FEBRUARY 2017 FARM NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 Sanatorium Road Cardiff CF11 8DG Tel: FEBRUARY 2017 FARM NEWSLETTER Happy St Davids Day, spring is on its way! We ve all enjoyed a few lambings, isn t it lovely to see them in the fields. Thoughts turn to turn-out don t forget to order your lungworm vaccine. Tom talks about lungworm later, and also about getting ahead with liverfluke. Morgan talks about another turn-out problem Hypomag, or Staggers and how best to avoid it and Stewart looks at Colostrum Management. Tom is back from his trip to Australia back from an Australian Summer to a South Wales Winter lovely! He gives us a short summary of his trip later in the newsletter. Park Vets Working with the local farmers in around the community Discount Drugs for local farmers at cost price! ½ Price lambing visits! Branches in Penarth & Pontypridd You cannot have escaped all the coverage about reduced useage of antibiotics in animals to reduce possible resistance to antibiotics in the human population. Some of our dairy clients are having to abide by strict protocols regarding choice of antibiotics and proving they are warranted at all. Good husbandry reduces the necessity for treatment preventative medicine. A good flock or herd health plan often highlights your own farms problem areas and can be a very useful exercise to go through. We often pick up small points that make big differences. It s a good rainy day job take your pick. Mary Newsletter Photos courtesy of Maggie Walters

2 FLUKE As a lot of you know I have recently come back from the sunnier climate of Australia. Highlights were definitely the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne and sailing the Great Barrier Reef. I saw a lot of their wildlife and met an interesting group of farmers in Sydney escaping the 47 degree heat of the outback. Returning on the first Thursday in February, a little jet lagged, overlooking the Pontypridd bridge grey skies and a fine drizzle I knew my tan was going to fade and it was back to reality. With Spring officially arriving on the March the 1 st (expect snow the week after!) its important to prep cattle for turnout, specifically thinking around fluke and lungworm. Fluke Again we have had a warm, wet winter. These are ideal conditions for the snail population and liver fluke. If cattle were treated with a triclabendazole containing product, shortly after housing, very few fluke should be present, providing there is no resistance to this product on your farm. Regardless cattle housed over winter should only have adult fluke present, therefore I would recommend using a product that specifically targets adult fluke (see table below). I would use a closantel or nitroxynil containing product due to their higher efficacy to adult fluke. Be careful as a lot of products also contain a wormer and unless the cattle need worming this could be a waste of a worming dose! Triclabendazole (TCBZ) Resistance The last month I have been conducting a study looking at Triclabendazole resistance in fluke on 10 of our sheep farms. Results are still coming in and I will be discussing this further next month however preliminary findings show evidence of fluke resistance to TCBZ in the South Wales population. Lungworm (Dictyocaulus viviparus) If your farm has a history of lungworm vaccinating for it in naïve animals can be a good control measure. This can prevent outbreaks in late summer and Autumn, as well as reduce lungworms effects on growth rates. Huskvac requires two doses, two weeks apart and the second dose should be done a minimum of two weeks before turnout. Please contact us for more information. Embryo Transfer After the success of my ram and bull breeding evaluations I am looking at doing an embryo transfer course this Spring. I know some of our clients already do this and have spoken to a few people who may be interested in starting. My plan is to gain competency in implanting frozen embryos (a great way of bringing new genetics into a farm, with minimal risk of buying in disease) and therefore offer a new service to our farms, watch this space! Thomas Searle

3 Hypomagnesaemia - Grass Staggers Commonly associated with recently-calved beef cows but dairy cows are also at risk, particularly if unsupplemented during the dry period. There is a range of clinical signs from sub-clinical disease to sudden death. The amount and concentration of magnesium in the body is dependent upon absorption mainly from the rumen. Factors influencing the availability of dietary magnesium include magnesium levels in the soil and grass which vary considerably. High levels of potassium (application of potash fertilisers) disrupt the absorption of magnesium. High levels of ammonia (from nitrogenous fertilisers) inhibit magnesium absorption. Lush pastures are low in fibre and increase the rate of passage of food material through the rumen reducing time for the absorption. Signs Sudden death is encountered most commonly in older lactating beef cows post calving. Paddling/seizure activity Excitability with high head carriage Twitching of muscles (especially around the head) Incoordination ("staggering gait") Affected cows become separated from the group and have a startled expression. Exaggerated blink reflex Grinding of the teeth It can be common for relapses to occur even after correct treatment. If you suspect staggers it is essential to keep the cow calm and to not move her. Call the vet immediately. Relapses are common even after apparent correct treatment. The majority of cows in the group may be affected subclinically. Subclinical Cows may appear slightly nervous, are reluctant to be milked or herded, and have depressed dry matter intake and poor milk yield. Dairy cows with subclinical hypomagnesaemia in the dry period are predisposed to hypocalcaemia. Diagnosis can be confirmed with a blood sample but often treatment must be initiated immediately to avoid death. Treatment Intravenous magnesium is administered alongside calcium if required. The cow should then be raised into sternal recumbency and left quietly. The administration of magnesium sulphate by injection will only increase plasma levels for 6 to 12 hours, therefore it is essential to offer concentrates/hay to ensure adequate dietary intake to prevent relapse. Sedation may be required to reduce seizure activity and allow intravenous access. Prevention/control measures Blood sampling of a group of at least five cows could be performed to check the herd magnesium status but it would be prudent to implement preventive measures immediately.the total diet should contain 2.5g/kg DM of magnesium to meet requirements of the majority of lactating cows at pasture. The best method is to use 60g magnesium oxide (calcined magnesite) per cow per day in high-magnesium cobs. Magnesium salts are relatively inexpensive. It is essential that minerals added to home-mix rations contain sufficient magnesium. Many straights do not contain sufficient magnesium and addition of minerals is essential. Feeding concentrates during the autumn to cows calving from August onwards is not a management concern because grass is often in short supply and cows require the extra feeding to maintain condition, lactate well and get back in-calf before, or soon after, housing. The value of one dead cow can help justify the extra feed costs! Problems arise during the spring when there is plentiful lush grass and cows may be reluctant to eat poorer quality concentrates. Introducing the ration to be fed after turnout while the cows are still housed may help as well as restricting grazing initially. The sole water supply can be medicated with soluble magnesium salts such as chloride, sulphate or acetate. Pastures may be dusted during high-risk periods with finely ground calcined magnesite every days. Intraruminal boluses give a slow release of relatively small amounts of magnesium into the rumen over a period of four weeks. Magnesium salts and minerals are unpalatable therefore ad-lib minerals are not satisfactory. Ad-libitum good quality barley straw helps slow the flow of lush grass through the gut and aids magnesium absorption. Morgan Richards

4 Colostrum Management With Spring getting into full swing it s important that we make sure our lambs and calves have the best start in life. In both lambs and calves the mothers antibodies are unable to cross the placenta into the foetus during pregnancy. Therefore, it is essential that the newborn absorbs these antibodies from the mothers colostrum, which allows them to fight off any disease challenges that may occur in the first few weeks of birth. Colostrum is also rich in essential nutrients and high in energy, aiding survival by helping to maintain body temperature especially important in newborn lambs. The 5 Q s Quality All spare good quality colostrum should be stored and frozen straight away as colostrum quality can be highly variable between animals. If you suspect a calf or lamb has received inadequate or poor quality colostrum then this stored colostrum should be thawed in warm water <50^C and NEVER MICROWAVED. In sheep, a foster ewe that has only recently lambed is the next best alternative. If none of these are obtainable then colostrum substitutes are available for both species. Quantity LAMBS - 50ml per kg bodyweight within the first two hours of life - 200ml per kg bodyweight in the first 24 hours. CALVES minimum of 3L in the first 6hrs = 20mins of continuous suckling In both species, stomach tubing can be invaluable in ensuring enough colostrum has been fed. Quickly At birth the gut of the lamb/calf is permeable to the mothers antibodies allowing absorption. However, this permeability rapidly decreases over the first 24hrs. Therefore, colostrum should be fed as soon as possible after birth and at the latest within 6hrs. Quietly It has been shown that stressed animals will not absorb antibodies through the gut as efficiently as calm animals, thus requiring more colostrum to achieve the same level of immunity. Qleanliness? High levels of bacteria in the colostrum cannot only cause disease, e.g. scours, but it has also been found to block antibody absorption across the gut. Therefore, make sure that you are using colostrum from healthy ewes/cows with healthy udders. If using frozen colostrum make sure it is being stored and thawed correctly and in hygienic conditions. STEWART WILSON

5 POST MORTEM FREE COLLECTION SERVICE The APHA Lab in Carmarthen currently offer a FREE collection service when a post-mortem is requested They request that the carcass be less than 24 hours collection to ensure we meet this criteria, can you please call the surgery as early as possible so we can arrange the collection. Thanks LAMBING VISITS EXPLAINED Half Price Lambing Visit prices from 1 st February 2017 Normal Hours = will be Emergency Visit = will be 48.76