Causes of ill-health on the farm
1. PHYSICAL FACTORS
These include extreme elements such as cold and over exposure to the sun in addition to mechanical dangers such as slippery surface, electrical faults and dangerous threats for example exposed barbed wire and sharp objects.
2. CHEMICAL FACTORS
There are numerous chemical hazards of threat to farm animals from natural ones such as poisonous plants to manufactured forms such as insecticides, weed killers, silage additives and poisonous leadbased paint.
3. BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Possibly the most significant cause of ill-health and disease on the farm, biological factors incorporate living things from the various kingdoms of life including the animal kingdom in the form of parasites, to bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Collectively, these various groups are a major contributory factor to illness and disease on the farm including liver fluke, BVD, red water fever and TB.
4. NUTRITIONAL FACTORS
Correct feeding regimes are paramount to the balanced diet of farm animals and imbalances either side of the scale can result in various disorders including nutritional scour, pregnancy toxaemia and acidosis. In addition, more serious long-term effects of poor nutrition include fertility problems. Various deficiency diseases can also occur if animals are lacking in certain vitamins and minerals for example lack of magnesium causes grass tetany while lack of Vitamin D causes rickets.
5. METABOLIC FACTORS
Metabolism includes all the physical and chemical reactions by which the living body is maintained, and also those by which energy is made available for various forms of work and production. Any imbalance in metabolism results in what is known as a metabolic disorder.
6. GENETIC FACTORS
Some conditions such as prolapse in ewes and leg weakness in horses and pigs are inherited conditions.