Ivermectin Parasiticide

On November 17th, we went to the farm and used Ivermectin Parasiticide on the cows. Ivermectin Parasiticide is for internal and external parasite control. It is in one application and is a part of endectocides. It protects the cows from Gastrointestinal Roundworms, Lungworms, Cattle Grubs, and many other parasites. Gastrointestinal Roundworms lay eggs that are microscopic in the manure of the cattle. When the cattle graze, they can ingest the eggs and the Gastrointestinal Roundworms can mate in the intestine and reproduce in the intestine. Lungworms are spread through fungus. It is a parasite infection that develops in the respiratory tract. They are easily obtained in the summer and the fall. The cows experience difficulty breathing and coughing. Cattle Grubs are the larvae stage of Heel Flies. The flies can either bite or sting the cattle. They attach their eggs to the hair of the cattle. They can lay up to 600 eggs and those eggs can hatch in four to seven days. The Cattle Grubs go into the skin, causing the animal severe irritation. After going into the skin, they go through the connective tissue. The Ivermectin Parasiticides's dose rate in 1 mL for each 22 pounds of body weight. It is extremely important to protect cattle against these parasites.

Pumpkin Smashing

We started off by picking pumpkins that the middle school used for decorations. These pumpkins were going to go to waste so we took them to the farm.  We used a hammer, a machete, and a meat cleaver to smash up the pumpkins. These smashed up pumpkins would be fed to the cows and goats. The animals especially loved the stringy bits of the pumpkins that looked like spaghetti. By feeding the pumpkins to the animals, we put the pumpkins back into nature to be reused. This way they do not go to waste and benefit the animals. 

Pumpkins are a nutritious fruit that originated in North America and include important health benefits within them. Pumpkins were very important to early Native Americans, who survived on pumpkins through the harsh winter and used the pumpkin seeds as medicine and they used the outer shell for bowls Pumpkins keep eyesight healthy, aid weight lose, improve the function of the heart, and reduce cancer cells from forming and helps protect the skin. Pumpkins have high amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, iron, and calcium. For the cattle and the goats that our class fed, the pumpkins that we gathered from the lower and middle school were used as a good source of energy and protein for the cattle at Home Winds. The cattle as well as the goats, will eat pumpkins that are rotten or spoiled, which benefits the farmers who are able to get rid of the excess amount of pumpkins. Pumpkins on the farm are recycled in a positive way that both affects the farmer and the animals.

Kid Fetal Development

During the first trimester of the pregnancy, there are various changes that the kid will undergo. At about 20 days, there is an apparent heart beat. Between that time and thirty days, the lungs will start to develop into the bronchi. Also, at around 28 to 35 weeks, the limb buds will start to appear. At around 35-42 days, the mouth, digits, and dew claws. Towards the end of the first trimester, the nose and eyes will be apparent

The Death of the Bees

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

On Thursday, November 2, we noticed that all of the bees were gone. We are unsure of what happened to the bees. Either they drowned due to the large amount of rain, the pesticides caused them to run away and abandon their queen, or a combination of the the two. Since the since bees were gone, we took the empty bee boxes and froze the panels to kill off the varroa mites living in it because they are parasitic and would harm any future bees.

White Lightening and Infections

White lightening is a rain rot treatment. It is used when their is some type of bacterial infection within the hoof due to environmental factors. It is very aggressive in neutralizing bacteria, fungus, and yeast. It has been effective in treating White Line Disease and Thrush. The white lightening consists of chlorine dioxide and it has to mix with vinegar. The foot must be soaked in the white lightening and vinegar for 15-20 minutes. White line disease is when there is an infection within the hoof wall of the animal. The bacteria and fungus enters the layers of the hoof, which weakens and damages the hoof. Thrush is another disease that can be treated with white lighting. Thrush is a bacterial infection that can also occur within the frog of the foot. Both of these bacterial and fungal diseases causes discomfort for the animal so it is important to treat it right away. It is important to avoid these diseases by picking the animal's hoofs and making sure there is an availability for a dry area for the animal. These infections can occur from unsanitary stalls. It is important to pick the stalls to avoid any type of infection within the stall.

Treating Infected Donkey Hooves

October 26, 2017

            Last Thursday, we used White Lightning and vinegar to treat two of the donkeys' infected hooves. They had fungal infections which caused holes in their hooves to develop. This happened to them due to standing on the muddy ground and wet grass too long. This infection causes there hoofs to soften and is very painful for them when walking. This causes them to limp and hinders their daily life.

          To remove this infection we had to first clean the dirt out of their hooves. We did this with a hoof pick. This took two people to do because one person had to hold the donkeys still while the other cleaned the hoof. We then put a mixture of White Lightning and vinegar in a plastic bag. This mixture had equal parts White Lightning and vinegar. We than put each infected hoof a bag of the mixture. let it soak for as long as the donkeys would keep it on, which was around twenty minutes.

Treating the Cows for Worms

Treating the Cows for Worms
Friday, November 17, 2017

On Friday, we treated the cows for different types of worms. We used a topical Ivermectin; the amount of which was determined by a ratio of 1 mL per 22 pounds of cow. We did topical instead of systematic because they all eat out of the same trough and therefore we could not guarantee that all of the cows would get enough, and we could not feed them a paste because they would spit it out. We applied to Ivermectin from the top of the withers to the top of the dock. It is good to rotate different wormers to cover different types of worms, because if you constantly use the same wormer, the worms will develop an immunity to it. If you don't deworm cows, they can develop problems such as diarrhea, worms in their feces, itching at their rump, kicking their stomach, and rubbing up against things (which can lead to injury if they rub against something sharp). Generally, farmers test for worms around every six months to see what type of worms they have and if they need to be dewormed.