Humane Treatment of Domestic Livestock

Call for Public Comment – Humane Treatment of Domestic Livestock

New Jersey State legislation (A-1970/S-1298), signed into law on July 26, 2023, required the State Board of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture to adopt rules and regulations concerning the confinement, care, and treatment of breeding pigs and calves raised for veal. The rules and regulations, which were published in the State Register on February 5, 2024 (Document: 56 N.J.R. 171(a)are open to public comment through April 5, 2024. The bill prohibits confinement in an enclosure that impacts a breeding pig and calf’s ability to freely move in certain ways and properly groom itself and that limits visual contact with other calves, along with specific exceptions to the rule. The link above contains the complete text of the proposed rule and contact information for submitting comments via mail and email.

Submit comments by April 5, 2024, to:

Dr. Amar Patil, DVM, MVSc, Ph.D., Diplomate ACVM
Director and State Veterinarian
Division of Animal Health
New Jersey Department of Agriculture
PO Box 400
Trenton, NJ 08625-0400
Telephone: (609) 671-6400
Email: PR-AnimalHealth@ag.nj.gov

We encourage you to look at the rule and see how it may affect your operation.  If you have questions, please contact:

Dr. Michael Westendorf, Animal Science Extension Specialist (michael.westendorf@rutgers.edu) or

Dr. Tess Stahl, Animal Science Extension Specialist (ts1290@sebs.rutgers.edu)

Hackettstown Livestock Auction Results for January 16, 2024

This auction sells: lambs, sheep, goats, calves, beef cattle, pigs, rabbits, and all types of heavy fowl. Auctions are held every Tuesday with the first sale beginning at 10:00 am and ending with the last sale at 5:30 pm. Hay, straw, grain, and firewood are also for sale.

Hackettstown Livestock Auction

Farm Fresh Eggs available for purchase by the case( 30 doz.) or by the flat (2&1/2 doz.) in the main office Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Also available some Monday’s and Friday’s but please call office first (908)-852-0444

January 16, 2024 Auction Results

Finish the Fight Against Scrapie: Brains Needed!

For more information, please call: 609-241-2236

The United States is nearing the goal line after a 70 year battle against Scrapie, a fatal disease that affects the brain of sheep and goats. Sheep and goat producers can help the USDA achieve this goal. The current program has been very successful to drastically reduce the amount of scrapie in the US. One of the most difficult aspects of an eradication program is making sure that the last few cases of the disease are found.

The most recent two cases of scrapie found in the US were sampled at slaughter but could not be traced back to a farm origin. One of these cases was a sheep in Wisconsin in 2021 and another was a goat tested in Indiana in 2019. Because these animals did not have adequate records and identification to find where they came from, it is likely there are still farms with cases of scrapie. For a country to be declared free of scrapie, international standards require a certain level of testing among all sheep and goat populations within a country. No samples can test positive for classical scrapie. The samples we need to test are brain and a lymph node.

Each year every state is given a minimum number of samples to be collected based on the breeding sheep and goat populations. This assures sampling represents the different populations. In fiscal year 2024, NJ needs to sample 32 mature (>18 months) sheep and 22 mature goats. We continue to ask for help from our New Jersey small ruminant industry to obtain these samples. If a producer has an adult sheep or goat that dies, that must be euthanized, or is being culled please contact USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services at 609-241-2236. There is no charge for the collection or testing of the samples. Producers may be eligible for official plastic tags as long as our supplies last.

Scrapie is in the same family of diseases as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and chronic wasting disease of deer and elk.

USDA, APHIS Veterinary Services (VS)

Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema (Fog Fever)

A metabolic syndrome that sometimes affects ruminants, particularly cows on lush fall pastures is Acute Bovine Pulmonary Emphysema (ABPE), sometimes referred to as “Fog Fever”.  ABPE can occur in ruminants, especially cattle, transitioning from dry summer pastures or poor quality forage in the fall, to pastures that may be lush and fresh.  Cows may develop signs of lung disease within a few days to two weeks after the pasture change.   Death may occur within several days after the appearance of clinical signs.  It is nearly always fatal.

This change can result in an undesirable toxin produced by rumen fermentation.  Tryptophan is an amino acid found in protein.  It is converted to indoleacetic acid and then to 3-methylindole (3MI) in the rumen.  3MI is absorbed into the blood, transferred to the lungs and in the lungs can cause damage to lung cells.  It can occur in a variety of forage types, especially when the rumen is not properly adapted to the new forage.  There is no effective treatment, producers should focus on prevention.

Disease entering a cow through food stream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acute Bovine Pulmonary Edema and Emphysema in Beef Cattle: Causes and Prevention.  (Beef Cattle Handbook; D.C. Honeyfield and J.R. James R. Carlson).

It occurs in lush regrowth forage, and is usually seen in the fall.  Preventative measures:

1. Feed cattle  good quality dry hay for a few days and then slowly introduce them to the lush pastures by increasing grazing time over a 10-14 day period.

2. Delay grazing of lush pastures until after a hard frost.

3. Cut lush fall pastures for hay prior to grazing.

4. Graze prior to lush fall regrowth.

5. Consider feeding an ionophore such as Rumensin® or Bovatec® before turning the cattle onto the lush pastures. These compounds change the rumen fermentation of tryptophan and may decrease the chances for ABPE or “Fog Fever”.  Consult your veterinarian for advice if you anticipate using either of these compounds to prevent ABPE.

For more information:

Beef Cattle Handbook

UC Davis Cooperative Extension

Hackettstown Livestock Auction Results for July 25, 2023

This auction sells: lambs, sheep, goats, calves, beef cattle, pigs, rabbits, and all types of heavy fowl. Auctions are held every Tuesday with the first sale beginning at 10:00 am and ending with the last sale at 5:30 pm. Hay, straw, grain, and firewood are also for sale.

Hackettstown Livestock Auction

Farm Fresh Eggs available for purchase by the case (30 doz.) or by the flat (2&1/2 doz.) in the main office Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Also available some Monday’s and Friday’s but please call office first (908)-852-0444.

Livestock auction sheet

What do the terms in a feed analysis mean?

We have had a requests for information about heat damaged hay and forage.   Forage put up too wet will overheat and may result in unavailable protein and hay  unsuitable for ruminant digestion.  A definition of the terms in a feed analysis may be useful.  Some of these terms are useful for ruminant animals (cattle, sheep, goats) only. 

Dry Matter or DM is the part of the forage that is not water.  Because of a large variation in moisture content of feeds, dry matter maintains a base line when expressing feed values and nutrient requirements of the animal.  Feed analysis is usually presented in both an As-Fed (contains moisture) and a DM basis.  Succulent feeds such as silage or green chop are much higher in moisture, and lower in DM, than are feed grains such as corn or barley.

Protein is represented as Crude Protein or CP and is a measure of the nitrogen content of the feed.  CP is essential for normal growth and body function of all animals, it is essential for meat, milk, eggs, and wool production.  Unfortunately, CP does not distinguish the nitrogen contained as “amino acid nitrogen” or “non-protein nitrogen.”  Most CP measured in feed analyses is made up of “amino acid nitrogen.”  Because of this, there are other measurements which will describe different protein fractions or non-protein nitrogen in feed.  Amino acids are the building blocks that make up proteins in meat, milk, eggs, and wool.  Ruminating animals can convert non-protein nitrogen into amino acids through fermentations that occur in the rumen of cattle, sheep, and goats.

Unavailable Protein is calculated from the nitrogen which is bound to the fiber in the feed.  Normally about 1 percent on a dry matter basis is found in this fraction.  Values greater than 1 percent may indicate heat damage.  Often referred to as heat damaged protein.

Degradable Protein is protein that is broken down in the rumen, mainly into ammonia.  Most rumen microbes need ammonia to produce rumen amino acids, maintain adequate microbial growth, and produce proteins that can be used by a ruminating animal for meat, milk, and wool production.

Undegradable Protein is also referred to as bypass protein.  It is protein fraction that is resistant to rumen microbial degradation and therefore bypasses the rumen.  Most of it can be digested in the small intestine.

Soluble Protein is that protein or non-protein nitrogen fraction which is degraded in the rumen rapidly.  Soluble protein is converted into ammonia in the rumen within a short time after being ingested, it is this ammonia that is made into microbial protein. The remainder of the degradable protein fraction may take hours to be broken down.

High producing ruminants require all these forms of protein in their diets.  This is essential to promote proper functioning of the rumen and to ensure that the maximum amount of digestion occurs in the rumen.

Neutral Detergent Fiber or NDF represents all of the cell wall material containing hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin.  NDF has been identified as being highly related to dry matter intake.  The NDF appearing on feed analyses is probably aNDF, referring to amylase treated NDF.  Amylase is an enzyme used to pre-treat the chemical’s used in NDF analysis.  a-NDF is currently the standard treatment used in NDF analysis.

Acid Detergent Fiber or ADF is the cell wall portion of a feedstuff that includes cellulose and lignin as primary components.  The higher the ADF content, the lower the digestibility of the feed stuff.   The most indigestible fractions of feed are the cellulose and lignin components which are often linked.

Acid Detergent Insoluble Nitrogen or ADIN may be referred to in a feed analysis as ADFCP, ADICP, or heat damaged protein (unavailable protein above).   The residue remaining in the ADF fraction is analyzed for nitrogen.   This value is an estimate of the protein that is unavailable to the animal and can be an estimate of overheating of forage that is put up too wet.  Hay put up too wet can undergo a process called enzymatic browning that occurs in the presence of protein and sugars when forage overheats.  The level of heat damage is determined by analyzing the forage for ADIN (Acid Detergent Insoluble Nitrogen).

Too little fiber can result in improper rumen functioning and off feed and other health problems, such as displaced abomasum and foot problems.  Too much fiber will mean decreased diet digestibility, decreased feed intake and decreased production.  Minimum target levels of ADF and NDF for dairy cows are 21 percent and 28 percent of the total diet, respectively.

Non-Structural Carbohydrates or NSC represent contents of plant cells and contains sugars, starches and pectins.  These are carbohydrates which are rapidly fermented in the rumen and utilized by rumen microorganisms.  It is essential to balance NSC with the different protein fractions to ensure proper microbial growth in the rumen.  If NSC is inadequate, the degradable and soluble protein will not be utilized to the greatest extent possible.

Energy Values are measured as Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) or Net Energy.   Net Energy is expressed as megacalories per pound of dry matter.  There are different NE calculations for maintenance, gain and lactation.  Almost all nutrient requirements used today and in feed testing are expressed as NE.  (Digestible energy is used for horses).  Units of NE are expressed as megacalories or mcal/lb.  These are usually determined by equation based on ADF, NDF, and the protein fractions.

Please see these two previous posts: