Livestock on the ‘Stead

In view of recent weeks’ events concerning an off-season outbreak of a new flu strain in Mexico that quickly spread around the world – and caused WHO to get all the way to 5 on its pandemic alert system before things eased somewhat – it’s a good idea for those of us in the 21st century’s “back to the land” movement to examine some issues with livestock production in general and how we get around those issues on our own homesteads. Many homesteaders avoid livestock, but many others keep chickens, a cow or more, goats, pigs, rabbits, and some pasture a few calves every year destined for the organic beef market. What does all this mean for us?

Thus far the new flu strain, which according to the CDC is a “unique” mixture of human, avian and swine flu strains, looks to have originated in the CAFO [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation] system of swine production for human food. These operations, where thousands of animals are confined in close quarters and intensively fed for maximum weight gain in minimum time, can according to researchers and epidemiologists serve as fertile genetic recombination factories for the various strains of influenza due to lack of good waste management practices and regulation, proximity of swine CAFOs to avian CAFOs, water contamination, worker contact with infected animals. Add to that the difficulty of dealing with viral rates of mutation as well as getting effective vaccines into production from one year to the next, and you end up with a situation of concern not only to public health authorities, but also to small producers who happen to live anywhere close to such intensive CAFO operations.

Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, Inc. has been linked to the current swine flu outbreak via one of its “outsourced” CAFO operations in Central Mexico. The number of Smithfield CAFOs in contiguous counties in eastern NC have long been causing problems with water and air pollution that should be of serious concern to residents both urban and rural, whether or not they eat pork (or any meat at all). And the proximity of any CAFO operation in the proximity of your homestead may affect all sorts of decisions about whether to keep livestock, what kind of livestock you will keep, and how all aspects of your involvement should be managed.

If you share a watershed, reservoir source or well aquifer with any CAFOs, or if air currents are such that your family can occasionally smell the waste from an avian (chickens, turkeys) or mammal (cattle, hogs) CAFO, the concerns are serious. If you sell milk, eggs or meat to customers in the community, you may also find yourself afoul of the NAIS (National Animal ID System) – but that’s another story.

There is no vaccine for avian flu in bird CAFOs or on the homestead. It can and often is spread by migrating wild fowl, so the best protection for your free range chickens is to keep their range to a reasonable area (which you’ll want to do anyway to keep them safe from predators), keep their coop and bedding clean even if you drag the coop regularly, keep their water supply separate and apart from ponds where wild fowl water, and cull any chickens displaying signs of illness.

There are vaccines for hogs to protect against several varieties of swine flu, though those change annually as do human viruses. There is no vaccine for the current strain, or the one begun in NC a few years ago, but if you’ve a pig or two each season, it wouldn’t hurt to get them the latest vaccine if you’re anywhere close to a swine CAFO. Again, keep their water fresh and separate from possibly contaminated sources (streams and rivers that bear a waste load from upstream intensives), never feed them raw slaughterhouse waste or uncooked meat/fat scraps.

Goats have their own share of health issues, but nothing like cattle, swine or fowl. Best to call the vet if they’re off their milk or feed, looking and acting ill, etc. You don’t want to be dosing any of the livestock on antibiotics as a regular thing, but if you’ve dairy goats or cows, beware of mastitis and such – they’ll get better with a few day’s treatment, discard their milk for the duration.

Many homesteaders raise rabbits for meat. Rabbits are almost always kept in confinement, so your best bet with them is to make sure their cages are large enough to let them move about freely, and they should also be kept clean. Whenever a cage is empty, clean it out thoroughly with bleach water before putting in new bedding and introducing new animals.

With all livestock, do NOT harvest sick animals. Sick culls and animals that die of mysterious causes should be either buried deep enough to prevent wild animals from digging them up or cremated. There is a lot of information out there for the proper care and feeding of home-grown livestock, and your area extension service will also have good advice, vet recommendations and literature you can get for free. Before going into livestock, get to know others in your area that already have stock, and talk to them at length over some nice iced tea about the details. Most are very willing to help you out, not only with information and good advice, but often with starter stock as well.

And where you get your starter stock counts. Check out the breeder and his/her operations to ensure you’re not getting animals with genetic or disease issues. Some sources are listed below, and I’ll have more information about specific types of farmstead livestock in future posts.

Links:

One Acre Farm: Homestead Livestock
Countryside: Livestock on the Homestead
Small-statured animals
Miniature Dairy Cattle
Swine flu strain has genetic roots in U.S.A.
Swine Flu Story Illuminates Disease and Injustice
La Vida Locavore: Swine Flu

Related Ads:

Filed under Food Production, Future Planning, Homestead, Livestock | Comment (0)