Sheep. October Drenches Rams Pneumonia. Photos by Richard Hilson

Transcription

1 Sheep October 2012 Drenches Rams Pneumonia Photos by Richard Hilson

2 Which drenches work on your farm? Richard Hilson BVSc Do you know which drenches work on your farm and how well they work? The way to find out is to do a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). This involves allowing a small group of lambs to get quite wormy, with a known worm egg count, then drenching them with different anthelmintics and re-testing them a week or so later. The change in worm egg counts and the breed of the surviving worms is very valuable information and is important for choice of drenches in the future and an understanding of drench resistance. There hasn t been great uptake on FECRT over the years it is a job that is often put off until next year! However, we do have a large group of Early Adopters who have done at least one FECRT and some who have now completed two or more. It isn t a big job as your vet will bring all the materials and will do all the procedural stuff for you - you just provide some wormy lambs and some scales. What do you get? You ll get a good chance to chew the fat with your vet while you do the tests, and a written report afterwards. The data will tell you which drenches work well and which don t. We all hope to see 100% drench effectiveness but that isn t always the case. In some cases, certain drench families fail miserably. The basic data will help confirm which drenches are effective. Other aspects of the test will be a bit more technical- is there a degree of resistance coming in the worm populations and which species of worms are getting resistant before others? This information is useful now as well but is also a good reference point when you re-do a FECRT in a few years time: how effective have your drench management strategies been? There are two benefits of doing a FECRT. Firstly you know what does and doesn t work. Secondly, and most importantly for most farmers, is the added understanding of drench use and sustainable techniques such as refugia that comes from discussion with your vet. What happened in 2012? The table below is a summary of CHB results for last autumn and shows plenty of drench resistance (we hope that your drench will be at least 95% effective to be working well ). There is a heap of extra information that will be sent to farmers who completed FECRT this year but one very promising result was that 44% of farms had all drenches tested working at %. On the flip side, nearly a third of properties had drench resistance to all three drench families. Drench type Worst kill % Best kill % BZ Lev BZ/Lev Ivermectin Abamectin Moxidectin Triple How well do drenches work on your farm? Are they perfect? Are sheep or cattle under-performing because you aren t removing all the worms? What are your best drench options? Do you know what refugia is? Contact us to discuss FECRT in more detail. DON T FORGET THE RAMS! Richard Sides BVSc Rams are often the forgotten ones at this time of year, despite being highly valuable individuals. The vital maintenance check they need, given their sole function in life, is a systematic palpation of all the scrotal contents and the quick squeeze you see us do gives a surprising amount of information about that ram s breeding soundness. Most importantly we are feeling for lumps or swellings in the testes and associated tubes, which usually indicate bacterial infection. If lumps are found blood is taken from that ram to see whether the infection is Brucella ovis, a sexually transmitted infection with major implications for flock reproductive health. It can cause loss of early pregnancies as well as serious loss of ram performance, so scanning percentages will take a hit if it is present. While the Hawke s Bay has the disease largely under control (due to farmer awareness, and regular testing by vets), there are still outbreaks each year, so Brucella is alive and well here. Two cases in CHB in 2011 were dealt with early so there was no interference with the 2012 tupping; this is the reason we start our ram runs next month. Other issues picked up by palpation are scrotal mange and cryptorchid rams. And while the rams are in mind, consider other maintenance jobs like vaccination and foot checks, and feel free to talk to us about issues such as facial eczema and parasitism. Make sure you give us a call to get your rams booked in for their annual warrant of fitness.

3 Sheep Pneumonia Mark Matthews BVSc There are 2 types of pneumonia that affect sheep in NZ 1 Chronic non progressive pneumonia (CNPP) 2 Acute progressive pneumonia is seen in sheep of all ages but especially in weaned lambs 1 Chronic Pneumonia Is usually seen in lambs between 3-10 months. This is a complex disease caused by a combination of viruses, bacteria and mycoplasmas. Usually no clinical evidence of disease is seen but research has shown it does cause significant suppression of LWG (live weight gain) and downgrading of carcasses due to pleurisy. On today s lamb values that would equate to about $5.00 for every lamb slaughtered in NZ. Vaccines to reduce the incidence of disease have been tried but results to date have been disappointing. Prophylactic antibiotics have also been trialed with some success but the implementation of such a program is impractical and the chance of widespread antibiotic resistance is high. We see no place for antibiotics in the prevention of this disease. 2 Acute Progressive Pneumonia: Can be seen in outbreak form in sheep of all ages but especially in weaned lambs. It is also a major cause of ill thrift and death in ewes and rams. This is probably an extension of CNPP caused by a rapid proliferation of the bacterial component. Signs are obvious with weight loss, coughing, heavy breathing, exercise intolerance and, death. Treatment of early clinical cases may be helpful. Those that recover may be permanently ill thrifty. So.. What can you do to prevent these diseases?? Don t shear lambs at or around weaning. High Risk!! Promote maximum LWG and good health in lambs. This includes weaning onto high quality pasture, Vitamin B12 if needed, regular worm treatments (monthly?), fly control including docking treatments etc. The older the lamb is at slaughter the higher the risk of pneumonia. High Risk!! Breeding your own ewe replacements is also High Risk!!. This may be a reflection of the use of terminal sires in other flocks which are possibly less susceptible to pneumonia than other breeds. Use Merino based sires. Low Risk!! Be prepared to suffer the consequences of the other health issues these breeds present if you follow this path eg footrot, parasitism etc. Prevent hyperthermia i.e. overheating. The main cause of overheating of sheep in NZ is over zealous mustering. If you see lambs mouth breathing while mustering they are over heated. High Risk!! Don t shower dip lambs. Potential high risk! Use electrodip, sprayons etc. Avoid dusty yards. Sprinkler systems especially on concrete. Take the Pratleys to the lambs for their animal health treatments. Sheep pneumonia is a complex disease for which we have few answers. Follow the basic guidelines above and hopefully the impact of this serious production limiting disease will be minimised. For any further information and advice on sheep pneumonia please call us to discuss. EQUINE SEMINAR SPRING 2012 Cost Free Waipukurau Wednesday 24 October 2012, 7.30pm Hastings Thursday 25 October 2012, 7.30pm Topics to be covered: Reproduction and AI - what is involved with AI and foaling? Horse parasites: Time for a re-think? Limited Spaces Available RSVP Waipukurau: Jess jess.manning@vshb.co.nz Hastings: Nick nic.mconie@vshb.co.nz (Drinks and nibbles will be provided)

4 The weaning decision Richard Hilson BVSc The timing of weaning for sheep is a bit like getting a true docking percentage- every farmer seems to have a different way of doing the maths! For many of us weaning is done about the same time every year and there is no need to vary it much. But do you know how many days you are weaning at? Typically weaning will occur about days after the halfway point of lambing which is when half the lambs have been born, not when you are halfway through the lambing period. Some record weaning weights that get quoted do need some dates applied to them and they often turn out to be day lactations. Hoggets are a special case and best practice weaning is at 70 days (again, add the 70 days to the date when lambing is halfway through). On many farms this means hogget weaning will closely follow the main weaning and if you want decent two tooth ewes then you should just bite the bullet and wean those lambs. Be aware that the halfway point for hogget lambing can vary a lot- despite a relatively short mating period, some hogget flocks can be very early or very late in lamb depending on when they all started cycling. Use the right date for the maths. If you want to be more technical there are many other considerations Milk production in ewes peaks at about 2-4 weeks and they have produced nearly 50% of their milk by then. Late weaning obviously becomes a case of diminishing returns, especially when lambs have to compete with their mothers for grass. Two year ago a very cold spring meant ewes didn t milk well and by the time the grass got going they had passed peak lactation. The ewes got massively fat but had small udders- and lambs were rarely seen drinking as they had to eat grass from an early age. Ewe feed intakes drop about 20% after weaning and this frees up energy for the ewe to regain liveweight and condition. However it costs more feed to put condition on a ewe after weaning than it does before weaning (a kilogram lost costs 17MJME but to put it back on requires 65 MJME) so a really good target is to try to wean ewes at the weight you hope to have them at for tupping next year. Lambs start eating grass at about two weeks of age and really should be at least eight weeks old at weaning, which is still pretty young and quite likely still quite small. Singles get way more milk than twins do and so they grow faster (twins get about 60-70% of the milk a single lamb does). If feed is tight in late lactation, don t be afraid to wean- lambs are better off with a decent choice of grass and no milk than they are with no grass (because mum ate it first) and not much milk (because it is later lactation and mum has little milk anyway). And get animal health right. Lambs under pressure may benefit from a drench pre-wean and that should probably include a tapeworm drench too. Maybe the lambs could also do with a B12 supplement, especially a longer acting product, to minimise the weaning check. Weaning should not be a spur-of-the-moment decision and there are a few questions to ask before settling on a date. If the predicted El Nino arrives this spring, we may need to make a few decisions about early weaning in Tapeworm drenching lambs Simon Marshall BVSc Young lambs are susceptible to infection with a tapeworm called Monezia expansa. Lambs will become infected after eating pasture contaminated with cysts produced by a free living soil mite. Lambs that become infected in the spring spontaneously lose their infection over 4-5 months and generally become resistant to infection. Tapeworm segments in the faeces are very obvious after drenching. Over the years there has been a lot of debate about whether a tapeworm infection is detrimental to growth rates in lambs. There have been many trials showing no growth rate response and a couple of trials showing a growth rate response when a tapeworm drench (Praziquantel) was included in the treatment group. So we can say that on some occasions a tape worm drench for young lambs will give a production response and sometimes it won t. One of the trials that did show a production response was completed in 1996 by Southworth et. al. They showed a 3kg increase in bodyweight over a 2 month period from October to December between the control group and the tapeworm & roundworm treated group and a 2 kg difference between the roundworm only treated group vs the roundworm & tapeworm treated group. These results were statistically significant. Another trial that showed a production response was carried out in The trial was carried out over 3 farms. This trial showed an increase in live-weight gain and a reduction in dagginess over all farms. There was a difference in the magnitude of the differences on each individual farm. They concluded that using a roundworm drench containing a tapeworm drench in lambs preweaning improved; dag score, faecal consistency and live-weight gain. They did note that the year the trial was carried out the feed covers were low and the ewes were in medium to light condition. A common approach to tapeworm drenching is to give lambs a drench containing Praziquantel for their first 1-2 drenches. This may start one month pre-weaning or at weaning. There is reasonable evidence to support this practice but it must be realised that the response will differ between years and between farms. An interesting point to note is that one trial found that the tapeworms were resistant to Praziquantel. This may explain the differences in production response that is seen between farms. The most important principle to remember is that roundworms will have the biggest impact on production in lambs so they need to be well controlled by using a parasite management plan. Part of this plan will be the use of an effective drench. You need to know what drenches are effective so make sure you have completed a faecal egg count reduction test and do regular drench checks. For further advice on which drenches might work best for you, please get in touch with us.

5 Seasonal Update Hastings/ Napier Mark Matthews BVSc This Spring has been busy from a veterinary point of view with lots of calvings, a high incidence of metabolic disease in beef cows and plenty of lambings and bearings on lifestyle blocks. Unfortunately a lot of the calvings have been for cows that have been calving for several days. We can not overemphasize that if you have suspicions of a cow calving, run it and check it yourself or call us to check for you. Having to remove rotten calves from cows results in a poor prognosis for the cow and her future breeding, and is a huge health risk for the attending veterinarian. Magnesium deficiency has been common even in first calving heifers with sudden death as the main presenting sign. The primary cause is lower than expected dry matter intakes. In the short term until feed covers improve magnesium supplementation may be What is happening in CHB? After a shockingly wet start to spring that made life very difficult for dairy cows in the peak of calving, the bulk of the local lambing will have occurred in ideal weather. Reports of early docking figures for the later lambing flocks are excellent. We saw a big move away from earlier mating in CHB this year and it appears to have paid dividends this spring. Bearings have been a big issue on several properties and they are the unfortunate sequel of a great tupping (lots of higher risk twins and triplets) and a good winter (ewes not restricted feed-wise in early pregnancy). Recently we have also had some significant problems with low Dannevirke seasonal comment The weather has finally sorted itself out and we are starting to dry out a bit. This has really helped lamb survival and most reports indicate that there should be good numbers of lambs on the ground for docking. Bearings have been a real issue on some farms and certain farms are having poor success in treating this disease. If this is happening to you it may be worthwhile reviewing your treatment policy with one of our vets. Lameness and mastitis have been an unfortunate feature of a very wet spring. This will hopefully be settling down now as things dry up a bit. We have been pairing feet on a daily basis and providing necessary either with Causmag (50 100g / day) on hay or using Magnesium bullets. Grass has not grown as quickly as many would have expected so some thought to applying Nitrogen may need to be given. Most of the ewes with bearings that we have treated have survived. A variety of techniques have been used and our conclusion is that early intervention definitely enhances survival. We have seen several very high FEC in ewes. For those of you who have not docked it would be a good idea to FEC ewes before docking so a drench can be given if needed. If you have docked check ewes before weaning to ensure they enter the non lactation period without parasitism restricting their live weight gain. Richard Hilson BVSc magnesium in beef cows (grass staggers). The very fresh grass on offer, despite any rank stuff mixed with it, seems to have been the culprit. Sudden death or nervous signs in cows that are close to calving and right through until peak lactation may be grass staggers. Treatment and prevention are possible with a multitude of options to cover all situations. All in all things look pretty good right now, even though grass growth is a bit sluggish after three weeks of wind. We could probably do with some warm rain and product prices like last season would be nice. Simon Marshall BVSc support in the form of advice around reducing the incidence of lameness. We have also been visiting some farms to try and improve milk quality by reducing somatic cell counts through preventing new infections and clearing up existing ones. Give us a call if you would like some help. Our next mission is to get the dairy cows back in calf as quickly as possible and the lambs growing like mushrooms! We look forward to seeing you in the clinic and on the farms to discuss this during the spring. Dog Runs The dog runs start in Central Hawke s Bay in late October and run through November and into December for the Napier/Hastings areas, with Dannevirke getting underway in December/January. Make sure you get yourself into the Frontline Plus draw for a 6 month supply for your dog by purchasing a Frontline 3-pack at a special discounted price while we are at your place vaccinating dogs. Dog Vaccination Run Yes it is nearly that time again! Yes Yes we are offering to visit your place, mileage free to vaccinate your dogs. we will contact you by the end of October to confirm a time. If you are new to the area, or have not been included in our dog vaccination run in the past but would like to be, please call us at the clinic: Waipukurau Hastings Napier

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