Livestock Ledger (Continued from Pag* C 2) To prevent such an accident, install a rollover protective struc ture with a safety belt All tractors before 1986 will need this addi tion. By doing so, you’ll increase survival odds. The American Society of Ag Engineers estimates that 90 per cent of tractor operators involved in overturns in Sweden, where HOPS are mandatory, escape seri ous injury or death. For added safety, make a habit of inspecting warming and marker lights to make sure they’re func tioning. Check tires for soundness and inflation levels. Also, don’t allow extra riders on any tractor or skid loader. The equipment wasn’t designed to handle extra passengers. Finally, shut off the power take off when you leave the tractor. PTOs are very dangerous and can sever a limb in seconds. Avoid loose clothing and keep children away from PTOs. This is especial ly true when your tractor is sta tionary and the PTO is operating a grinder-mixer. Children are curi ous and often want toplay near the fast-revolving equipment For more information on farm safety, contact The National Safe ty Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca. IL 60143. Prussic Acid Danger Prussic acid is a nice term for the real culprit hydrocyanimic acid. Prussic acid is found in both cultivated and native forages. Practically all prussic acid con taining plants are quite palatable. There are a number of feed plants which may have toxic SAWDUST & SHAVINGS Pennsylvania’s Largest Sawmill Offers Hardwood Bi-Products At FACTORY DIRECT PRICES! Ask for: Nicole, Wes or Esther Loading Daily Monday-Friday Delivery Available for Tractor Trailer Loads Call for pricing and scheduling. Also Buyers Of Standin amounts of prussic acid under the rightconditions, but major ones of concern are sorghum-Sudan cros ses aind johnsongrass. Plants of the sorghum family may have toxic levels Of prussic acid in new growth which follows cither frost, a severe period of drought, or a period of heavy trampling or physical damage. Heavy nitrate fertilization of the soil followed by abundant rainfall may increase the prussic acid poi soning potential of these crops as well. Under normal circum stances, prussic acid should not be a- problem but under severe drought conditions or around the time of the fust killing frost, we need to be careful. Poisoned animals show signs of nervousness, abnormal breathing, trembling or jerking muscles, blue coloration of the lining of the mouth, spasms or convulsions, and respiratory failure followed by death. Prussic acid poisoning can be very rapid. Often, the first sign of a problem is some of the animals are found dying or dead. Animals which have not shown much evidence of toxicity may be ingested intravenously with « mix ture of sodium thiosulfate. Frossic add poisoning is not cumulative and therefore upon removal, from the forage source, animals not showing evidence of being poi soned will likely not be affected adversely. Acorn poisoning generally deals its most severe blow in die month of September and very ear ly October. It seems cattle like newly fallen acorns best. If you’re grazing cattle in pastures with oak trees and where corns will be present on the ground, take proper precautions. Clinical signs are loss of appetite, listlessnesi, weakness, constipation early, followed by Hardwood Bark Mulch, Sawdust, Shavings & Ground Wood Cover Walter H. Weaber Sons, Inc. Phone: 806/344-3114 Penn State Poultry j \ Pointers r WHAT LIES AHEAD Charles Pitts Professor of Entomology diarrhea which may be dark col ored or bloody and animals will appear bowed in the back. Ani mals get weaker and eventually go down. Affected animals may show yellow color, bloody urine, and dehydration. There are no specific treatments for this condition other than rurntn stimulant (mineral oil and the like) and fluid for dehydration. Treatment of down animals is rarely successful, while early treatment of cases is helpful. If possible, the removal of animals from the source of poisoning will greatly reduce the loss and increase .the success rate of treatment. A prevention ration of 10 to IS percent calcium hydroxide in a protein feed is helpful. It may take about four pounds of this mix per day per cow and two pounds per day for younger animals. If acorn poisoning is a threat, catde should perhaps be removed from the pasture with ottk trees producing acorns or be fenced from these wooded areas while corns are falling. ‘ jC —i * We are in the process of wind ing down another year of fly control. Some of you had successful years in keeping your fly popula tions at low levels, and others were not so lucky. The question we need to ask is, why weren't all of the producers successful in con trolling their flies? As we start to make plans for the coming year, we should evalu ate what problems we had this past year and what we can do to correct them. As you think about the problems you had during the fly season, I would like for yoit to send a list of your problem areas to C. W. Pills, Department Of Entomology, 501 AS&I Building, Penn State Uni versity, University Park, PA 16802, or call me at (814) 863-7789. Also, if any of you have sugges tions for approaches to solving your problem, please include these in your list Don’t be bashful in making suggestions on how we might control flies. We will evalu ate, all suggestions sent as to the feasibility and the researchability of the approach. It appears that we will be get ting some financial support to LEBANON :R’S LMMtUr firming, Siturdey, October 16, IMJC3 conduct tome new extension arid research programs in the major poultry producing counties. It is for this reason that we are looking for any suggestions as to new or old ideas on how to control flies. We will be considering several mechanical approaches to fly con* trol, but the basis of the program will be integrated pest manage ment (IFM). Generally defined, this means directing several methods of control toward the same pest, which when added together gives adequate fly control and is environmentally safe. This approach is even more important now with Congress pre paring to overhaul the food safety laws. In the initial press releases outlining food safety revisions, one of the key statements is that by the end of the decade, 75 per cent of the farmers will be using integrated pest management tech niques designed to combat insects without pesticides. Alternative methods include cultural control, predators, para sites. and biologically derived safe pesticides. How revisions of the food safe ty laws will finally end up remains to be seen, but the message is clear that we will be moving toward non-chemical methods of fly control. During the winter, we will be initiating some new programs and we will keep you updated on the progress of our new projects through Poulty Pointers. I hope the articles that have appeared in Poultry Pointers have been of use to the poultry produc ers. If there are topics or questions that deal with pest control that you would like to see covered in future articles, please send them to the address previously mentioned. S 322 W Timber
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