Does your pet have a problem? Our experts will advise you. This time MVDr. Julie Lásková about farm animals.
Winter care for chickens
This spring we bought a couple of hens and we are looking forward to our first winter together. Is it necessary to prepare for the winter in any special way, for example by insulating the chicken coop, etc.? JANA SOJKOVÁ, Vyškov
It is definitely advisable to sufficiently insulate the chicken coop for the winter. Chickens do not tolerate freezing temperatures and large weather fluctuations. In such conditions, their morbidity increases and the number of eggs laid also decreases. Insulating the chicken coop also eliminates the need to worry about frozen water, which otherwise tends to be the biggest problem for many other animals in the winter.
How to prepare for spring covering of sheep?
For the third year, we have a small herd of six sheep that graze our land during the summer, and we don’t get rid of them even for the winter. They have year-round outdoor stables. Last year we made do with hay and here and there carrots for snacking, but this year we already have a ram, so we are hoping for a pregnant female in the spring. Should we improve them somehow during the fall or during the mating season so that they can handle the pregnancy without difficulties? KATEŘINA ŠAFRANKOVÁ, Chrudim
For breeding sheep, it is advisable to supplement the feed dose with solid fodder. The amount of core administered may vary according to the initial condition of the animal and the reproductive stage. We subsidize animals with deteriorated nutritional status even before the beginning of the reproductive season. The increased demands for energy intake, i.e. feeding of the core, is in the period of acclimation (this also applies to the breeding ram), one and a half months before calving and two months after calving. Ewes with multiple litters will have even higher requirements for core intake. Don’t forget that sheep need year-round access to mineral licks.
Rabbits for the winter?
We have been keeping a couple of dwarf rabbits for years, and now the conviction has matured in us that we will also inhabit the old rabbit hutch we bought with our house with those raised for meat. Is it appropriate to purchase them even now in autumn? And is it necessary to clean the old rabbit hutch in any special way when nothing has lived in it for at least the last ten years? JOHANA NOVÁKOVÁ, Jindřichův Hradec
I see basically no reason why not to get rabbits in the fall or why not to use an old rabbit hutch. I definitely recommend cleaning and disinfecting it properly to prevent possible transmission of diseases. After those years, there is probably a maximum risk of fungal infections, but even those are better to prevent than to deal with them later.
Homemade colostrum
With fall, ads for goat colostrum as a miracle immune booster began to appear again. We have been raising goats for years, and we have a few kids every year, so I am interested in whether such a collection can harm the goats or their young. Will they then have enough for their young?
JIŘINA OVSÍKOVÁ, Nová Ves
I would not primarily recommend drinking fresh, untested and unpasteurized colostrum, primarily for hygienic reasons. Various pathogenic bacteria can be present in unpasteurized milk without you immediately recognizing it on the animal. In the professional production of goat colostrum, strict hygienic procedures are established to make it safe to drink. A layman cannot create such conditions at home in a stable. Heat treatment will deplete the colostrum of a lot of beneficial substances. However, a reasonable intake of colostrum will not harm goats or kids. I would not express colostrum for at least the first hours after birth. This is the richest in nutrients and should therefore belong to the young.
MVDr. Julie Love
She graduated from the Veterinary and Pharmaceutical University in Brno. Already during her studies, she completed numerous foreign (USA, Morocco, Spain, Belgium) and domestic internships and, subsequently, internships. Since 2012, he has had his office in Trutnovsk, where he deals not only with domestic animals, but also with farm animals, including horses, for which he goes with his mobile office.
