Heath and Vaccinations

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For this week, brandings continued with a trip to a ranch in Montana, as well as a branding here; we also doctored calves as needed and began preparing irrigation pivots. In Montana, we helped the ranchs brand 109 calves and branded another 22 here on my hosts’ operation, in addition to vaccinations both places and RFID tags here. There were a few calves with apparent scours and having a rough time getting around so they were given a liquid solution for scours and an electrolyte mix and are now on the mend.

Major points that I have learned this week are just how crucial it is to pay close attention to each calf’s health at branding and record it if possible. This helps when it comes time to doctor them later on. Additionally, I have learned how crucial good farming practices are when it comes to pivots and other agriculture and sometimes it is necessary to completely change what you plant to see if it benefits the soil.

One concept or idea from this week that I would challenge is that at the branding in Montana, all the vaccinations were given in a very close proximity on the skin, almost on top of each other. However, one thing that I have been told at this ranch, and at others, is that when giving vaccinations it is best to try and spread them all out by around 4 inches from their injection sites, to reduce “mixing” and increase effectiveness.

One question that I still have is what is the best way to determine what to grow on your irrigated ground? It seems many operations will try planting different things often and they don’t always turn out well. I feel there should be a way to know what will suit your soil best or to contact someone that would know that would benefit a lot of operations.

I plan to use the information and experience from this week and apply to my own brandings and doctoring in the future, such as notes on calves’ well being and properly spaced vaccinations. As well as an approach to any farming I do that allows for flexibility in what I plant year to year.

Submitted by: Colby Barker
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team