Antibiotics, good or bad ?

[hobbyboy]

In my probably less than brilliant opinion, I believe that the growth hormones are effecting the people that eat the beef.

Note my friend, I never said that it was steeped in logic. It is clearly an opinion.

I do know that there is a substantial difference between the children of today and the children of 20 years ago. If you don't believe it, just check the bra sizes.

Hormones perhaps? I don't know. It's just an opinion...

I'm not sure a person should blame breast augmentation surgery on hormone use in livestock. Bras are bigger because the breasts are bigger, the breasts are bigger because they are full of saline.

 

[ranchwabble]

13 percent of the antibiotics administered on farms last year were fed to healthy animals to make them grow faster.

That is from this article http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Pressure-R ... TEST_NEWS_

I've never heard of antibiotics making an animal grow faster... Can someone shed some light on this subject? :help:

 

[novaman]

13 percent of the antibiotics administered on farms last year were fed to healthy animals to make them grow faster.

That is from this article http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Pressure-R ... TEST_NEWS_

I've never heard of antibiotics making an animal grow faster... Can someone shed some light on this subject? :help:

I believe they are referring to ionophores like Rumensin, which is a narrow spectrum antibiotic. It improves feed efficiency which adds up to greater gains. I can understand this side of the arguement. There are some issues with the overuse of antibiotics. The problem I have is the anti-animal agriculture types are not only trying to eliminate antibiotics but they are hoping this bullet will strike close enough to the heart that the industry slowly bleeds to death.

 

[ranchwabble]

The problem I have is the anti-animal agriculture types

I agree with that.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

PEOPLE overuse antibiotics more than agriculture.
Young girls are developing/maturing faster because we have much better nutrition from conception to birth to teens.
There is MORE hormones in a serving of BROCCOLLI than there is in meat from an implanted steer. We don't implant anymore because of the PERCEIVED stigma that goes along with implants - but they definately make you money.
I question whether Rumensin or Bovatec is actually considered an antibiotic - maybe tho - it is a coccidiostat ???? never heard it referred to that way.

 

[Fred Belknap]

Seems that the feeding of antibiotics to healthy animals especially hogs will create resistant bacteria like staph and others. If I'm not mistaken the European nations limit the amount of antibiotics in imported meat. They should be given to sick animals only, but I realize there is a profit to be made by using them to produce more pounds of meat. I'm also sure that somewhere there will be a payback for this practice. This is a good read. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... hub=Health

Fred

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

As with people, antibiotics should only be used when cattle are sick. Arbitrarilly feeding/treating healthy cattle does not help our industries image.

 

[IGotMyWings]

In the "natural/organic" meat world, they are either frowned on or shunned completely. I think feeding them routinely is bad not only for the mutation of the icks they're supposed to cure, but also the residue they sometimes leave behind. Now, I know that some will swear that there are never residues, but a member of my family is allergic to antibiotics, and her reaction to them is head to toe itching and welts and hives all over her. Oddly enough, once in a while, we'll grab a hamburger or steak while out and about, and she has that same reaction. I'm not a doctor, and don't play one on TV, but it adds up to me!

In my herd, which is grass fed from teat to meat, I will use antibiotics, but only on an as needed basis, which keeps me from marketing organic, but lets me keep my animals healthy! To keep my customers concerns about antibiotic residue to a minimum, I promise to exceed the WD time on the bottle by two weeks. Only the "thou shalt never utilize the evil antibiotic" crowd have faulted me.

 

[djinwa]

As with people, antibiotics should only be used when cattle are sick. Arbitrarilly feeding/treating healthy cattle does not help our industries image.

Yes, use them for sick cattle only, and we shouldn't intentionally make them sick. Not only do we create the need for antibiotics, there should be animal welfare to consider. I worked just long enough in a feedlot to become disillusioned. I'm surprised the general public has tolerated things as long as they have, but then I guess cheap beef is all we care about.

We wipe out immune systems by stressing (weaning, shipping, changing feed, crowding), and co-mingle to spread pathogens around, and we wonder why they get pneumonia we have to treat. Then we feed a high-grain diet, causing acid, which burns holes in the rumen allowing bacteria to infect the liver. Doesn't take much googling to learn about it. From the Journal of Animal Science:


http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/abstract/76/1/287

Note the need for antibiotics in feed to prevent liver abscesses and the concern for "economic liability". Anybody here had severe stomach ulcers and liver abscesses?

Liver abscesses in slaughtered beef cattle result from aggressive grain-feeding programs. The incidence, averaging from 12 to 32% in most feedlots, is influenced by a number of dietary and management factors. Liver abscesses represent a major economic liability to producers, packers, and ultimately consumers. Besides liver condemnation, economic impacts include reduced feed intake, reduced weight gain, decreased feed efficiency, and decreased carcass yield. Fusobacterium necrophorum, a member of the ruminal anaerobic bacterial flora, is the primary etiologic agent. Actinomyces pyogenes is the second most frequently isolated pathogen. Ruminal lesions resulting from acidosis generally are accepted as the predisposing factors for liver abscesses. F. necrophorum possesses or produces a number of virulence factors that participate in the penetration and colonization of the ruminal epithelium and subsequent entry and establishment of infection in the liver. However, only a few virulence factors have been characterized well. Control of liver abscesses in feedlot cattle generally has depended on the use of antimicrobial compounds. Five antibiotics (i.e., bacitracin methylene disalicylate, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, tylosin, and virginiamycin) are approved for prevention of liver abscesses in feedlot cattle. Tylosin is the most effective and the most commonly used feed additive. Tylosin feeding reduces abscess incidence by 40 to 70%. The mode of action of antibiotics in preventing liver abscesses is believed to be via inhibition of ruminal F. necrophorum.