The Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVasa) has encouraged livestock farmers to study their latest disease report, released at the end of November, and to use the information to update their management programmes with the help of their veterinarians, in terms of vaccinations, breeding, biosecurity and nutrition.
Dr Faffa Malan, manager of RuVasa, said October had been a challenging month: veld fires destroyed grazing in various parts of the country, and many animals caught in fires died or had to be put down.
In many of the affected areas, grass regrowth had been lacking due to drought conditions, which has led to an increase in reports of losses due to protein and energy deficiencies. Downer animal reports also increased because of the poor quality of food available to cattle.
Malan encouraged farmers to sell animals in time should there be insufficient grazing during the coming months, and to supply their animals with sufficient protein and energy to prevent deficiencies.
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