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Animal Health Management Part 1 -- Overview Animal management and animal health cannot be separated-everything done to or for an animal will have an impact on the animal's health, either positive or negative.
1. Health--state of an individual living in complete harmony with its environment 2. Disease--condition in which an individual shows overt physiological, anatomical or chemical changes from normal 3. The difference between a healthy and diseased animal is that the healthy animal has not yet exhausted its normal adaptive powers. The animal is able to cope with challanges such that it does not adversely effect the animals' productivity. Challenges may include:
4. A good health management program will minimize the stresses and challenges on animals that may tip the balance in favor of disease, it will strive to keep diseases and health problems in check and still be economically feasible.
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH MANAGEMENT Recognizing What's Normal In order to be able to tell when an animal is abnormal, it is important to know what is considered normal for each animal species. Normal physiologic parameters that can be easily observed or measured in animal include the body temperature, pulse (number of heart beats per minute) and respiration (the number of breaths an animal takes per minute). These are commonly referred to as Vital Signs. Following are the normal ranges for vital signs in our common livestock species.
Recognition of abnormalities in an animal's behavior can also help to identify a sick animal. Normal behavior patterns, however, also differ from one species to another. Examples of differences in behavior between species follow:
Pig: scoops feed with jaw, takes a few bites, then drinks, repeats until full, then lies down in comfortable spot to digest. Cow: pulls forage with tongue, bites off and swallows whole, continues until full, then finds a comfortable spot to ruminate in sternal recumbency (one can observe cud chewing and see rumen contractions). Chicken: takes water up in beak and raises head to swallow.
It is important to remember that it is normal to have some variation! Examples of things that will result in normal variation in behavior and even physiologic parameters are: "Heat" or estrus Pregnancy and parturition These life cycle changes have an effect on "normal" eating, sleeping, movement, etc. A calving cow goes off by itself. A sow paws as if to build a nest when close to parturition. Most animals do not eat the day of parturition. It is important to observe the entire herd for normal activities. Look for things such as: Social order--pecking order Reactions to: visitors, dogs, wild animals, new additions to herd/flock, weather changes Recognizing What's Abnormal --The Sick Animal For a manager that knows normal behavior, the sick or abnormal animal will be evident. Once again, both physiologic and behavioral parameters can be examined. Usually, the herdsperson will identify animals exhibiting abnormal behaviors, and will then check out the physiologic parameters. Knowing what is abnormal in the different body systems: digestive, respiratory, urinary, nervous, integumentary (skin, hair and feathers), locomotor, circulatory is essential. Examples of things to observe are listed below:
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