Animal Health

• Disease is any deviation from the normal body condition of the animal and the performance of the animal is affected (production and reproduction).
• Dyspnea is defined as labored or difficult breathing.
• Infectious disease can be transmitted and caused by microorganisms.
• Contagious disease is transmitted either directly or indirectly.
• Non-infectious disease is caused by factors other than living organisms such as injuries, nutritional level, hereditary defects.
• Critical temperature is when the heat-retaining mechanisms of the body are no longer able to maintain constant body temperature.
• Comfort Zone or zone of Thermoneutrality is a range of environmental temperature within which the animal does not have to adjust to the environment.
• Farm Animal Body Temperature varies by species: Horse 99.5 - 101.3, Foal 99.5 - 102.2, Cattle 100.4 - 103.1, Sheep and Goats 102.2 - 104.9, Swine 100.4 - 104.0.
• When the body temperature increases by at least 1 ° F over the normal upper limit, the animal is considered to have a fever.
• In most fevers, the temperature usually rises rapidly, reaches a peak, and then falls to a lower level.
• The height of the temperature indicates the height of the fever.
• Snuffling, sneezing, wheezing, rattling, or groaning may indicate something abnormal.
• The rate of respiration in horses is 8 to 16 per minute, in beef cows it's 10 to 30 per minute, in dairy cows it's 18 to 28 per minute, in sheep and goats it's 12 to 20 per minute, in pigs it's 8 to 18 per minute, and in chickens it's 15 to 30 per minute.
• Age, size, sex, breed, atmospheric conditions, time of day, exercise, eating, and excitement are all factors that influence variations in the pulse rate.
• Variations in the rate of respiration can be caused by many factors including body size, age, exercise, excitement, environmental temperature, atmospheric conditions, pregnancy, and fullness of the digestive tract.
• The rhythm of respiration refers to the change in duration of inspiration and expiration.
• The depth of respiration refers to the intensity or indication of straining.
• Any interference in breathing that may show more or less effort in either of these areas affects the character of the breathing.
• Heart beats per minute for adult horses are 28 to 40, for newborn foals it's 100, for foals aged 6 to 12 months it's 45 to 60, for cattle it's 40 to 70, for sheep and goats it's 60 to 90, for swine it's 60 to 100.
• In examining respiration in an animal, check movement and sound at the nostrils and in the chest area.
• Normal breathing involves an observable expansion and relaxation of the ribs (costa) and abdominal wall.
• Respiration consists of inspiration, or the expansion of the chest or thorax, and expiration, or the expulsion of air from the lungs.
• Normal breathing is noiseless except when the animal is exercising or at work.