Archive for July, 2010
Posted on July 29, 2010 - by Russell
Up-Date to Private Treaty Sale Arena
A new private treaty sale catalog has now been posted in the Private Treaty Sale Arena. Simply click on the Private Treaty Sale Arena button on the right of the webpage. It will open a PDF file that will allow you to view, save, print or download the catalog. The catalog contains over 60 head of cattle. The cattle are being offered by several of the industry’s top breeders. If you are looking to build a quality herd or just add quality genetics to your herd now is the time to do it and the cattle being offered will help you do just that without breaking the bank in the process. All cattle are individually priced but volume discounts are possible. All you need to do is contact me about the cattle you are interested in and I will let you know what discounts maybe available on your selections. If you have any questions or would just like to talk about Longhorn cattle please feel free to contact me at russellh@longhornroundup.com. All cattle that are currently listed are located in Texas.
Posted on July 20, 2010 - by Russell
Longhorn Round-Up Sale Preview
The preview page for consignments to the Longhorn Round-Up Sale is now available for viewing. Simply click on the Longhorn Round-Up Sale Catalog button on the right-hand side of the webpage. This will open the PDF file with photos, pedigrees and information about the early consignments to the sale. I will be updating the preview page as consignments come in. The official catalog will be posted on September 1, 2010 but will be updated weekly until the week after consignments close on October 18, 2010. The interest in this sale is high from both sellers and prospective buyers. The sale offering is going to contain something for everyone. There will be Top Quality seed stock as well as recreational and commercial cattle. If you have ever thought about getting into the Longhorn Breed, now is the time and the Longhorn Round-Up Sale is the place to get started. Don’t forget to join us on Friday afternoon for the free educational seminars. Longhorns are an enjoyable and easy breed to raise. Hope everyone will make plans to join us on October 29 and 30th in West, Texas at the West Livestock Auction.
Posted on July 15, 2010 - by Russell
Warts and Ringworm
by Dr. Carla Chenette, Beef Cattle Breeding Extension Specialist
Dr. Duane Miksch, Extension Veterinarian, University of Kentucky, Princeton, KY
While the economic impact of warts and ringworm in your herd may not be great compared to a disease like brucellosis, these two skin problems are prevalent and persistent in many herds of cattle. Both certainly detract from the appearance of cattle and both are difficult to eliminate once established in a herd.
Cattle with warts or ringworm are often not eligible for entry in shows, fairs or other places cattle are brought together, such as central bull test stations, because of their contagious nature. Both spread rapidly through direct and indirect contact. Both have fairly long incubation periods, prolonging the problems. These diseases are easily transferred from one animal to another by simple management practices such as ear tagging and tattooing. For example, if a calf with ringworm is clipped and the clipper blades are not disinfected prior to use on the next calf, the disease may be transmitted. We will take a closer look at these two persistent cattle problems, explaining mode of action, some possible treatments and preventive procedures.
WARTS SPREAD QUICKLY
First, let’s consider warts. Warts are caused by an infectious virus that is host specific, or in other words, is not passed from cows to pigs to humans under natural conditions. On cattle, warts appear as large cauliflower-like lesions or small, horny bumps. Most of the infective virus lives at the surface of the warts, explaining why they spread so quickly on an animal or through a herd of cattle. The virus is spread through direct animal-to-animal contact or through indirect sources such as animal to feed bunk to next animal. Skin wounds frequently lead to infections in “clean” animals if the wart virus is present. Susceptible skin “wounds” are produced by routine management practices such as tattoos, ear tags or injections. If an infected animal is tattooed, for example, the next animals that are tattooed with the same instrument are exposed to the virus and have a good chance of developing warts.
Once warts are established, they can last on an individual animal for over a year and may become a total herd problem. Usually it takes about two months for cattle that are infected to show warts after initial exposure to the virus. So, although isolation of cattle with warts is recommended, they have probably already infected other animals before their disease was diagnosed. Warts are a self-limiting disease as infected cattle build up natural immunity to re-exposure, but this immunity may be lost in time.
Unfortunately, there is no simple treatment for warts that is always effective. Surgical removal is one option, but be careful in the early growing stages, additional wart growth may be stimulated. Conversely, when a few warts are surgically removed from an animal with extensive lesions, sometimes recovery seems to be hastened. Therefore, remove warts only in totally developed or regressing stages. Commercial vaccines are sometimes used, but they have had limited success. A herd vaccine (autogenous vaccine) made from material collected from your cattle can be obtained through your veterinarian. The vaccine is made from a suspension of ground wart tissue in which the virus has been killed with formalin. Regular use of the vaccine as prescribed should continue for at least one year after the last wart has disappeared. In addition to directly treating and vaccinating the cattle, the problem of contaminated fences, feeders, etc. should be addressed. Formaldehyde fumigation at high humidity and high temperature will help to disinfect these indirect sources of wart infection. Brushes, combs, clippers, tattoo instruments, etc. must be adequately cleaned and disinfected before reusing.
RINGWORM USUALLY WORSE
If warts are a problem, it seems ringworm is usually worse. Anyone who has treated ringworm on cattle knows it can be a never-ending chore, plus you may end up treating yourself as well since people can get this disease from cattle. Ringworm is not host specific.
Ringworm is not associated with any kind of worm at all, but is a skin infection due to a fungus (aerobic actinomycete is the fancy name). It is a worldwide problem affecting not only domestic animals, but wild animals as well. In cattle, younger calves seem to be more susceptible, but all ages may be affected. Ringworm takes two to four weeks to appear after exposure. Then the hair falls out or breaks off in the affected area. By two or three months, scaly, round asbestos-like plaques form. The head and neck areas are most often affected on cattle, but if left untreated no area on the body is immune. Ringworm seems to be at its worst during the winter, especially for cattle in confinement. The summer sun appears to help clear up infections.
Ringworm is tough as it can survive up to four years in the dry scabs and scales shed by cattle, plus it is easily transmitted by direct and indirect contact. It is contagious from cattle to most other animals, including people.
Several different treatments are recommended, but from experience, none is 100 percent effective. Any treatments must be persistently applied to control ringworm and all are time consuming.
For local treatment of ringworm, first remove the thick scabs with a brush and mild soap. The infected areas should bleed slightly when the scales are removed.
A few of the several recommended treatments for ringworm are:
(1) daily application of equal parts of tincture of iodine and glycerin,
(2) daily application of a 20 percent solution of sodium caprylate (for these remedies to be effective, all lesions must be soaked thoroughly each treatment),
(3) tincture of iodine or Lugol’s Solution applied every other day and
(4) thiabendazole (TBZ) applied directly to the infected area at least three times over a period of seven to nine days.
Disinfection of equipment to prevent spread of ringworm is equally as important as it is in control of warts. At times ringworm infections become widespread and seem to get out of hand. Your veterinarian may prescribe systemic treatment, such as an intravenous solution of sodium iodine in water or oral griserofulvin. Griserofulvin, by the way, is an expensive treatment to use in cattle.
Ringworm is most severe and persistent in cattle under nutritional stress. While poor nutrition is a contributing factor in this disease, sunlight seems to be nature’s treatment.
Ringworm and warts are both common, irritating cattle problems that constantly try the patience of many a producer. It takes determination, patience and persistence to control either. Just be thankful they are seldom severe or fatal.
Source: 1997 TLBAA Breeders Handbook, article first printed in 1995.
Posted on July 8, 2010 - by Russell
Longhorn Beef in Healthy Diet
“Heart Surgeon Claims”
By Steve Cubbage
The man is a heart surgeon and cattleman. Dr. Joe Graham is at home on the range at a time when doctors and cattlemen aren’t exactly on the same side of the fence when it comes to the subject of beef.
Graham is a cardiovascular surgeon at St. Johns Medical Center and he raises Longhorns on his ranch outside of Joplin, MO.
“I know that at first glance it might look hypocritical for a heart surgeon to be raising beef. But those pointing the finger at beef don’t know all the facts,” says Graham. He believes that the beef industry has been unfairly targeted as the scapegoat for Americans’ health problems.
“Having dealt with cardiovascular patients during my training as a surgeon I knew that heart disease wasn’t caused by just one thing you eat. It became obvious to me that this country’s dietary problems are not much what people eat, but that people simply eat too much,” notes Graham.
The doctor is vehemently anti-fat – in cattle and even more so in humans.
“I don’t know anyone in the medical profession who isn’t,” he says. “The problem in this country isn’t a red meat problem rather a volume problem – too much food in every category – we’re just too blooming fat. Nobody likes to be called obese, but, the sorry fact is that obesity in this country is just rampant – and it’s killing us.
“Food is just too cheap. It is so cheap that farmers are going broke. Fast food joints line the streets and highways. It’s two for one and all you can eat. We are a nation of people crowded into the feedlots and encouraged by every advertisement and every inducement to walk into a restaurant and gorge ourselves.”
As a cardiovascular surgeon, Graham feels he can use his position to reeducate people about the place of beef in their diet. “I knew if I was going to raise cattle I had better choose the type of cattle that would send the right kind of message to people about the place of beef in their diet.
That’s why he chose Longhorns. “Lean beef is good for you and that’s what the Longhorn produces,” says Graham.
Groomed by the evolutionary forces of Mother Nature, the Longhorn breed is not as high in saturated fat as other breeds. According to Graham, Longhorn meat, on average, contains 10 percent less saturated fat than that of other cattle. “That puts lean Longhorn beef on par with the skinned boneless white meat of chicken. And that fact may come as a surprise to many dieticians,” he says.
Old habits die hard – even for well-educated doctors and dieticians. “Red meat was labeled as one of the bad guys several years ago because of the medical community’s zeal to reduce fat in the American diet,” says Graham. “Lean beef is good for you – and the key word is lean. A heart patient can eat steak every meal if it is in the right proportions. Beef is nutrient rich – containing several of the B vitamins and dense in such dietary essentials as iron and protein. So you see, beef is one of the good guys.”
While many Americans need to work on losing weight, Graham feels cattlemen, packers and retailers need to work on raising, feeding, butchering and supplying beef in a form that’s leaner and healthier. “If the beef industry doesn’t start providing what people want, and need, the market will go to the birds.”
The first step toward leaner beef begins at conception. “Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to breeding cattle. Just because it fits the box doesn’t mean it’s the best product for the consumer,” emphasizes Graham.
Enter the Texas Longhorn. “There is a genetic treasure in the Longhorn breed yet to be discovered by the cattle industry,” believes Graham.
Source: 1997 TLBAA Breeders Handbook, article first printed in December 1989.
Posted on July 5, 2010 - by Russell
Butler TLBAA AI Certified Bulls
In the Texas Longhorn breed there are 7 families or bloodlines. These bloodlines are the result of the individuals who were breeding and preserving the Longhorn in the early years when the Longhorn was almost extinct.
One of these bloodlines is the Butler line named after Milby Butler who was dedicated to preserving his idea of a true Texas Longhorn. For more information about Milby Butler and his cattle visit the Butler Breeders website at www.butlertexaslonghorns.com
Unlike the other bloodlines, which have lost some of their popularity, the Butler Bloodline has grown in esteem over the last ten years. There are several reasons for the increase in value and high regard for Butler genetics. One of these reasons is a dedicated group of breeders and another is the Butler Breeders Invitational Sale.
When it comes to evaluating the quality of a Butler animal one must first look at the pedigree and then the animal. With straight Butler cattle it is not all about horn — it is important — but so is the pedigree.
Artificial Insemination is a good way to add great old Butler genetics to a program. I have attached PDF files with information on the straight Butler bulls that are AI certified with the TLBAA. The bulls’ pedigrees and photos were published in the July 2008 Trails Herd Sire Directory. I have added additional comments, reference photos and placed the bulls in sections based on the Butler sub-family they represent. butler-ai-sires-pg-1-181 , butler-ai-sires-pg-19-36
