A conscientious stockman learns to tell the difference between a healthy animal and a sick one. It helps to be able to detect subtle early signs of disease. Early detection and timely treatment can often make the difference between life or death, quick recovery or prolonged treatment and convalescence for that animal.Disease is any condition resulting in impairment of normal function. We tend to think of a disease as something caused by infection with bacteria or viruses, but poor health can also be the result of parasites, malnutrition, congenital defects or injury— anything that interferes with proper body function.The best way to become a good judge of health and a reader of subtle early signs of disease is to spend time with your cattle. Seeing them on a regular basis (whether feeding them during winter, or in a feedlot, or just walking, driving or riding through a group of cattle) enables the observant stockman to recognize the signs of health or sickness.
展开▼
