Broken Bow Animal Hospital

05/03/2024

Did you know we offer a custom-made autogenous pinkeye vaccine? This vaccine was made from pinkeye samples swabbed from affected cattle in our practice area. It contains multiple strains of the bacteria involved in pinkeye within our area to better prevent pinkeye in local cattle.
Since pinkeye is a multi-factorial disease, vaccination is only one of multiple factors to consider when managing pinkeye on your operation, including controling flies and eye irritants.

05/02/2024

Did you know it's Small Business Week? We appreciate all our clients who support our small business!

05/01/2024

This academic quarter we had a School-To-Work student employee from Ansley Litchfield! We are proud to support our community and students interested in veterinary medicine!

04/30/2024

We have been closely monitoring the cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle. As of now, it is not in beef cattle and not in the state of Nebraska.

https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-health/avian-influenza/avian-influenza-virus-type-h5n1-us-dairy-cattle #:~:text=Common%20clinical%20signs%20in%20affected,the%20case%20for%20dairy%20cattle.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was identified in U.S. dairy cattle for the first time in March 2024. Here are important details about this rapidly evolving situation.

04/30/2024

The future of veterinary medicine is bright! Dr. Jack Smith coated BaiLee McMillan at her White Coat Ceremony last week! The White Coat Ceremony is an important moment in a veterinary student's journey to become a veterinarian by receiving their "white coat" and moving on to their 3rd year of the program.

BaiLee is a veterinary student in the Professional Program of Veterinary Medicine cooperative program between Nebraska and Iowa State. This is the same program Dr. Smith and Dr. Hendricks graduated from! We are excited for BaiLee's future in the profession!

04/29/2024

A bull breeding soundness examination (BSE) is a point-in-time evaluation of a bull's ability to efficiently breed cows in a condensed breeding season. Because bull fertility can change with age and injury, we recommend fertility testing every bull, every year -- even if he passed last year or as a yearling!

We may be finishing the calving season, but it is never too early to be thinking about the breeding season. With the breeding season comes getting those bulls scheduled for their breeding soundness exam (BSE) and ensuring your bull battery are satisfactory breeders.

04/29/2024

The AVMA proudly joins the World Veterinary Association, HealthforAnimals, and colleagues from around the world in celebrating World Veterinary Day. The 2024 theme is "Veterinarians are essential health workers."

Today's veterinarians are the only doctors educated to protect the health of both animals and people. They work hard to address the health and welfare needs of every species of animal. Veterinarians also play critical roles in environmental protection, research, food safety, and public health. Thank you to all the veterinarians around the world!

04/24/2024

LongRange is a long-acting injectable deworming product that pays for itself by increased weight gain while on grass!
🔹 Lasts for up to 150 days for various internal and external parasites
🔹 Yearling cattle treated gained 11% more weight than those treated with generic ivermectin. This was a 23 lb gain over the generic ivermectin group.
🔹 Calves treated at branding will have increased weight gain on grass compared to non-treated calves.
🔹 Studies show, treated replacement heifers have increased reproductive efficiency with more heifers getting pregnant to AI and overall pregnant bull bred.

04/23/2024

Did you know we have a power float unit to float your horse's teeth? We can also get your horse up-to-date on vaccinations, deworming, and coggins tested! Give us a call!

04/22/2024

Transdermal banamine is a handy product that we've been utilizing to provide pain control topically compared to the traditional injectable banamine given in the vein!
https://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/merck-animal-health-introduces-new-pain-control-medication-cattle

04/19/2024

https://www.agproud.com/articles/59323-bovine-congestive-heart-failure-in-feedlot-cattle

Travis Lutz, with his wife, Pam; and father, Jim, has been working on his family farm and ranch for more than 40 years. He is a fourth-generation owner of the operation in Dundy County, Nebraska, tucked in the corner of the state near the Kansas and Colorado borders.

04/19/2024

https://www.drovers.com/news/beef-production/measuring-value-or-expense-bull-purchase

This example evaluates five potential bull purchases and how a rancher can determine which one will provide the most potential return on investment.

04/18/2024

Check out our new custom-made portable hydraulic Rupp calf cradle with attached alley! This cradle can be easily rotated before your branding to accommodate whether you have a left-side or right-side brand. We have the crew to brand and vaccinate your calves - give us a call if you need branding work done!

04/17/2024

We've been busy with calving season here at the clinic!

04/16/2024

Proper needle selection is essential as we prepare for branding season!

▶️ Use the correct size needle based on the size of cattle, location of injection, and injectable type.
▶️ Change needles approximately every 25 head and at any time the needle appears dull, dirty, bent, or damaged to avoid lumps, abscesses, and injury!
▶️ Apply all subcutaneous (SQ) and intramuscular (IM) in the neck triangle area.
▶️ Space out vaccinations by at least 2-4 inches to avoid interactions between the products!
▶️ Follow label instructions on proper vaccine administration.

More information can be found at: https://bqa.unl.edu/bqanebr-article-3

04/15/2024

Do you know all the components we look at during bull breeding soundness examinations? In addition to looking at the bull's semen motility (do the s***m swim?), we also look at morphology (what the s***m looks like) under a microscope, evaluate external and internal reproductive organs, and the bull's ability to travel to breed cows!
Give us a call to schedule your bull breeding soundness examinations!

04/12/2024

In addition to using Ferapease during weaning, it can also be used to help graft a calf or calm a cow not wanting to take her calf!

Have you used Maternal Bovine Appeasing Substance (one of it's commercial names-->FerAppease) on your ranch? Curious about research into its different uses?

Listen (~21min) to this BeefWatch podcast dive into it: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maternal-bovine-appeasing-substance-research-and-results/id964198047?i=1000651117428

04/11/2024

Give us a call to discuss estrous synchronization use in natural service!

Has calving season went on and on and on? Consider estrus synchronization for your next breeding season, even if AI isn’t an option. The Beef Repro Task Force now includes natural service protocols. Find all the protocols at the link in my bio 👉 https://beefrepro.org/protocols/ 👈

04/11/2024

Bull Breeding Soundness Exams ("Fertility Evaluations") are an insurance policy for your cow-calf operation to ensure your bulls are fertile for the breeding season! In fact, studies show that for every $1 spent on bull fertility evaluations returns $7 to the producer. That's a great return on investment to ensure your bulls are ready for turn-out!

https://www.drovers.com/news/breeding-soundness-exams-insurance-bulls

04/09/2024

Branding season is quickly approaching! We can efficiently brand your calves utilizing our hydraulic calf cradle at the clinic or on the ranch! Give us a call to schedule and discuss your branding vaccination protocols!

04/08/2024

We are scheduling donor cow flushes and embryo transfers for the season! Give us a call to set up your donor and ET dates!

04/04/2024

Spaying heifers destined for slaughter is a great way to increase heifer productivity!
️🔸 Studies show spayed, implanted heifers have a 5.5% gain advantage compared to intact, implanted heifers
️🔸 Implanted, spayed heifers can be grazed, fed, and implanted more similar to steers
️🔸 More consistent feed intake and feed conversion
️🔸 Less energy spent on cycling or riding, and more on gains
️🔸 No worry about pregnant heifers in the feedlot
️🔸 These heifers can be marketed as guaranteed open without preg checking
️🔸 Spayed heifers finish and reach optimum grade sooner than intact heifers

Give Dr. Jack Smith a call about the role spaying heifers can have on your stocker or feeder operation!

04/03/2024

What makes Draxxin KP different than the original Draxxin?

💥 Draxxin KP has ketaprofen + antibiotic (tulathromycin). Ketaprofen is an anti-inflammatory similar to banamine to reduce fevers and inflammation quicker than the antibiotic alone.
💥 Cattle treated with Draxxin KP appear to feel better quicker and go back on feed quicker than those treated with just the antibiotic.
💥 It has the same dosage and frequency as the original Draxxin at 1.1 mL/100 #, making it useful for darting cattle for treatment as well.
💥 Draxxin KP cannot be mixed with water for diluting for use in a dart. We have propylene glycol to mix with it to avoid solidification of the medication in the dart.

Give us a call at the clinic if you have more questions about Draxxin KP!

04/03/2024

We are proud to be selected for the USDA Veterinary Services Grant Program to help us continually advance our ability to support our producers and our community!

Food animal veterinarians are critical to maintaining a healthy, secure, and safe food supply and for safeguarding the health and well-being of food animals. Today, there is a critical shortage of food animal veterinarians in both private and public practice, particularly in rural communities in the...

03/31/2024

Happy Easter from Broken Bow Animal Hospital!

03/30/2024

Our website got a major facelift thanks to our veterinary assistant, Megan! Check it out!
https://bbanimalhospital.weebly.com/

LARGE ANIMAL MEDICINE

03/28/2024

Does the labor of synchronizing your cows prevent you from utilizing the technology of artificial insemination? Look no further! We can assist you in all steps of estrous synchronization including inserting CIDRs, administrating reproductive shots, renting chutes/AI barns, and AI'ing your cows!

03/27/2024

Do you remember the antibiotic, Adspec? This antibiotic was greatly used in the treatment of bacterial respiratory disease and was taken off the market in the early 2000s. It is now available again under the new brand label "SpectoGard" with the same active ingredient, spectinomycin.

https://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/new-products/bimedar-us-launches-spectogardr-sterile-solution #:~:text=SpectoGard%20Sterile%20Solution%20should%20be,this%20product%20is%2011%20days.

SpectoGard (spectinomycin sulfate) sterile solution—which received FDA approval in September of 2022—is now available for veterinarians and cattle producers in the United States.

03/26/2024

Ensuring cows are in an adequate nutritional status (body condition score of 5 or 6) and not overfed can help reduce concerns of dystocia and plays a role in determining the quality and quantity of colostrum.

03/25/2024

We are open today! Give us a call if you need colostrum or other supplies!