Dr. Leland Allenstein Dairy Teaching Herd Newsletter Spring 2006 First Issue February 13 th, 2006

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1 Dr. Leland Allenstein Dairy Teaching Herd Newsletter Spring 2006 First Issue February 13 th, 2006 RED S CORNER By: Red (of course) One of the nicest surprises of my retirement has been to continue as the feature cow (like the feature back in the NFL). Even when Scarlet was dried off in December, she let me continue to hold court with new heifers as they were moved down from Bookhout. Also, she condones my waiting at the gate in the dry cow area (aka turkey barn). This practice reminds Dave that we are (ahem, I am) available to clean up both the green and red feeders. I usually start waiting as soon as it gets light because I have to time it so that Dave sees us as he goes by on the skid loader. Scarlet also allows me to lead the heifers and dry cow herd back to the turkey barn. This task has really kept me on my hooves so to speak because the terrain has varied from extremely wet and muddy to frozen and snow-covered, forcing me to rethink our route on a daily basis. Planning alternate routes is a real pain literally! When the ground is frozen it is better to walk close to the fence where the ground is a bit softer. However, this path is too narrow for my ample girth so I must walk on the frozen tire tracks from the skid loader. Ouch! But I focus on the hay wagon and the meal that awaits, and I am able to trudge on. Oh! I almost forgot about the repaired red feeder (I can t knock it down anymore with my large head) and the new red feeder. I have been emphasizing to my cowleagues the benefits of using the bite and pull method to eat from these feeders. I have trained quite a few of my cowleagues to grasp a bite of the hay with their upper gums and their lower incisors and then pull backward producing a nice portion of the hay for chewing. This maneuver has also prepared some heifers for the bite and throw method of eating that can be quite useful in the barn. As the prodigious heifer snags a nice portion of hay, some residual hay lands in the stall as it sails over her head during the throw part. This extra bit of hay can be eaten later at her leisure. I recently implemented a new plan for helping students remember our grain. I have begun bellowing in the lot if I think a student has forgotten to put grain out for us. This has worked quite well, and because I know when it is coming, I get in the best position at the green bunk to eat where the first bucket finishes being dumped and the second bucket begins to be poured. Well, we ll see you late in the morning when we come over to eat. I know it will be hard to distinguish between myself and Turner as I have lost a lot of weight and, of course, Turner has gained a lot with her advanced pregnancy.

2 Wisconsin Veterinary School s Dairy Teaching Herd Named After Dr. Allenstein To help endow the Dr. Leland Allenstein Dairy Teaching Herd, please contact the veterinary school s Office for Advancement at 608/ or them at giving@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu. Student Interview By: Allie Wistrand Mazepa Megan Glazer grew up in Milwaukee, WI and is currently a sophomore at the University of WI- Madison. She is pursuing a degree in zoology and certificate in women s studies. She has been working with the UW teaching herd for the past 1½ years. She had no previous experience with large animals before starting college, but was interested in exploring other species. Her favorite part about her job is working with the calves, and her current favorite is Tabitha. Her long-term goal is to apply to veterinary school and to specialize in small animal medicine. Besides working at the barn, Megan loves to run and cheer on the Wisconsin football team. She also spends time entertaining a large collection of pets including one rabbit, three cats, one dog and a fish. Reproduction Report By: Christine Sibigtroth Confirmed Conceptions for January January Calvings Expected February Calvings Katrina Scarlet Jan. 9 th Lucky Due Feb. 22 nd Penny Gretel Jan. 12 th expecting a heifer Diane Sabrina Jan.17 th (heifer) Brit Judy Jan. 18 th Snowflake Ace Jan. 29 th Presto Tasha Jan. 30 th (heifer) Patricia Due Feb. 28 th expecting a heifer For the month of January 6 cows out of a total of 15 inseminations conceived. As the national average is 38%, the teaching herd is doing great with a 40% conception rate!

3 Have you ever wondered how Dave and Dr. Momont choose which straw to use for each AI case? As all cows in the teaching herd are bred using artificial insemination, it is possible to match sires to cows that would complement their physical characteristics. Prospective sires are selected through assessment of physical traits of their daughters. Mating Appraisal for Profit, a service of Genex Cooperative, Inc., compiles values for each sire using seventeen physical traits of their daughters. Once a group of sires are chosen, every cow in the herd is evaluated for the same traits. Using a computer program, the cows are then matched to individual sires based on strengths and weaknesses. The primary interest when selecting a sire for cows in the teaching herd is anatomical soundness. Strong udder composites, as well as strong foot and leg composites are necessary for selection. Rump angle is also important. A sire is likely not chosen if his daughters are higher in the pins than the hips. Milk production is not a primary concern. Nutritional and environmental management can be employed to elicit strong lactations if the cow is anatomically sound. Cow Profile- Lynette By: Melissa Maurer-Ford Lynette is a saucy little black and white Holstein who was born to Lynn on January 6 of She is currently enjoying her second lactation in the teaching herd and looks forward to more. She was bred about 23 days ago and awaits her pregnancy check. She has one daughter named Lyric who currently is going to the heifer school at Bookhout. After delivering Lyric, Lynette had an unfortunate prolapsed uterus that was corrected with a Caslick's vulvoplasty operation on September 27, Her current production output is 130 lbs. of FCM (fat corrected milk) and her lifetime total milk output is lbs.

4 Tara Runner-Up for HIGHEST IN MILK 130 lbs/day February s Super Cows By: Toby Pinn Katrina HIGHEST IN MILK 140 lbs/day Profile Fresh 9/30/05 DIM 130 Lactation 3 Sarah MOST IMPROVED 37% Increase in February milk Profile Fresh 9/26/05 DIM 134 DCC 60 Lactation 6 KEY: DCC= Days Carrying Calf DIM= Days in Milk Profile Fresh 11/15/05 DIM 84 Lactation 1

5 NEW ARRIVALS By: Toby Pinn Charlot Carmen s Daughter Suzy Sunny s Daughter Shawna Sabrina s Daughter

6 Herd Health By: Devon Klipsic As a herd health elective student you get to experience production medicine first hand. This elective course teaches the basics of herd heath and management. One of the basic lessons I learned this semester was what to do after a cow calves to insure that she remains in good health postpartum. After delivering a 90-pound calf named Suzy on January 17 th, Sabrina (a third-lactation cow) transformed hours and hours of lecture material into real-time action for us students. A few of the things we were concerned about when Sabrina freshened included milk fever, ketosis, retained placenta, metritis and mastitis. As a preventative measure, physical exams are performed on the cows upon freshening and once a day after that. Doing this not only allowed us to monitor Sabrina for signs of milk fever and ketosis, but it also ensured that we paid attention to other factors that might present a problem. Sabrina passed her placenta within 12 hours of calving so this was one less issue of concern, and during our routine exams there were no clinical signs suggesting development of metritis. Sabrina had no prior history of milk fever; however, as cows age and with each consecutive lactation, the risk of developing milk fever goes up. In order to gauge Sabrina s risk, we drew 5 ml of blood for a serum calcium analysis and checked for clinical signs. Normal serum calcium levels range from 7.9 mg to 10.5 mg. Sabrina s calcium results came back as 7.0 mg. Although no clinical signs were apparent yet, as a preventative measure we opted to give Sabrina 2 tubes of Calcipro (a calcium paste) orally, giving her a total of 4 doses q12h. It was noted during the postpartum exam that Sabrina s udder was greatly swollen, mostly on the ventral aspect. Sabrina was milked out of the tank for the next few days until a CMT and quarter milk culture samples were analyzed. The CMT directed us to the fact that her right rear quarter was possibly infected. Results of the milk cultures confirmed E. coli mastitis in her right rear quarter. We treated that quarter with Spectromast (intramammary injection) once a day over the next four days. Routine CMTs were performed during her treatment period to ensure that the infection was cleared before she was milked into the bulk tank. Routine milk ketone tests were also performed starting on the 3 rd day of Sabrina s lactation and then every 3 rd day after that until her 15 th day of lactation in order to screen for subclinical ketosis. Milk ketone tests were negative and no clinical signs of ketosis ever presented. Sabrina s case only scratches the surface of what students experience and learn in the herd health elective course. Not only have I had fun taking part in calving, giving injections, taking samples, and so on, participating in the herd health elective has allowed me to integrate what I have been learning in the lecture halls with real clinical situations. I have found it to be one of the best ways to develop and enhance my clinical and technical skills for the future.

7 February Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Enrichment Program 8:30am- 12:45pm Theriogenology Rotation PE Course- Head and neck 14 Theriogenology Rotation 1 15 Bookhout Herd check LAIM Visit 2 DHIA Testing- PM Theriogenology Rotation Theriogenology Rotation 1 March 1 Bookhout Herd check LAIM Visit th year theriogenology rotation with either Dr. Momont or Dr. Bosu 2. Large Animal Internal Medicine visits the herd 2005

8 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Interested in gaining experience working with dairy cows? Then boy do we have the opportunity for you! You can join the milking crew at the Charmany Teaching Facility and work the AM or PM milking shifts. Weekday shifts are from 5:00 am to 7:00 am and from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Weekend shifts are from 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Interested students should contact Dr. Bill Goodger at (608) One further note on employment is that we can save 50% in student salary expenses (about $20,000 per year) if students apply for work study (about 90% of veterinary students are probably eligible). These added funds would not only allow more students access to the herd, but would also provide support for clinics, projects, and clinical upgrades to our facility which would enhance the experience for all students. Below is information about work study from the campus work study office in financial aid. ** The Work-Study Program does not determine where you work. It is up to you to determine where you d like to work and what type of work you d be interested in. The Federal Work- Study Program (FWSP) employee s will be glad to discuss with you what your interests are and what employment options are available to you but you will need to contact the employers directly to inquire about job availabilities. Having accepted Work-Study will benefit you primarily in two ways: first, since employers only pay 50 cents of every dollar earned by a student, work-study students are highly sought after employees and second, any work-study monies earned are not counted and considered as earned income when you apply for next year s financial aid. Normally a student s earnings are considered as earned income and your next year s financial aid award is reduced by that amount. If you decide to work on campus, ANY job at the UW automatically qualifies as a work-study position. You should always let a UW-employer know that you have accepted a work-study award, because again, it makes you an even more desirable hire to them. Having said this, some UW employers require that you have work-study. These listing can be found under the UWWR section. If you need to contact someone at the UW-SVM Teaching Herd Barn, call (608) Please direct correspondence regarding the Charmany Teaching Herd or the newsletter to: William J. Goodger, DVM, PhD Cell: (608) wgoodger@facstaff.wisc.edu