Ice age animal husbandry - veterinary and other perspective?

[Keit]

Stumbled upon the following article:

Advice from a Farm Vet on Caring for Livestock Animals in Winter
_http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/animals-in-winter-zm0z91zkon.aspx?PageId=1

Farm vet Dr. John Mettler, Jr., offers advice to readers about raising livestock and animals in winter weather. He discusses proper livestock shelters, necessary winter equipment and how to care for animals in the snow to maintain good livestock health through the colder months.

People who raise livestock often have questions about how to best care for their beloved animals in winter months. When readers came to us with their questions about how to best maintain animal health through the harsh winter months, we went straight to an expert: Dr John Mettler Jr, D. V.M. He has practiced as a large-animal country vet for more than 40 years in rural New York State and is the author of two animal books, and an expert in horse health. The answers below will help you decide on the proper cattle supplies, horse supplies and other winter equipment that will help you provide for your animals all winter long.

 

[Keit]

Apple cider vinegar, ACV and garlic and diatomaceous earth are some of the better known natural treatments for various ailments and parasites.

Speaking of garlic and other herbal remedies, just stumbled upon the following article:

_http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uoic-bae022814.php
Beneficial anti-inflammatory effects observed when plant extracts fed to sick pigs

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the most expensive and invasive disease for pig producers on a global scale. [...]
E. coli has also been a problem historically and continues to be on an industry-wide basis, said James Pettigrew. [...]

The researchers conducted two experiments to test the beneficial effects of adding plant extracts to pig diets to combat PRRS and E. coli. In both experiments, researchers used four diets in weanling pigs, including a control diet and three additional diets that included garlic botanical extracted from garlic, turmeric oleoresin extracted from ginger, or capsicum oleoresin from pepper. In both experiments, half of the pigs in each dietary treatment were challenged with either E. coli or PRRS virus while the other half of the pigs were non-challenged.

"We've known for a long time that plant extracts, also called essential oils or botanicals, have certain biological actions," said Yanhong Liu, a doctoral student who led the studies. "For instance, they can act as antioxidants or as antimicrobials. We wanted to test whether we could get a benefit from feeding those products in very low doses to pigs that were challenged with these specific diseases."[...]

Liu noted that even the pigs in the non-challenged group, with a low frequency of mild diarrhea, benefited from the plant extracts. "Because there is a relatively high diarrhea rate in post-weaning pigs as they are moved from the mom and started on all solid feed, the extracts could also be used to reduce its occurrence," she said.[...]

After feeding the pigs challenged with the PRRS virus the three plant extracts, the researchers observed that the pigs were more efficient in week 1 (55 percent) and week 2 (40 percent) than the pigs fed the control diet. The pigs continued eating and gaining weight. They found this to be especially true with turmeric, Liu said.

When they checked blood samples from the pigs with the PRRS virus, they found that the pigs fed plant extracts also had a lower blood viral load (13 percent) and lower concentrations of inflammatory mediators than pigs fed the control diet. These observations also suggest that feeding plant extracts could suppress ongoing inflammation and prevent secondary infections.

The researchers believe the benefits resulted from the effects on the pigs' immune systems because feeding plant extracts reduced the inflammation caused by E. coli and the PRRS virus.

"In production animals, inflammation is costly. Inflammation reduces feed intake, and it diverts nutrients away from growth to the immune system," Pettigrew said, "If we can bring that quickly back down to normal after a challenge, then that helps in production."

Although previous studies have looked at using plant extracts in pig diets, Pettigrew said Liu's study, which looked at the effects of three different extracts on two different diseases, had not been done previously. He also added that the low concentration of the extracts used while still producing beneficial results set this study apart.

There is also this recent article on SOTT: Don't throw out old, sprouting garlic -- it has heart-healthy antioxidants.

"Sprouted" garlic - old garlic bulbs with bright green shoots emerging from the cloves - is considered to be past its prime and usually ends up in the garbage can. But scientists are reporting in ACS'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that this type of garlic has even more heart-healthy antioxidant activity than its fresher counterparts.

Perhaps it could apply to pigs and other animals as well.

 

[happyliza]

FWIW I am a member of the Facebook Tumeric Users Group - where they have been having many success stories with animals and humans. I for one can vouch that the combination of tumeric and coconut oil has cleared a really painful frozen shoulder that I have had for nearly 3 years. Also I had pains in my right knee which have also gone - all within about 4 months.

Many of the users have also fairly quick healings to report with their horses, dogs, cats etc.

There is a sticky thread that is important to read and how to make the pastes - plus I have found some good 'teas' to on the internet. All can be frozen too.

The url is here:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/turmeric-user-group/information-for-new-members/624125250985457

You need to become a member - but very worthwhile as many people can benefit from the vet's site.

A snippet from the members sticky;

This document contains our baseline recommendations for dosages - and it's important to realise that what works for one person/dog/horse - may not work for another (ie higher/lower dose needed) so please take the dosages as our best effort to provide a GUIDLINE ONLY from our personal and clinical experiences.
There are many members on the group who have a good working knowledge of turmeric, so by all means, discuss and compare ideas, (eg) a 17 hand Warmblood may only need as much turmeric as a 14h pony to achieve a real benefit, it's up to you to decide the optimum dose and then let us know.

Some members on the group have been feeding turmeric to their animals for years.
It's cooked during processing. Further cooking into paste reduces bitterness and releases some of the compounds and volatile oils. (great with coconut oils and butters, great recipes here too.)


Edit: I forgot to mention that the paste also includes ground black pepper (which I now put in nearly everything!)

 

[truth seeker]

Hi happyliza,

The url for the Facebook Tumeric Users Group doesn't work for me (perhaps others can see it?). I think you need to be a member to see the page at the link you posted. The link below is probably the 'front' page and accessible to those with an fb account:

_https://www.facebook.com/groups/415313751866609/

 

[happyliza]

Yes I just tried searching and found this url:

www.facebook.com/search/results.php?q=turmeric user group&init=spell&tas=0.6785129749980129&search_first_focus=1393666358261&sc_oq=Tumeric user group&sc_h=65352303&sc_a=cs&sc_r=1

It is a closed group, but worth becoming a member to read about all the ailmemts and how it can help both animals and humans - with no side effects.
On the forum we have studied both tumeric and coconut oil however combined with ground black pepper the paste and tea can also be added to our daily bone broth!