cattle on drought damaged grazing lands here to see if their ability to digest rough fodder improves.

I sure wouldn't just assume that cattle in Africa are diseased. They have been surviving in harsh conditions for waaaay longer than cattle here.

I'm not saying that cattle in Africa are diseased, but look at all the precautions we take here to keep our animals healthy, and all the testing we have to do, etc. I would just be concerned something like Johne's could be spread.

[Ford Zoo]

Not trying by any means to argue this interesting point....but, I know people that hunt both predators and prey animals in Africa. They are not allowed to keep the meat, and are only allowed to ship skins for whatever use if they are cured and dryed in Africa, due to TB being rampant. Of course that's wild animals. While I did not read the info on the link, that's another disease that comes to mind...

[Alice In TX/MO]

Brahma cattle are from India.

[mygoat]

I find it unusual that we can import cud. I imagine there has got to be some regulation involved. Not saying cattle there are any more diseased than here, but there are many diseases that could be transmitted.

That being said, next time I butcher a goat I've considered harvesting some stomach contents and freezing them in big boluses.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Originally Posted by mygoat

I find it unusual that we can import cud. I imagine there has got to be some regulation involved. Not saying cattle there are any more diseased than here, but there are many diseases that could be transmitted.

That being said, next time I butcher a goat I've considered harvesting some stomach contents and freezing them in big boluses.

What a Great idea, especially for folks that know their herds are disease free. When you butcher a wether to save the stuff in the freezer for when you need it for an ailing goat or after doing antibiotics.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I'd think what their doing is worth a try Alice & I'm sure if there shipping it all the way here from Africa it's pretty costly & already been through a bunch of regulations. Someone put a lot of time & thought into the process & I hope it works for the cattle farmers.

[CaliannG]

I don't know if it is the same kind of cattle, but one of my neighbors is experimenting with breeding Watusi cattle, imported from Africa, with our native longhorns, to get a herd that can survive on goat weed and western ragweed. Supposedly, the imported, African Watusi can survive in the Sahara desert.

From what I have seen of them, they have BIG horns. I am not joking; HUUUUUUGGE flippin' horns. This coming from someone who is accustomed to longhorn cattle. Really, those Watusi horns are BIG.

[Frosted Mini's]

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&s...,r:2,s:0,i:163

[southerngurl]

Those horns seem like a waste of energy!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Radiators for the African climate.

[iloveafarmer]

The horns help them with heat regulation, the bigger the horns the more heat they can shed.

[Lizza]

A little OT. My daughter volunteers at a University vet hospital as a pre-vet student. A couple of weeks ago they had a sick Alpaca and she said they have a cow with the window in their rumen (I can't remember what the technical name is for it?). Anyways, they reached in the window and took out some cud, strained it, and tube fed it to the Alpaca. I just thought it was really interesting since this was a University hospital and one of the treatments was cud transfer.

[CaliannG]

~smiles~ morningstar, I remember as a kid passing by TAMU's herd of Holstein cows with "tinted windows" in their sides. I though they were so cool and wondered why people didn't put windows in ALL the cows.