Finding a New Passion
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
Hoof rot started hitting the herd pretty hard this week. We’re doctoring around 15 -20 every day between the steers and heifers. It’s interesting to see how quickly and aggressively hoof rot can cripple cattle. We are also seeing a lot of cases of the hoof rot pushing out above the top of the hoof on the front of the leg, which is unusual and something we are trying to determine the cause of. Depending on the severity of the hoof rot, we decide what combination of Banamine, SulfaMed, and Draxxin we want to give. If the rot is really bad, we use Draxxin, otherwise we use varying levels of SulfaMed. We always give Banamine too, to help with their pain management.
I’ve been almost exclusively riding a younger, greener horse. Each day we work on fundamentals of roping and cattle work. He has a hard mouth and a head throwing problem that we are slowly fixing. Each little improvement is such a good feeling and the experience overall has been so rewarding. He’s tracking cattle much better and learning to stop when I catch and sit down. Forming this bond and trust with him has been one of my favorite parts of the internship thus far. It’s made me realize a new passion that I have, and I’ve been starting to consider pursing horse training further.
One of the biggest questions I have from this week is why we are seeing a decrease in supplement intake. I wonder if the changing grass maturity and the resulting change in nutritional content of the grass is making them not crave it or even need the supplement as much. I also wonder if that’s something that is negative for our ADG goals or if it simply means they are getting adequate nutrients naturally. We have considered increasing the salt content of the mineral to encourage them to eat more of it.
I will most definitely use the techniques for treating hoof rot that I have learned this week throughout my career in the cattle industry, as it is one of the most common ailments cattle deal with. Furthermore, as I mentioned before, I want to explore this newfound interest in horse training and see where that takes me and how I could maintain that as a part of my career.
Submitted by: Isabella Schultz
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
