Essential Standard 5.00: Understand
management of agriculture animals.
Objective 5.02: Classify diseases of
animals and preventative maintenance
procedures.
A.
B.
Every production farm (swine, cattle,
poultry, or sheep) should establish a
preventative maintenance schedule that
is followed year after year.
Preventative maintenance will vary
depending on the type of animals you
are raising. Example: cattle feedlot
versus cow/calf operation.
C.
Preventative Maintenance Includes
1. Sanitation- prevents a wide variety of
diseases and issues associated with raising
livestock.
i.
More effective method of preventing disease
compared to treating animals once they are sick.
ii. Isolation of new animals is recommended to
prevent spread of disease.
2. Biosecurity- protection from biological
harm from living things including diseases,
parasites and bioterrorism.
3. Record Keeping- keep accurate breeding
records, health protocols, production
records, vaccinations schedules, etc.
4. Feeding Practices- provide adequate
nutrition to meet the needs of the individual
animals.
5. General Management Techniques- used to
control potential injuries and problems to
the animals and/or workers.
6. Vaccination and Immunization- used to
control a variety of diseases associated
with livestock animals.
7. External Parasite Identification and
Control- prevent excessive infestation,
illness and potential death of livestock
animals.
8. Internal Parasite Identification and Controlprevent excessive infestation, illness and
potential death of livestock animals.
A.
Dehorning- removing horns to prevent
injury to other animals or workers.
1. Dehorning young animals when horns are
in button stage causes less shock and is
easier to do.
2. Bleeding risk involved with dehorning
older animals.
3. Methods
i. Chemical- liquid, pastes or caustic
sticks are used to disbud the horn
before the horns attach to the skull.
ii. Mechanical- used to dehorn at any
stage of horn development.
a. Spoons, cup or tube type- tool with a circular
blade is pushed into the skin around the
horn bud and then turned to remove horn.
b. Barnes type- hinged tool placed over the
horn that slices through skin and under the
horn.
c. Hot irons- a heated tool is held to horn bud
to destroy horn producing cells. Bloodless
method only used in button stage.
d. Saws- a hand saw or obstetrical wire is used
to saw through horn.
Tube, cup or spoon Type
Barnes or Gouger Type
Hot Iron Type
Obstetrical
Wire or
Hand Saw
B.
Castration- removing testicles of male
animals.
1. Prevents unplanned breeding.
2. Improves ability and ease to manage
animals.
4. Castration performed on all livestock
species.
5. Methods
i.
Surgical- involves splitting or removing the lower
third of the scrotum and extracting the testicles
by severing the spermactic cord. Tools used
include a surgical knife, emasculator, or
Henderson castrating tool.
ii. Bloodless- a tool such as a Burdizzio castrator or
elastrator cuts off blood supply to the testicles.
C.
Beak Trimming Poultry- removing ½ to
1/3 of the beak.
1. Performed to prevent cannibalism.
2. Poultry in range systems should not be
debeaked.
3. Methods
i. Hot iron tool.
ii. Infrared tool.
D.
Clipping Needle Teeth- removal of
sharp side teeth on piglets.
1. Prevents injury to sow during nursing and
littermates.
2. Method
i.
Disinfected clippers.
E.
Docking- removal of a portion of the tail.
1. Performed on sheep, pigs and sometimes
dairy cattle
2. Sheep and Cattle
i.
Improves overall sanitation especially during
reproductive procedures and parturition.
ii. Methods
a. Knife.
b. Elastrator.
c. Burdizzo.
d. Emasculator.
e. Electric docker.
f. Hot iron docker.
Elastrator
Emasculator
Burdizzo
Hot iron docker
3. Swine
i. Prevents tail biting.
ii. Methods
a. Side-cutting pliers.
b. Hot iron dockers.
A.
The purpose of vaccinations is to
develop immunity to diseases.
B.
Types of Disease
1. Non-Infectious- caused by environmental
or nutrition factors rather than a specific
microorganism. Typically not contagious.

Examples: faulty nutrition, trauma, toxic
substances, congenital defects, and metabolic
disorders.
2. Infectious- caused by a specific disease
causing microorganism and/or pathogen.
May or may not be contagious. Examples:
i.
Virus- single celled eukaryotic organism. Has
characteristics of both living and nonliving
material, but cannot grow and reproduce outside
of a living cell. Antibiotics are not effective in
treating viruses.
ii. Bacteria- single celled prokaryotic organism.
Survive in various conditions and invade the cells
of an animal’s body.
iii. Protozoa- microorganism that causes disease.
C.
Immunity- resistance to developing a
disease.
1. Types of Immunity
i. Active- immunity that is acquired naturally due to
exposure to substance that stimulates antibody
production. Example: vaccination.
ii. Passive- antibodies that are transferred from
mother to baby or injected into an animal from
an animal that is already immune. Example:
colostrum.
D.
Vaccines- substances that develop
resistance to disease (immunity).
1. Types of Vaccines
i. Modified Live- vaccines that are alive but are
weakened and have lost their disease causing
ability.
ii. Killed- vaccines that do not contain pathogens,
but still stimulate immune response.
E.
Routes of Injection
1. Vaccine Injections
i. Subcutaneous- under the skin. Needle angled
approximately 45 degrees.
ii. Intramuscular- into the muscle. Needle is held at
a 90 degree angle.
iii. Intranasal- into the nose. No needle used. Vaccine
is deposited through small tube into the nasal
cavity.
2. Medication Injections
i. Subcutaneous.
ii. Intramuscular.
iii. Intravenous- into the vein. Needle angled
approximately 25 degrees. Jugular vein is
most common vein used but caution must
be taken to not hit carotid artery.
iv. Intradermal- into the epidermal layer of
the skin. Needle angled approximately
10-15 degrees.
 Use
your textbook to complete Activity
5.02.03 “Disease Worksheet.”
F.
Disease Treatment and Prevention
1. Prevention is the best way to control
diseases.
2. Vaccination.
3. Biosecurity Measures
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Cleanliness.
Quarantine sick animals.
Avoid exposure to disease.
Isolate new animals.
4. New feeder cattle should be vaccinated as
soon as they come off the truck at the farm.
5. In poultry, flock treatments using medicine
in water, by sprays or dusts, and cause less
stress than individual bird vaccinations and
should be used if possible.
A.
Common Internal Parasites
1. Roundworms/Ascarids- stomach worms,
pinworms, lungworms.
2. Tapeworms- broad tapeworm, beef or pork
tapeworm.
3. Flukes- liver fluke.
4. Protozoa- coccidia.
B.
Life Cycle- important to understand the
typical life cycle to effectively control
internal parasites.
1. Adult female parasite lays eggs inside the
host animal that pass out of the animal in
feces.
2. Eggs hatch and larvae climb onto blades of
grass.
3. Animal ingests larvae when grass
is consumed.
4. Larvae develop into adult
parasites in host organ; stomach,
lungs, intestines, etc. Adult larvae
deprive animals of nutrients
and/or blood.
C.
Controlling Internal Parasites
1. The most effective method of control is
prevention.
2. Control Methods
i.
Chemical- substances used to kill parasites.
Administered orally or topically.
1. Problems with resistance to chemicals can
occur.
a. Test individual animals using a fecal egg count
to determine if they are above the threshold for
internal parasites.
b. Treat animals with parasite issues.
c. Use the same de-wormer (anthelmintic) until it
is no longer effective.
d. Sheep and goat industry have major resistance
issues. The Barber pole worm is the major
internal parasite that causes blood loss,
anemia and death.
ii. Mechanical- complete or partial removal of
parasite. Example: Removing or breaking up
manure contaminated with internal parasites.
iii. Biological- non-chemical methods of controlling
parasites. Example: Feeding forages such as
lespedeza hay that contains higher levels of
tannins that kill parasites.
iv. Cultural/Environmental- modifies the growing
environment of the parasite. Example: pasture
rotation.
D.
Major Problems and Recommendations
1. Other than death, the most costly result of
internal parasites in cattle, swine and
poultry is weight loss or reduced gains.
2. The major internal parasites of poultry are
several types of worms and coccidia.
3. Roundworms cause the most damage of any
internal parasites for hogs.
4. Deworming pregnant sows and gilts about
a week before farrowing kills the worms
and prevents baby pigs from getting worms
from their mother’s manure.
A.
Common External Parasites
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Ticks- bloodsuckers.
Lice- bloodsuckers and biting.
Mites- cause mange.
Blowfly- screwworm in larval stage.
Heel Fly- cattle grub in larval stage.
Horn Fly- smallest, bloodsucking species.
Other kinds of flies including horsefly,
housefly and stable fly.
B.
Controlling External Parasites
1. The most effective method of control is
prevention.
2. Control Methods
i. Chemical- most common method of controlling
external parasites.
a. Systemic insecticides absorbed through the animal’s skin
are commonly used.
b. Oral ingestion also used to control some external
parasites.
ii. Mechanical.
iii. Biological.
iv. Cultural/Environmental.
C.
Major Problems and Recommendations
1. Most external parasites of birds or poultry
lower production by sucking blood.
2. The external parasite causing the greatest
financial loss in beef cattle is the larva of
the Heel Fly or cattle grubs because they
lower rate of gain and damage hides and
meat.
3. The major external parasites of swine are
lice and mites.
4. Mites, bedbugs and fowl ticks hide in
cracks and crevices in poultry houses
during daylight, and those places must be
sprayed with approved chemicals during
daylight to kill those external parasites.