Hatfield at the plant.
At five months the hogs begin going to slaughter and the
rooms are emptied a few weeks after that. The Beams per
form a complete cleanout of the facility. The Beams haul
about 85 hogs at a time, on average.
The Beams were able to weather the price fallout in De
cember 1998, when the price plummeted to 15 cents a
pound. In early 2000 the Beams averaged 41-41.5 cents per
pound for hogs delivered.
Beam credits his consulating veterinarian for introducing
them to a lot of the concepts of proper swine care. The veter
inarian keeps the farm in line with slaughter checks and
health recommendations.
Beam also has a beef finishing operation. He finishes
Dental Care and Feeding of Old Horses
David L. Foster, V.M.D.
I’ve seen this scenario hundreds of times before. I arrive
at a new clients farm, remove and arrange my equipment,
and am introduced to my patient. The owner says: “Old
Pokey has lost a lot of weight the past few years. He used to
be such an easy keeper, but now, you can see for yourself, he
looks so thin.” I am a veterinarian who practices horse den
tistry and I get a lot of these calls.
The life expectancy of horses is getting longer. There are
many things that contribute to this. Improvements in diet,
shelter, parasite control and veterinary care all have con
tributed to the increased lifespan of horses. The effects have
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about 400 Angus-based crossbreds per year. The cattle are
sold to Moyer Packing.
The system is com silage and grain, feedlot-based. The
calves are obtained at Virginia tele-auctions and trucked to
Elverson.
Beam points to the dry, hot summer that kept fly prob
lems and other issues at bay.
Beam already has hosted some public events at the farm.
One was a picnic in 1997 to show neighbors some of the in
novations at the farm.
He said in the future he would like to switch over to more
food by-product feed and combine that with a total mixed
ration diet for the cattle.
been amazing. Just twenty years ago, when I began my vet
erinary career, a horse over twenty-five years old was a
rarity. Now it is quite common to see horses and ponies that
are pushing thirty and beyond! But with this new ‘lease on
life,’ comes a few challenges. There are subtle but important
changes that take place as a horse ages. We must keep these
changes in mind to keep ‘Old Pokey’ happy and healthy.
Some of the most important changes that take place in
the aged horse are in his mouth. We feed horses hay and
usually some form of concentrated ration like grain. They
also eat forage or grass. Horse’s teeth are wonderfully
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717-626-9674
800-582-9956
717-627-6892 - Fax
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