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Page 12-The Agriculturist-April 13, 1982
Ne
sd
Prenatal test
may save foal
BY CATHY ANDERSON
The loss of’ a foal can be
costly and heartbreaking to
the horse breeder, but deaths
caused by one specific disease
may be prevented.
Neonatal isoerythrolysis is
like the Rh factor in humans
except it occurs after the foal
nurses colostrum (first milk)
from the mother, says Dr.
Bruce Abbitt, a theriogeno-
logist at the veterinary diag
nostic lab atTexas A&M Uni
versity.
If a mare is A & Q negative
and a stallion is A & Q posi
tive, there is a chance of hav
ing an A & Q positive foal,
Abbitt explains. But if the
foal is A & Q positive when it
nurses, antibodies contained
in the colostrum will destroy
its red blood cells.
Blood transfusions may be
helpful, he said, but most
often the disease is fatal.
“A serum test to detect N1
has been available through
the diagnostic laboratory for
two years at the economical
cost of $3,” Abbitt says, “and
that’s pretty cheap insur
ance.”
The test is a good way to
diagnose NI because it’s con
crete evidence, he explains.
The serum test is also used
for verification of NI after
the death of a foal.
The only drawback to the
test is that it has to be done
two weeks before foaling,
Abbitt announces.
If NI is detected prior to
foaling, colostrum from a
surrogate mother can be
given to the foal, he con
cludes.
For a profit
Market moxie
By THERESA SCOTT
Marketing is a major chal
lenge for beef producers who
expect to make a profit, says the
head of the Department of Agri
cultural Economics at Texas
A&M University.
“Cattlemen who have done
well over the past decade have
not necessarily been the most •
efficient producers, but those
who sold right, bought right or
both,” Dr. John Hopkin told the
Texas Animal Agriculture Con
ference April 5 and 6 on the
Texas A&M campus.
These producers try to
understand the forces affecting
the market and to collect and
evaluate information, he said.
“They understand the pric
ing tools of forward contracting
and futures markets that are
available and how to use them,”
Hopkin said. “Finally, they are
aware of their cost and are able
to assess (prospects) instead of
gambling on striking it big.”
In the final session of the con
ference, Hopkin told 200 cattle
men they can improve their
marketing strategy by using
available technology.
“Electronic marketing is now
technically feasible,” Hopkin
said. “It gives cattlemen the be
nefits of flexibility and lets them
reduce handling and transpor
tation costs.”
Cattlemen can also organize
county or multi-county associa
tions for marketing their calves
and develop an annual sale, he
said.
In this way, both producers
and buyers are able to take
advantage of economy of size in
buying and selling, and the level
of bidding on calves could in
crease materially, he said.
“There probably has never
been a time in the history of the
industry when the demand for
beef has been so unclear,” Hop
kin said.
Demand is affected by con
sumers’ perceptions, such as
attitudes on health and diet, as
well as by the level and distribu-
urged
tion of per capita real income,he
said.
“The beef industry needs to
fully understand what is hap
pening to demand and what can
be done to increase it,” Hopkin
said. "Advertising and promo
tion is costly, but is a necessan
part of today’s business.
Advertising should he de
signed to address the marketing
problems and opportunities
identified by marketing re
search, he said.
Private lenders are on their
own to see ranchers through this
crisis, since government loans
and aid have been cut to a mini
mum f or the cattleman, Hopkin
said.
“There is both good newsand
bad news in the trend toward
internationalizing money mar
kets," Hopkin said.
The good news is that funds
are readily available in rural
areas, he said, and the bad news
is that the rate for these funds is
set in the world money market, r
Fat mares may be better mothers
By THERESA SCOTT
An old theory says that fat
broodmares have lower fertility
and more foaling problems than
thin mares. But a recent Texas
A&M University study showed it
to be just that — a theory.
“A large number of mares are
hard to rebreed in the same year
they have a foal nursing them,”
said Dr. Gary D. Potter, profes
sor of animal science at Texas
A&M and conductor of the
mare study.
“The question is whether
there is any significance to the
condition of the mare when she
foals,” he said.
Thirty-two mares were used
in the study. Sixteen mares were
fed so they foaled in fat condi
tion and 16 foaled while thin.
After foaling, the mares were
divided into four treatment
groups for the first 90 days of
nursing. Eight mares were fed to
remain fat, eight to lose weight,
eight to remain the same, and
eight fed to gain weight.
“Pregnancy rates were as
much as 50 percent higher in the
fat and gaining groups than in
the remaining thin group,” Pot
ter said. “Abortion within 90
days, a major problem in the
horse industry, was significantly
lower in the fat and gaining
groups.”
The level of stored fat in the
mare’s body may be an impor
tant source of energy, especially
when energy requirements of
the mare exceed the amount re
ceived in feed.
Thin mares often lack stored
energy reserves, he said. Re
breeding efficiency and milk
production may suffer during
early nursing (Because feed in
take cannot be increased to meet
all requirements without caus
ing digestive problems.
Results indicate that thin
mares had poor reproductive
efficiency.
“Mares foaling in fat condi
tion utilized stored fat for effi
cient reproduction and milk
production even when energy
intake did not meet nursing re
quirements, Potter said. "Ex
cess fat did not impair rebreed
ing efficiency and did not cause
foaling problems.”
After the University study,
four ranches agreed to use their
horses for an outside study fol
lowing Texas A&M’s proce
dures. The results of theoutside
study were the same: mares
which entered the breediugsea-
son or foaled in fatter condition
had higher reproductive effi
ciency and were able to utilize
stored body energy.
Along with Potter, Don Hen-
neke, Dr. Jack Kreider, B.F.Ye-
ates and Dr. Doug Householder
worked on the study.
Because of a lack of evidence
one way or the other, the Uni
versity studied the influence of
mares’ body condition at foaling
on their rebreeding efficiency
and foal growth and develop
ment, Potter said.
TAMU
RODEO CLUB
SAYS:
Thank you, Aggies,
for your
continual support
of the
All-Aggie
and NIRA rodeos.
For more information contact Jane Armstrong (845)1321), Phil
Hickman (696-7276) or Carla Park (693-3395) or write:
P.O. Box 4464
C.S. 77844