Charmany Dairy Herd Newsletter Oct. 29 th Nov. 4 th Daily Events

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1 Daily Events Monday: Milking system evaluation; housing assessment; hygiene score - PM2 4 th year students Theriogenology palpation labs - 3 rd year students Mastitis investigation-including assessing milking routine, dynamic testing, and milk samples-pm2 4 th year students Tuesday: Am Assess milking system cleaning-pm2 4 th year students 4 th year Theriogenology Rotation Herd Check Dr. Momont & 4 th year students Tail bleeding opportunity-need blood for Chuck C. s lab between 6:30am-8am Wednesday: Tail bleeding opportunity-need blood for Chuck C. s lab between 6:30am-8am Skin Testing lab with Dr. Schultz 2nd year students Thursday: Friday: 7:30 am: Herd Management meeting-building 662 Charmany rbst injections given to 5 cows-another opportunity

2 Weekly Events Cows due to calve: We still have the very pregnant SOX to freshen in October (10/29/01). 2 springing heifers will freshen in November: Heifer #4 (11/23/01); Heifer #5 (11/24/01) Sick Cows/Treatments/Breedings: Update on Sally s diagnosis. As you ll recall, Sally had to be euthanized last week due to complications of mastitis. The culprit bacterium was not Klebsiella as previously thought. It was an E. coli infection, which was cultured out at 100,000 CFU in each of the 4 quarters. It was actually quite sensitive to most antibiotics. However, the speculation is that the virulence of the organism and the associated toxins it produced must have broken down the suspensory ligaments separating the quarters and allowed it to infect the other 3 quarters. (The left front quarter was the initial quarter that was infected.) The LF quarter must have been producing a lot of bacteria even before the quarter became swollen because by chance, a bulk tank culture was done on the Friday she was euthanized. The tank would have included milk from one milking before she was treated, and the culture revealed 350 CFU of coliforms, which we have never had before in any bulk tank culture. Sally was vaccinated with J-5, which must have modulated the systemic effects of the toxin and probably allowed her to survive and actually eat 50% of her silage on that Friday. We are currently milking zero cows into the bucket (44 cows milking), and our pickup is averaging close to 77 lbs. per cow per day. Sox is in the midst of our fresh cow protocol. We bring dry cows into the lactating herd at least 3 weeks before calving. In the dry cow barn, our cows get free choice mineral and 5 lbs of grain per day along with refusal hay from the lactating herd. While in the barn before calving, cows are post dipped. (A point here is that studies have revealed 50% of teat canals are closed at 7days post-dry-off; a further 45% become closed over the following days during the dry period, and 5% remain open at 90 days. During these studies, 97% of the infections that were diagnosed during the dry period occurred in teats that had an open canal. This is why post-dipping is critical.) At or just before calving, cows receive CA-PO4 paste and Naquasone orally. Then at the 4 th milking and for the next 10 milkings, the cows quarters are CMT d and if a persistent 2-3 is noted, that quarter is automatically treated with Cefa -lak on label. Fresh cows are brought up on grain slowly until 6 weeks post-fresh and brought up slowly on protein until 3weeks postfresh. Fresh cow stalls are cleaned out completely each day until 4 weeks post-fresh. Any leaking cows such as Blackie, Kathy, Trish, Belle, and Cindy have their stalls cleaned out completely each day and get extra shavings at the PM milking. This is an attempt to keep a clean, dry pen and prevent our main nemesis Klebsiella from getting established. These cows are also milked first in order to decrease the amount of milk and thus wetness in the stall. We have also added fresh cows to the list of stalls that are to be completely cleaned out as 82% of environmental infections occur between 2-4 weeks post calving. Swoosh is pregnant with a heifer calf, which will help us replace one of her other daughters, Sweetlou, whom we dearly miss. 30 Veterinarians attended the ultrasound class sponsored by the SVM this weekend at Charmany. Keith Poulsen and Sara Colopy assisted while the teaching herd was used to apply the skills the veterinarians learned in lecture. Jon Gundlach was also in attendance. Lameness assessments: Dr. Cook and Pm2 students will do a locomotion score on the cows in the herd and develop a list of cows to trim sometime in November (after PM2 is over on Nov 2). Come watch the masterful Dr. Cook use his special grinder and those ghoulish black gloves! This previous week Dr. Cook examined Eve s left rear foot and identified possible foot rot. He put a shoe on one of her digits to keep the pressure off the sore digit and then put her on Naxcel for 3 days. Even though her shoe fell off after 2 days (they are more difficult to keep on the front feet), she is doing much better.

3 Weekly Events Project: We give our rbst injections on Friday mornings. If you want to give us a hand (as their can be up to 24 cows to inject) feel free to show up any time between 6:00-7:30am. Come and give Keith Poulsen a hand. We have cows to vaccinate (J-5 and Scourgard) see Erika Langfoss and Ayrika White for the schedule. Employment opportunities: If you are interested in gaining experience with dairy cows, 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 top 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 We are starting to make up student crews for Winter Break. Please contact Dr. Goodger if you want to work as the shifts are filling up. 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 cellular wgoodger@facstaff.wisc.edu Jessica Pagenkopf, jmpagenk@students.wisc.edu **Data, photos, and online newsletter posting courtesy of Tom Bennett, Food Animal Production Medicine** What makes a good cow name? Get out those baby name books or do a little brainstorming, because here s your chance to show your creativity and contribute to the SVM Teaching Herd at the same time!! We need to name the new heifers that have entered the herd. Here s their information: Birth Date Dam s Name Date Bred 11/4/99 Della 16-Feb 12/24/99 Sarah 17-Feb 12/30/99 Merry 12-Mar 1/2/00 Vicky 16-Mar Submit your favorite cow name to Jessica at jmpagenk@students.wisc.edu by Monday, November 12 th. A team of highly trained cow-naming individuals will choose the winning names. Winners will have their pictures posted with the heifer that they have named in upcoming Teaching Herd Newsletters. GOOD LUCK!!!! (Please Continue to the Next Page and Check Out this Week s Special Feature!!)

4 **Special Feature** Meet Norman and Ayrika White! Norman (Test Data from 10/23/01) Breed: Holstein x Jersey Age: 3 years 10 months Lactation: 2 Days In Milk (DIM): 171 Somatic Cell Count (SCC): 35,000 Average Number of Pounds per Day: 79 Total Pounds Produced this Lactation: 13,330 Lifetime Production Total: 36,310 Reproductive Status: Bred Ayrika White Class: 2003 When Ayrika started working with the herd and her previous dairy farm experience: Spring No prior experience. Why Ayrika took a job with the herd: To get experience working with cows. The best part of Ayrika s job: Interacting with the herd. Pictured at Left: Ayrika and her favorite cow, Norman.

5 How Ayrika thinks her job enhances her veterinary medical education: I now know some of the lingo of cows, and doing treatments helps me remember what different drugs are for. Also, I ll be more comfortable about working with cows down in the clinics. Skills that Ayrika has learned and/or improved while working with the herd: Getting cows up, getting them to move over, getting them to go back into their stalls, and being comfortable around cows. Ayrika s Favorite Cow: NORMAN, OF COURSE!!!!! She was sooooo nice when I first started and she s so cute and sweet. AND BY THE WAY, she s only dirty because she s short!! Ayrika s career interests : I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up, but the herd has definitely pushed me into the bovine arena. Ayrika s recommendations to other students : I feel it s a good experience (working with the herd), it s fun, and it gets your mind off of school for at least 4 hours. Pictured Above: Ayrika shares information about the SVM Teaching Herd with veterinarians at the SVM Teaching Herd Tour during the WVMA Convention.