Latest Livestock Stories
One of the most controversial topics in horse breeding circles relates to the best method for identifying foals. For animal welfare reasons, many veterinarians are currently promoting the method of implanting a microchip over the traditional practice of branding, while officials of major sport horse breed registries deny that branding really causes pain or stress to foals. But what do the horses themselves think? The team of Christine Aurich at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna...
Chicken Houses Plus announces a chicken egg incubator rental program designed to be affordable to schools while teaching children the life cycle of a chicken from fertilized egg to baby chick. (PRWEB) September 24, 2011 Chicken Houses Plus, an online retailer of fertile chicken eggs, chicken coops and other products for raising healthy chickens has just announced the release of their new incubator rental program. This program is designed to be budget friendly to schools while...
Grazing by wild animals like zebra doesn't always harm, and may help, livestock like cattle African ranchers often prefer to keep wild grazers like zebras off the grass that fattens their cattle. But a new study by Kenyan and University of California at Davis researchers shows that grazing by wild animals doesn't always harm, and may sometimes benefit, cattle. The results are published in this week's issue of the journal Science. "Although savanna rangelands worldwide are...
Food security, income for Haiti's rural residents goal of five-year program NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Heifer International has committed to help rebuild rural communities and to improve economic opportunities through livestock inputs and management in Haiti as part of the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting. Founded by former President Bill Clinton in 2005, CGI brings world leaders from a variety of backgrounds together to create partnerships that...
Taxpayers Would Pay More, Get Less Return WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new study of the impacts of proposed dairy policy legislation on federal nutrition programs has found millions of dollars in hidden costs. Behind typical estimates of the price of the National Milk Producers Federation's Foundation for the Future dairy policy proposal are large and unintended additional taxpayer costs, reductions in the effectiveness of federal nutrition programs, and reduced...
PINE BROOK, N.J., Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. (Elusys), a biopharmaceutical company developing biodefense countermeasures, announced today that it has been awarded the first U.S. Government contract to develop an anti-toxin for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) use via intramuscular injection (IM). The five year contract, totaling up to $68.9 million, will support multiple animal efficacy studies as well as human safety studies to further demonstrate the...
With citizens' groups seeking government regulation of foul-smelling ammonia emissions from large dairy farms, scientists today reported that adding natural plant extracts to cow feed can reduce levels of the gas by one-third while reducing the need to fortify cow feed with expensive protein supplements. They reported here at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). J. Mark Powell, Ph.D., described the results of three studies undertaken to...
Oklahoma cattle ranchers have been selling off their herds in record numbers this summer, as grasses have gone dry during the 80 straight days of 100+ degree heat in this year's extended drought. But according to SweetPro Feeds, cattlemen like Ronnie Glover from Elgin, Oklahoma are maintaining their herds and looking forward to high profits in Spring, by keeping their cattle on non-molasses lick blocks made from distillers grains. Elgin, Oklahoma (PRWEB) August 29, 2011 With 1.8...
As hunger spreads among more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, a study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) of the response to Kenya's last devastating drought, in 2008-2009, finds that investments aimed at increasing the mobility of livestock herders – a way of life often viewed as "backward" despite being the most economical and productive use of Kenya's drylands – could be the key to averting future food crises in arid lands. The report, "An...
Texas cattle ranchers Rick Reeves and Bobby Campbell are using SweetPro supplemental lick blocks made from distillers' grains to maintain herd health during one of the worst summer droughts in history. While other ranchers have been forced to sell off cattle due to poor forage conditions, cattle operations using the supplements are holding on. Hallsville, TX (PRWEB) August 20, 2011 The headlines all across cattle states have been telling the story of Summer 2011: "Texas farmers and...
Latest Livestock Reference Libraries
Overgrazing occurs when plants are unprotected to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without enough recovery periods. It can be a result of either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild animals. Overgrazing reduces the usefulness, biodiversity, and productivity of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion. It’s also considered to be a cause of the spread of invasive species of non-native...
Llama, Lama glama The llama (Lama glama) is a domesticated camelid from South America. It is often used as a pack animal or for meat by Andean cultures. Its hair is used to make clothing and handicrafts. The course outer hair is typically used to make lead ropes, rugs, and wall hangings, and the fibers can come in many colors ranging from black to reddish brown to white. Because of transportation and trade of this species, there are now more than 158,000 llamas and 100,000 alpacas in...
The dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), also known as the Arabian camel, is a completely domesticated species that appears on the IUCN Red List with a conservation status of “Domesticated”. It is thought that when wild, its native range was mainly in the Arabian Peninsula. It can now be found in South Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The only dromedary camels that display wild behaviors are the population of feral camels in Australia, which were introduced in 1840. It prefers a...
The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), also called the Rocky Mountain goat is only found in North America. Even though it is a goat in name, it is not in the Capra genus of true goats. It belongs to the subfamily Caprinae, which holds goat-antelopes which holds thirty-two other species. It is in the family Bovidae that holds other creatures such as cattle, antelopes, and gazelle. It is the only species in the Oreamnos genus. The mountain goat is listed as of “least concern” by the IUCN....
Camelops, an extinct genus of camel, was found in North America in places like Arizona and they first appeared there in the late Pliocene era. There are six known species in this genus. Camelops became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene era, around ten thousand years ago. The Camelops extinction was part of a larger die-off of other large animals including mastodons, horses, and camelids. The Clovis Culture, producing a burst in technology by humans, is thought to have been the cause of...
