Living The Good Life

Living The Good Life

5 says farmers and specialists promote livestock comfort and health

By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby

While there are no “spa days” for cows, pigs and chickens, you might be surprised by the innovative ways farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists and other specialists help farm animals live the good life.

If you want to boost your health and well-being, do you make self-care a priority? Maybe you take a walk to de-stress or book an appointment at the spa. If you’re a veterinarian like Dr. Blake Schulte, you apply wellbeing concepts to livestock and view the world through a cow’s eyes.

“When I go to a dairy or beef farm, I try to put myself into the farmer’s boots and see things from the animals’ perspective,” says Schulte, a partner in the Winthrop Veterinary Clinic located in northeast Iowa. “Cow comfort is king.”

Schulte grew up on a 100-cow dairy farm near Norway, Iowa, and knows firsthand how animal comfort contributes to animal well-being. “I would much rather minimize animal stress to prevent health issues than treat disease,” says Schulte, who spends about 60% of his time working with dairy cows and 40% with beef cattle.

Scott Stempfle makes sure his young group of heifers are cool during a hot summer day.

He loves working with farmers who share his passion for animal care, including Scott Stempfle with Stempfle Holsteins near Maynard. When the family remodeled their dairy barns about six years ago, Stempfle and his parents, Paul and Jody, treated it like a home remodeling project in terms of attention to detail.

“My number-one focus is animal comfort,” says Stempfle, 26, a thirdgeneration dairy farmer. “This means providing a low-stress environment where the cows have easy access to feed and clean water.”

The Stempfles, who care for nearly 1,500 Holsteins, carefully designed the barns’ pens and flooring for cow comfort. A mechanized scraper system helps keep the floors clean. The family also invested in 1-inchthick rubber mats so the cows don’t have to stand on concrete.

“If your foot hurts, you don’t want to stand,” Stempfle says. “It’s the same for a dairy cow. When their feet are sore, they want to lie down a lot, they don’t want to eat, and they don’t produce as much milk. We’ve seen much better hoof health by using these rubber mats.”

Lower Stress + Life Enrichment = Happy, Healthy Animals

In many ways, proper animal care isn’t all that different from self-care for people. It’s not a luxury or an indulgence; it’s a practical approach to healthy living.

Customized nutrition

Healthy, nutrient-dense foods are essential to wellness. Farmers often work with a livestock nutritionist to develop feed rations that are nutritionally balanced and tailored to the season.

“A lot of science goes into farm animals’ diets,” says Dr. Trey Kellner, a swine nutritionist at Audubon-based AMVC, which provides veterinary support, nutritional counseling and other services for livestock farmers. Kellner designs diets based on the animals’ growth stage, health status and the weather. “Just like you don’t want to eat a heavy, rich meal on a hot summer day, neither do pigs,” says Kellner, who earned his doctorate in animal science with an emphasis in swine nutrition from Iowa State University (ISU). “We tailor diets that encourage animals to consume enough nutrients. It’s all about ‘health by nutrition.’”

Farm animal diets are tailored to encourage animals to consume enough nutrients.

Farm animals’ diets are sustainable, Kellner adds. Feed rations for sows (mother pigs) can include 30% to 40% distillers dried grains, a corn-based co-product from ethanol production. Along with corn and soybean products, livestock feed can also include some surprising ingredients. “Pigs are similar to humans in many ways, including their gastrointestinal tracts,” Kellner says. “That’s why you can include bakery by-products and breakfast cereal fines – the small particles that result from cereal processing – in swine rations.”

Comfortable surroundings

Like people, animals need to get enough rest and relaxation to thrive. It starts with bedding that’s clean, dry and comfortable. Stempfle favors sand bedding for his family’s dairy cows, whose milk is made into cheese at the Wapsie Valley Creamery in Independence.

“Sand is easy to clean, so you can wash out the manure, let the sand dry and reuse it for deep bedding,” Stempfle says. “Recycling the sand lowers our farm’s carbon footprint.” The right bedding offers one more way to promote the humane treatment of animals, adds Schulte, who admires Dr. Temple Grandin, an internationally recognized leader in animal welfare. “Her insights have influenced everything from how cattle chutes are designed to proper lighting in barns. You literally get down on the animals’ level so you can understand what they’re experiencing and how to better meet their needs.”

Pain and stress relief

Farm animals living in low-stress environments tend to stay healthier. Schulte visits his clients’ farms every week, bi-weekly or monthly, depending on the farmer’s needs, to check the animals’ health. “You have to build trust with each other and get to know each farmer’s needs,” Schulte says. “If there’s a health issue with an animal, we try to do what’s necessary and important.” This may mean using antibiotics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires veterinary oversight when livestock receive antibiotics via feed or water. “These protocols help keep the food supply safe,” Schulte says.

Personalized care

Every cow at Stempfle Holsteins wears a collar that helps track the animal’s activity level and health. “If a cow isn’t moving much or isn’t chewing her cud like normal, the computerized system pops up an alert on my cell phone, so I can check on her,” Stempfle says. “This helps animals live longer, healthier lives. Our oldest cow is 12 years old, and I’ve had cows older than this in the past,” Stempfle says. This level of personalized care isn’t unique to Stempfle Holsteins, Schulte adds. “On many of my clients’ farms, the animals are treated like family.”

Dr. Anna Johnson spends time with her pigs to understand their behavior.

Enriching activities

Both mental and physical health contribute to well-being. That’s why Dr. Anna Johnson and her colleagues at ISU are studying biologically relevant enrichment for farm animals. “It’s all about giving animals choices that fit with their natural behaviors,” says Johnson, an expert in farm animal behavior and welfare. To help weaned pigs transition more easily to starter feed, ISU researchers are combining the feed with flavors like strawberry jam. Then they shape the feed into balls (similar to bath bombs) and hang them on small ropes near the feeders. This appeals to pigs’ natural curiosity and rooting behavior. “Biologically relevant enrichment gives pigs more of a chance to be a pig,” Johnson says.

Her colleague, Dr. Liz Bobeck, is studying the benefits of installing small, red laser lights on the ceilings of barns housing broilers (chickens raised for meat). Each laser shines random, red dots on the floor, moving them at the speed a bug would walk. The lights intrigue the birds and lead them to the feeders. “We’re studying the right timing to know how often to shine the laser and how long to run it each time,” Johnson says. “Our goal is to improve livestock performance.”

Farmers are interested in these studies, adds Johnson, who conducts a large amount of onfarm research. “Producers are eager to gain new knowledge. They also ask important questions, like how to make this research practical in a farm setting and how to manage the cost.”

All these efforts help farm animals live the good life, contributing to a safe, healthy food supply. “It takes a team effort between farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists and other specialists,” Schulte says. “By working together, we can provide farm animals with the best care possible.”