Exercises

1. Translate the following words and word combinations:

A heifer, an ancestor, conditions, housing, housing equipment, a barn, to milk, to stable.

To raise, to breed, dairy cattle (stock), beef cattle (stock), appearance, pedigree, performance, prepotency, to select, to transmit, offspring.

2. Insert the words from the table into the given sentences. One word is extra.

to milk to stable housing equipment barns performance proper conditions

1. In order to get more milk and beef the owner should provide……………………………for the cattle.

2. Good……………..is especially important for dairy cattle.

3. Special dairy…………can be classified into two types.

4. Cows are usually…………………..twice a day.

5. In winter cows and calves ought to be………………

3. Answer the questions:

1. What is the primary aim in selecting a cow?

2. What does the term ‘good housing’ include?

3. What peculiarities about selecting and housing dairy cattle do you learn from the text?

4. Make a plan of the text.

5. Give advice for one who is going to breed dairy cattle.

Maintaining the Health of Dairy Cattle

Dairy cattle are susceptible to all the diseases and parasites that affect beef cattle. But it is necessary to take into consideration some more diseases.

Dairy cattle are housed much of the time and handled in compact groups. That’s why the spread of some diseases, notable brucellosis or Bang’s disease, is so rapid and reaches a higher percentage of animals in the herd.

Brucellosis or Bang’s disease is one of the most damaging diseases of cattle. One of the losses from this disease is the premature birth, or abortion, of the calf. Infected cows that abort usually fail to milk normally. Breeding difficulties owing to sterility may occur with many cows that have the disease. Thus, it can be seen that brucellosis may cause serious losses in a herd. To control brucellosis all animals over 6 months of age are blood tested regularly, if only a few reactors are found in a herd, they are sold at once for slaughter. In this case heifer calves may or may not be vaccinated. If there is a larger number of reactors in a herd, all the heifer calves are vaccinated as they reach 6 to 8 months of age. In this case the reacting cows that are not sold immediately should be placed in a separate herd and are replaced by heifers as soon as possible.

Mastitis is the term commonly applied to almost any abnormal condition in the udder of the cow. There are two forms of the disease, acute and chronic. The symptoms of the acute form of mastitis are pain and swelling in one or ore quarters of the udder and the production of thick, flaky, or bloody milk. Infected cows may be treated by injecting into the udder through the teats certain drugs, such as penicillin, sulfamethasine, or others.

Moreover, a high producing milk cow may suffer from nutritional deficiencies simply because she is not receiving enough feed of any kind.