Diagnosis and treatment of the main livestock diseases

While there are numerous illnesses that can affect livestock and animals such as chickens and pigs, in this article, Shane Brody concentrates on sheep, cattle and goats.

- Shane Brody

Diagnosing illness in livestock is by no means a 'perfect science'; as many illnesses have similar or even overlapping symptoms.

You can only be completely certain of a viral or bacterial problem if you have taken an animal that recently died to a vet for a necropsy; the earlier you take such a dead animal for a post-mortum, the better.

Generally, a necropsy is pretty good at helping to decipher what the problem is, and the vet will be in a position to advise you on how to treat other animals with similar symptoms.

One of the biggest dangers for livestock farmers is a highly infectious disease outbreak with high mortality rates that spreads rapidly throughout the flock/herd.

Thus, if more than one or two animals shows disease symptoms, and have died, a necropsy is crucial.

PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

It's also important to know livestock diseases are spread in certain ways. This may help you to use a process of elimination to diagnose a certain illness. Importantly, parasites like ticks are known to cause common diseases such as heartwater and redwater.

If you notice severe tick infestation on your livestock, one of these diseases may be the culprit.