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If we focus on the data on the modern Caucasian round, cattle herds can number more than 100 heads. But on modern farms today they often contain several thousand dairy cows or gobies for fattening. This is especially noticeable if you watch videos from the "meat" states of America, where no land is visible in cattle pens. With such crowding, natural mechanisms of population regulation begin to operate. Disease-causing bacteria are actively multiplying. Cattle antibiotics help prevent epidemic outbreaks on such large farms.
Areas of antibiotic use for cattle
There are several reasons why antibiotics are widely used in animal husbandry:
- prevention of the development of epizootics;
- prevention of the development of intestinal infections;
- as an adjuvant for secondary infections;
- growth stimulation;
- building muscle mass.
The antibiotics used today for calves to grow quickly are already fading into the background. It is more efficient and cheaper to use drugs that accelerate metabolism.
Feed antibiotics for cattle
The mechanism of action of antibiotics used for fattening cattle is to normalize the bacterial composition of the intestine. They inhibit toxin-forming bacteria that compete with normal physiological microflora. As a result, metabolism is normalized, immunity is enhanced, and the digestibility of feed increases. All this contributes to the growth and development of young animals and an increase in productivity in adult cattle.
Decreased productivity can be caused by "stall fatigue" if cattle are kept in the farm house without grazing. With a large livestock, such a room becomes contaminated with waste products very quickly, and it is not possible to carry out frequent disinfection. Because of this, pathogens multiply in the barn. Antibiotics do not stop them from reproducing, but they protect the animal from bacteria entering the intestines.
Thoughtless use of feed antibiotics will only hurt, you need to observe dosages, make up the right diet and keep animals in proper conditions.
The cow has milk on its tongue. If the technological conditions are observed, the amount of production per unit of feed increases. For fattening gobies, the cost of production is reduced. The amount of feed antibiotics per ton of feed is small: 10-40 g of the active substance. They come to farms in a ready-to-eat form. Feed antibiotics are included in:
- compound feed;
- vitamin and mineral premixes;
- protein and vitamin supplements;
- whole milk substitutes.
Private owners, convinced that they do not use antibiotics, but feeding these products to animals, are deceiving themselves.
Feed antibiotics are delivered to farms only in this form, since special equipment is needed for accurate dosage and uniform distribution of the substance in the total mass of feed. They are not made or mixed "with their own hands". Everything is done in an industrial way. For addition to feed in Russia and developed countries of the world, only non-medical antibiotics are allowed.
Feed antibiotics do not degrade the quality of meat and meat products.These substances are used until the end of feeding. In Russia, only 2 drugs are used for feeding cattle: Grizin and Bacitracin.
Precautions
To avoid getting antibiotics into food, their use in animal husbandry is strictly regulated. Do not add antibacterial drugs to breeding animal feed. When fattening for meat, feed with antibiotics is excluded from the diet one day before slaughter.
It is forbidden to independently add any biologically active additives, including antibiotics, to premixes, feed and milk replacer, with the exception of Grizin and Bacitracin. The latter are already present in industrially produced feeds. Any antibiotics should not be given to cattle without first mixing with feed. Diet components containing feed antibiotic additives should not be heated above 80 ° C.
Grisin
Grisinum belongs to streptotricin antibiotics. Outwardly, it looks like a gray-white powder. The drug is readily soluble in water. Grizin has a wide spectrum of action, but its disadvantage is weak activity. The drug is poorly absorbed in the intestinal tract. Grisin affects gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.
Apply the drug in the form of kormogrizin. Kormogrizin is not a pure antibiotic. This is the dried mycelium of the mold, in addition to the antibiotic containing:
- vital amino acids;
- vitamins;
- enzymes;
- pigments;
- other unidentified growth factors.
Because of the "impure" composition, kormogrizin is a brown or light yellow powder. The content of Grisin may vary. The dried mycelium contains 5, 10, or 40 mg / g of pure Grisin. The amount of Grizin is indicated on the packaging with mycelium. Bran and corn flour are used as a filler.
In the milk replacer, Grizin is introduced in an amount of 5 g per 1 ton. Premixes with Grizin are added to the feed at the rate of 10 kg per 1 ton.
Bacitracin
Bacitracinum is a polypeptide antibiotic. Its main part is bacitracin A. It looks like a gray-white powder. Let's well dissolve in water. The taste is bitter. Bacitracin acts on gram-positive, as well as aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria are resistant to bacitracin.
Bacitracin is not absorbed in the intestinal tract and does not affect the response of gram-negative bacteria to other antibiotics. Has a pronounced growth-stimulating effect.
Bacitracin is produced in the form of Batsikhilin. This medication is dark or light brown in color. In the preparation, the following are used as fillers:
- soy flour;
- bran;
- corn flour;
- beet pulp.
Bacitracin is added to milk replacer at the rate of 50 g per 1 ton. To premixes - 10 kg per 1 ton of compound feed.
Bacteria have the ability to acquire resistance to antibacterial agents, therefore, in addition to the long-tested Grizin and Bacitracin, today the industry is mastering the production of other feed antibiotics. One of them Vitamycin, discovered more than half a century ago. From discovery to industrial use, a medicinal product undergoes long-term studies on the effect of the active substance on the body. Because of this, Vitamycin is being put into production only now.
Vitamycin
The antibiotic suppresses:
- staphylococci;
- gram-positive bacteria;
- spore sticks;
- some types of fungi;
- mycobacteria;
- spore sticks.
It has no effect on gram-negative bacteria.
The drug does not cause changes in internal organs, even in doses exceeding the recommended 100 times.
Vitamycin also allows you to save feed, since this type of antibiotic is also given not in a chemically pure form, but together with dried mycelium of the fungus. When preparing roughage, a lot of vitamin A is lost. Since cattle are fed only with hay, without green grass, in the winter-spring period, at this time there is a large deficit of carotene in the feed.Vitamycin is able to provide 80% of the animal's need for vitamin A. The rest must be "collected" from hay and feed.
Cormarin
This is the dried mycelium and the nutrient fluid on which the fungus grew. Cormarin inhibits the development of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, has an antimicrobial effect. But the drug does not work on other fungi and yeast.
Contains a complex of active substances:
- B vitamins;
- hormone-like substances;
- amino acids;
- antibiotic;
- other growth factors.
The antibiotic activity of the original strain is low, but it can be changed by choosing the composition of the fermentation medium.
The use of Kormarin increases weight gain by 7-10%, increases the percentage of young animals' survival. By enhancing protein metabolism and better digestibility of nutrients, it can reduce the cost of protein feed and make up for the deficiency of vitamin A.
Antibiotics for cattle growth
The list of antibiotics for the growth of calves practically coincides with the list of antibacterial feed substances for cattle. As the bacteria adapt to antibiotics, the weight gain of the gobies began to decrease. This led to the search for new growth stimulants that are no longer antibiotics. The use of antibacterial agents for the growth of calves today is more associated with the normalization of intestinal flora than with the desire to increase weight gain.
With prolonged diarrhea, the calf loses weight and slows down in development. With an advanced form, the animal may die. In addition to Grizin and Bacitracin, antibiotics of the tetracycline group can be used when feeding calves. One of these drugs is biovit-80 feed antibiotic.
Biovit-80
This is not an antibiotic in itself, but a preparation made from the mycelium of a fungus belonging to the streptomycin group. The composition of the preparation, which I add to the feed, includes:
- chlortetracycline;
- vitamin B₁₂;
- other B vitamins;
- fats;
- proteins;
- enzymes.
The product looks like a free-flowing powder of dark or light brown color and has a specific smell.
The growth-stimulating effect of Biovit-80 is based on the suppression of the main microorganisms that cause indigestion in the calf:
- salmonella;
- leptospira;
- listeria;
- echeria;
- staphylococci;
- streptococci;
- enterobacteriaceae;
- pasteurell;
- clostridium;
- mycoplasma;
- chlamydia;
- brucella;
- rickettsia;
- other gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
But Biovit-80 is ineffective against fungi, acid-resistant bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus. In cattle breeding, it is used for the prevention and treatment of not only gastrointestinal, but also pulmonary diseases in calves.
Biovit-80 is safe for animals and contributes to an increase in weight gain and milk yield in cattle. Since the maximum concentration of the drug in the blood lasts 8-12 hours after consumption, Biovit-80 is stopped to give to livestock 2 days before slaughter.
Levomycetin
Quite an old drug that people take lightly. With the slightest disturbances in the digestive tract, advice should usually be taken to take Levomycetin, even if the disease is non-infectious. But this is a broad-spectrum agent, which is also used in the cultivation of cattle. Levomycetin inhibits the development of bacteria. Of gram-positive, it affects streptococci and staphylococci. Of the gram-negative:
- salmonella;
- Escherichia coli;
- rickettsia.
The spectrum of action on bacteria pathogenic for humans is wider in Levomycetin.
In addition to bacteria, Levomycetin can even destroy spirochetes and some large viruses. Also, the drug is active against strains resistant to streptomycin, sulfonamides and penicillin. The resistance of microorganisms to Levomycetin develops slowly.
It is generally a very strong and poisonous antibiotic and is recommended when there is no other choice. It is used in case of serious illnesses.Against the background of the uncontrolled use of Levomycetin by people, the fear of feed antibiotics looks far-fetched.
Neomycin
When breeding and raising cattle, most of the calves die as a result of colibacillosis. Since the 1980s, antibiotics of the aminoglycoside group have been used for the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases in the United States. One of these antibiotics is Neomycin.
The advantages of Neomycin are that it is almost not absorbed into the tissues from the gastrointestinal tract. Due to this, in medicine, it is used to sterilize the intestines before surgery. In animal husbandry, Neomycin is used as a feed antibiotic affecting streptococci and staphylococci.
Antibiotics for cows against infections
The number of antibiotics used to treat infectious diseases is much wider. Such use involves a short-term administration of the drug. By the time of slaughter, the antibiotic has already been removed from the animal's body. When treating a dairy cow, milk should not be consumed during treatment and for 10-14 days after the end of the antibiotic course.
The most common antibiotics for treating infections are:
- streptomycins;
- penicillins;
- tetracyclines.
The groups take their name from the first antibiotic and the fungi from which it was derived. But today, synthetic antibiotics, also belonging to these groups, are already more widespread. The rather popular Bicillin-5 belongs to penicillins.
Streptomycin
Streptomycins for cattle include streptomycin sulfate and streptodimycin. Possesses a wide spectrum of action. It is used to treat:
- bronchopneumonia;
- pasteurellosis;
- salmonellosis;
- listeriosis;
- brucellosis;
- tularemia;
- infectious mastitis;
- sepsis;
- diseases of the genitourinary tract;
- other diseases.
The dosage is calculated per 1 kg of live weight. Apply subcutaneously.
The disadvantage of Streptomycin is the rapid addiction of bacteria to the drug. Therefore, Streptomycin is not recommended for use for a long time.
Streptodimycin is analogous to Streptomycin in its spectrum of action, but animals tolerate this drug more easily. It is administered intramuscularly.
The course of treatment with both drugs is 3-5 days.
Tetracycline
Tetracyclines also have a broad spectrum of action. They act not only on most bacteria, but also on some species of protozoa. It is useless to use against paratyphoid pathogens.
Tetracyclines are well absorbed. They have the property of being evenly distributed in the tissues of the body. This group of antibiotics is eliminated from the body through the kidneys, so they are most often used to treat urinary infections. For cattle, they are of little toxicity, but can cause side effects in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle:
- atony;
- dysbiosis;
- violation of bacterial fermentation;
- avitaminosis.
The pure substance is a yellow crystalline powder. Requires storage in a dark place, as it collapses in the light.
Antibiotics of this group are prescribed for the treatment of:
- sepsis;
- listeriosis;
- purulent pleurisy;
- mastitis;
- hoof rot;
- peritonitis;
- urinary tract infections;
- conjunctivitis;
- inflammation of the mucous membranes;
- pasteurellosis;
- dyspepsia;
- colibacillosis;
- coccidiosis;
- pneumonia;
- other diseases, the causative agents of which are sensitive to tetracyclines.
The oral dose for cattle is 10-20 mg / kg body weight.
Penicillin
The ancestor of all antibiotics, Penicillin, is no longer used today. Microflora managed to adapt to it. Bicillin-5 is a synthetic agent composed of 2 substances of the penicillin group:
- benzathine benzylpenicillin;
- benzylpenicillin novocaine salt.
In the treatment of cattle, Bicillin is used for almost the same diseases in which tetracyclines and streptomycins are used. When choosing antibiotics, you need to pay attention to the reaction of the animal to the drug.
Bicillin dosage for cattle: adult animals - 10 thousand units. per 1 kg of weight; young animals - 15 thousand units for 1 kg.
Penstrep
The name itself gives out the composition of the product: antibiotics of the penicillin and streptomycin groups. It is prescribed for cattle in case of illness:
- respiratory tract;
- listeriosis;
- septicemia;
- meningitis;
- salmonellosis;
- mastitis;
- secondary infections.
Penstrep is used intramuscularly at a dosage of 1 ml / 25 kg of body weight.
The product is produced in liquid form in glass bottles with a volume of 100 ml. After the course of the antibiotic, slaughter of cattle for meat is allowed only 23 days after the last injection.
Gentamicin
It belongs to the group of aminoglycoside antibiotics. Destroys most of the bacteria that cause disease, but is powerless against:
- mushrooms;
- the simplest;
- anaerobic bacteria (tetanus cannot be treated);
- viruses.
Used to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract, sepsis, peritonitis and other diseases. When administered orally, it almost does not penetrate from the intestine into the tissues of the animal, for 12 hours it is active only in the gastrointestinal tract and is excreted along with feces. With injections, the maximum concentration in the blood occurs after 1 hour. When injected, the antibiotic is excreted from the body along with the urine.
Dosage for cattle: 0.5 ml per 10 kg body weight 2 times a day. Slaughter for meat is permissible only 3 weeks after the last injection. When using Gentamicin on dairy cattle, milk is allowed only 3 days after the end of treatment.
Conclusion
Antibiotics for cattle are now an integral part of animal husbandry. The owner of a commercial farm, even being a convinced opponent of antibiotics, will sooner or later start using them so as not to lose income. Only a private livestock owner who keeps a cow for himself and is ready to slaughter the animal in case of a serious illness can afford to do without antibiotics.
