OCTOBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Ranchers take


stock of cattle Biggest impact will be lighter cattle, slower weight gain


by TOM WALKER KAMLOOPS – In addition to


the direct loss of animals to this summer’s wildfires, ranchers are concerned with the health of their remaining herd. “Overall, cattle are very


resilient animals,” says Jason McGillivray, a vet at the Kamloops Large Animal Veterinary Clinic. But there are specific problems that ranchers will encounter, explains McGillivray, based on his experience from the Barriere-Louis Creek fire in 2004. “The immediate concern is


injured feet from the cattle walking through the vast areas of burned ground,” says McGillivray. Cattle are not particularly scared in a wildfire situation, so it is not uncommon for them to be lying down chewing their cud when the fire is 50 yards away,” he says. “They are not spooked by the fire and they are fairly curious animals. Once the forest burns through, they will often be wandering in areas that are still burning looking for feed,” says McGillivray. “That’s when they will damage their feet, walking on the hot ground.” “If their feet are severely


burned, they will end up lame and when we identify them, we will put them down,” says McGillivray, adding that he has also seen burn injuries to a cow’s udder.


“Usually, by the time the


calves and cows are down in the fall for weaning and gathering and the fire season is over, it is obvious which ones are damaged and aren’t going to recover and which ones are fine.”


Smoke inhalation Its’a similar situation with


smoke inhalation. Some cattle will succumb to smoke inhalation and the burning of the fire but McGillivray says he did not see long-term effects in the lungs of animals that survived. “The long term effects


from smoke inhalation were minimal,” he says. “The cattle might have had some respiratory distress when they were in the bush but by the time we see them, they have recovered.” Smoke inhalation didn’t


have a direct impact on calves at weaning, says McGillivray. “We didn’t see more pneumonia in them, nor did we have issues with the calves that got sold and went to Alberta.” McGillivray says that ranchers didn’t see cattle suffering the effects of chronic lung damage such as emphysema later through the winter or the next year. “It wasn’t as lasting an


impact as we thought it would be. Cattle have an amazing ability to recover from lung damage,”


Drought support.


a 32-18 BLOC 


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While volunteers did their best to keep the feed flowing to livestock affected by the wildfires that ripped through BC’s central interior this summer, even the temporary lack of forage and water during the height of the crisis could be problematic for cattle coming off range this fall. EMILY BULMER PHOTO


McGillivray points out. “We see that when we treat them for pneumonia or respiratory disease at the ranch. They are not athletic animals and they have lots of residual lung capacity.” The stress of being moved


and displaced by the fires, the lack of forage and perhaps water will have an effect on the herd. “The biggest impact is, of


course, reduced weight gain,” says McGillivray. “These calves are going to come in lighter


and that is going to hit the producer in the pocket.” “They may lose five or 10% of their calves but out of the 90% that are gathered up and weaned, they are definitely


See WEANING on next page o


Extreme drought and fire conditions have made forages and feeding a challenge.


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FIBROZYME


WITH ADDED


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