07/06/2025
📣📣 FAIR IS QUICKLY APPROACHING!! 📣📣
(Part 1/2) Let's talk about VET CHECKS at fair. While the format is new this year, what the veterinary team is evaluating remains the same.
There are two categories we consider when looking at the animals:
1) Are they exhibiting signs of a contagious condition?
2) Are they individually fit to be shown and present at a public exhibition?
Let's break it down:
1) If they exhibit signs of a contagious illness, their presence at fair could compromise their health and the health of other animals. Signs we look for include: nasal discharge (respiratory infection), ocular discharge or redness (respiratory infection or pinkeye), cough (respiratory infection), fever (any infection ), warts, hair loss or poor hair coat (ringworm, lice), excessive itching (lice), limping (foot rot), or scabs on the face, feet or udder (Orf).
2) As responsible stewards of our animals, we need to put our best foot forward in bringing animals to the fair. This is a chance to showcase all our hard work and best husbandry practices to the public and ourselves. Signs we look for that an animal is not individually healthy enough to be at fair, but is not necessarily contagious in the fair environment, include: underweight, unexplained lethargy, diarrhea (internal parasites), limping (injury or poor hoof care), and untreated wounds. Trying to show an animal with any of these issues is a detriment to their well-being and reflects poorly on our livestock community.
If you have ANY concerns that your animal might not meet these criteria, NOW is the time to reach out to your leader and/or BCVS regarding your concerns. Early intervention is your best chance to resolve the problem before fair and ensure we can meet medication withdrawal times for market animals.
Stay tuned for Part 2/2 for a discussion on the new vet check format this year!! 🐎🐮🐖🐑🐐
