Animal Health Considerations for Exhibitors

These notes are provided to all exhibitors as guidelines for the health and well being of animals entered at the Darwell Fair.  Although testing is not mandatory for many animal diseases exhibitors should consider themselves responsible for bringing healthy animals. Some considerations for your livestock should include: Equine – Horses should be vaccinated with a 3-way shot (tetanus, and both sleeping sicknesses) as well as rhino and influenza.  An optional but very important disease to vaccinate for is West Nile Virus.  Vaccinations should be done 10 – 14 days before the exhibition.  Consider de-worming your horse within 7 – 10 days before the fair to knock parasite egg count back on your horse.  If your horse has been sick within the previous 10 – 14 days before the fair or had any lymph nodes swelling contact your veterinarian to check the animal before the fair. Cattle – Cattle should come to the fair free of lice, warbles and ringworm.  All of these conditions can be contagious and should be treated before shows to the point where there is no visual evidence of the disease.  Cattle should be free of respiratory disease and should show no evidence of lameness from footrot, corns, etc.  Vaccination for cattle diseases such as IBR, BVD, P13 and haemophilus are optional and the exhibitors’ veterinarian should be consulted on the treatment and prevention of the above conditions.  Cattle should be treated for internal and external parasites at least 7 – 10 days before the fair with a broad-spectrum agent such as Ivomec injectable or pour-on.  Poultry – Chickens should be deloused with Drikill  powder before the fair, and birds with evidence of diarrhea should be left at home to avoid coccidiosis.  Exotics (Llamas, etc.) – Exotics should be evaluated for signs of lice or mange before the fair and given some kind of broad spectrum dewormer 7 – 10 days before arrival.  A suggested product would be Ivomec injectable for internal and external parasites.  Consult your veterinarian. The key is to bring healthy stock only.  If all exhibitors bring only healthy stock we all benefit by avoiding taking problems home.  The above lists are by no means complete, but by observing for common problems we all do our part to make this an enjoyable and disease-free fair.