August 2017 NEWS BRIEFS

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1 VETTALES Hi everyone Te Puke Veterinary Centre Newsletter August 2017 NEWS BRIEFS Now that the weather has turned, we can hopefully look forward to some good grass growth and a good mating period. In this issue, we have a big focus on the most important time of year - mating. With the payout much improved from 12 months ago, its an important time of year to get right & to help set up next season. At this time of year, only a small amount can be done to change the way your herd and farm has been prepared for the upcoming mating. Cow condition, feeding levels and heifer liveweights are more or less set. However now is the time to do the critical fine tuning that ensures mating goals are realised. Turn to page 2 for Mating Time Must Do s. If you want to know what options are available to get the most from mating this year, there is plenty to digest in this newsletter. Also make sure you or your staff come along to the mating field day on 24 th Aug. Good Luck. Non Cycler s in Brief Causes are: Late calving (long calving spread) Poor body condition Poor health (e.g.. Uterine infection) Poor pre-mating nutrition (negative energy balance) Poor heat detection Combination of the above Whether the milk price is high or low, the greatest return in investment has been proven to occur when non-cyclers are treated a week to ten days prior to mating! Benefits are: Cows get in calf earlier On average 19 more days in milk next season Tightens calving pattern Fewer non-cycling cows requiring treatment the following season More AB calves If milk payout was only $5 next year you can expect at least $50 net additional income per cow after allowing for treatment costs and extra feed required. Non-Cycler Programmes $37 per cow excl. GST (average cost) See inside for more details Mating Field-Day Come along and get actions around heat detection, bull management, and cow health and nutrition to improve you 6wk ICR and MT rate. Make good reproductive results routine by starting on the road to improvement this season. When: 24th August Time: 11am-1pm Where: Lex Roulstons, Pongakawa School Rd Supply Number: In This Issue 1. Uterine Infections - A Silent Assassin 2. FREE Tail Paint - Read inside for more 3. Getting the best out of your non-cyclers 4. Feeding for Reproduction 5. Working out bull requirements 6. Mating Time Must Do s 7. AI heifers to improve replacement rate 8. Welfare Changes for Calf Disbudding 9. Young Stock & Heifer Management

2 Pre-Mating Management Uterine Infections The Silent Assassin Often after calving there is bacterial infection in the uterus. This is primarily because, when the cervix opens for calving, it exposes the cow s reproductive tract to bacteria in the environment. Uterine infections post calving are commonly associated with health events like ketosis, assisted calvings, retained membranes, and twins. While this group of cows is generally called the at risk mob, we also know that in otherwise healthy cows the incidence of infection is significant. When we metricheck whole herds we routinely find 5-15% of normal cows infected. The chance of these infected cows conceiving at the start of mating are dramatically reduced, and where the infection is severe it is likely they will end up empty. Metrichecking is a quick and easy way to identify uterine infection, but there has been some debate on when to do it. There was some thought that leaving cows untreated for a little while will give them a chance to self cure. Recent trial work has shown this not to be the case. Metrichecking early (2 4 weeks Infected uterus after calving) and treating with intrauterine antibiotic gives cows the greatest opportunity to clean up and start cycling before the start of mating. This results in a 10% higher 6-week in-calf rate than treating later. Added to this is that leaving cows longer before metrichecking has a negative effect on picking up infected cows because the more tightly closed cervix reduces pus leakage and hinders diagnosis. The message therefore is to metricheck early and in batches so that all the herd is being checked 2-4 weeks after calving. Treating metricheck positive cows early in lactation results in these animals conceiving 14 days earlier than they would have, resulting in 2 weeks more in milk next season (a 4:1 return on investment even with only a $4 payout). TAIL PAINT YOUR HERD FOR FREE This year, if you Metricheck 75% or more of your herd you will get: Pus inside metrichecker 20% discount - Only $1/cow excl. GST FREE TAIL PAINT (enough paint your herd - 1 bottle/60 cows in herd) Mating Time Must Do s Ensure you have a plan - be proactive and make sure all interventions are at the optimal time to give the best return on investment. A. Monitor herd condition. Target mating is >4 for cows & >4.5 for 2yo s. B. Check milk BVD status. C. Tail paint herd days prior to the start of mating. D. Metricheck early and treat dirty cows E. Drench & blood test yearlings. Sort out a programme if going to synchronise. F. Create a heat detection protocol. G. Blood test herd for trace elements. H. Health check bulls, test & vaccinate for BVD. Make sure numbers are adequate. I. Treat anoestrus cows early Pre-mating Herd Condition Score Pre-mating is an important time to Condition Score. We know that under-weight cows perform poorly at repro time, so using condition score information to identify and act on the lighter cows, before its too late, is important. Spring Special - Free Tail Paint If you get your herd condition scored premating we ll enter that information into MINDA for you, and supply you Tail Paint for free (2 bottles/herd scored). Herd Condition Scoring $60 excl. GST Te Puke Vets have experienced Accredited Condition Scorers. We record your information and, where we can, enter it into MINDA for future reference. If you are interested in having your herd scored, please let us know.

3 Non-Cycler Management Treating non-cycling cows this season to improve early in-calf rates Pregnancy testing results during early 2017 showed that 6 week in-calf rates were disappointing in many areas across New Zealand. In Te Puke 6 week in-calf rates were on average 2% lower, so many herds have higher numbers of late calvers this year. Because most cow costs are largely fixed for a given season, any late calving cow producing 6-8 weeks less milk, has a big drop in income and hence profit for that cow. DairyNZ have recognised this issue, and have been strongly encouraging shorter mating periods. However, high empty rates and subsequent loss of these empty high producing cows proves really costly especially if the majority of the herd is not calved within the first 6 weeks. There are few investments that have been as extensively proven in NZ dairy herds to provide exceptional farmer returns as treating non-cyclers prior to the planned start of mating (PSM). By applying tail paint 5 weeks prior to PSM it s a simple exercise to identify the cows that don't show heat over the next 24 days. Drafting these non-cycling cows for treatment 9 10 days before PSM is important. With treatment the cows ovulate and are inseminated on the first day or two of the mating period. The end result is that on average these cows calve much earlier the following season (than leaving non-cyclers untreated), and so produce considerably more milk for the year. The resultant calving pattern is also tightened meaning less late calving cows and lower risk of them becoming non-cyclers again next season. New Zealand research has shown that using 9 or 10 day Cidr programs with ecg results in treated cows having an average 19 days extra milk produced, compared to leaving these non-cyclers untreated. This additional milk production is worth around $200 at this year s milk price so this pays for the investment in the program several times over. It s important to use the best non-cycler program (i.e. including ecg) as numerous large scale NZ research trials show that early in-calf rates are much higher and provide the best farmer returns when ecg is included. In addition to cows getting in calf earlier, and producing more milk the following season, the other benefits of treating non-cycling cows early are there are more AB heifer calves, which helps ensure culling decisions can be made on factors other than empties. Put the date for applying tail paint (five weeks before PSM) into your diary now, and call the clinic to book in your non-cycling program to help improve overall in-calf rates next season. Use of ecg - A must for your non-cycler program!! Equine chorionic gonadotropin (ecg) acts on developing follicles in the ovary to increase development, resulting in a larger egg at ovulation. When this egg ovulates, a stronger corpus luteum (CL) forms on the ovary, which helps better maintain the pregnancy. ecg is an injectable vet medicine added to a standard non-cycling cow treatment program to improve pregnancy rates. Additionally, cows treated with ecg that don t hold to insemination at the end of a non-cycling treatment program, are more likely to return to heat and get pregnant than those not treated. Non treated cows are more likely to become phantom cows (don t show oestrus again yet are not pregnant). ecg in non-cycler programs has been extensively trialled on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years. Adding ecg to a standard progesterone treatment program improves the 4 week in-calf rate of cows by an average of 7% compared to the other treatment programs. After following up local results over the past few season, Te Puke farmers are also getting a 7% improvement. On average ecg treated cows should get in calf 3-6 days earlier than non-treated, giving a substantial return on the treatment cost of $6.50 ex GST. Talk to your Vet about including ecg in your anoestrus cow programme.

4 Feeding for Reproduction A popular misconception and belief is that the decline in reproduction is due to poor genetics and breeding. However good fertility is still alive and well so what is happening then? The short answer is that we have genetically improved our cows to produce increasing milk volumes but we haven t changed our management & feeding requirements to meet the needs of this superior producing cow. Getting to grips with the reproduction cycle The oocyst (egg) starts developing 60 days prior to heat. This time period during development is crucial to the quality of this oocyst. A good quality oocyst (egg) has a great chance of being a successful pregnancy. A good quality oocyst once ovulated produces a good quality corpus luteum (CL) and the CL produces hormones (progesterone) that maintain a successful pregnancy. Low progesterone levels lead to poor conception and early loss of pregnancy. The trouble is that in the New Zealand system, 60 days prior to mating is calving! A stressful, and difficult transition period that has a massive impact of reproduction. But the battle to a successful pregnancy is still not over... So you have a good oocyst but the now fertilised egg is dependent on glucose being available in the uterus. Any decreases in energy available during the critical 30 days post mating (i.e. sudden stopping of maize feeding, declining pasture quality, low pasture sugars) can lead to poor conception rates despite high submission rates. Take home message - all of these factors link to NEGATIVE ENERGY BALANCE... Increased genetic potential increases the risk of negative energy balance if the cow management and nutrition is not increased at the same pace. Genetics account for only about 3% of reproduction issues, the rest is a combination of metabolic factors, reproductive disease, heat detection, nutrition, management and cow comfort. The great news is that with good planning the majority of these issues can be taken care of resulting in a successful mating. Minimising negative energy balance NOW will have a positive effect on mating... How much dry matter are you feeding? Total dry matter intake is most important. You need accurate calculations of what is being fed. The cows are your lie detectors. If they are not performing as expected then the first place to look is the total feed being offered. Often wastage of supplement and pasture (pugging) is underestimated. Total DMI target is 4% of ideal body weight (for kiwicross target is kg = kgDM/cow/day). What is the quality of feed? Are you over estimating percentage of dry matter. Is NDF (tough grass) getting high? Poor transition between feed changes. Commonly farmers will stop maize feeding around pasture balance date. This is often around early-mid September (2-3 weeks pre-mating). A sudden stop in supply of readily available energy is a sure way to adversely affect conception. Supplements should be gradually reduced over 3 weeks minimum to allow cows to transition between changes in feed and minimise any affects on rumen health, production and reproduction. Quality feed, good pasture management. Use rations that maintain good rumen health Decrease demand. Once a day milking colostrums cows, undergrown heifers, late calvers, light cows and sick or problem cows will help them to cycle sooner. Can successfully get cows to cycle 3 weeks post calving. Adequate mineral supplementation. Magnesium, Calcium, Salt, trace elements (Copper, Selenium, Cobalt, Iodine) Maintain rumen health. Careful use of supplements such as maize so they make you money, not cost you money. Sufficient water supply & access. Enough trough space! Not enough water access = lower total dry matter intake! Cow comfort. Cows need adequate lying and cudding time. This is only scratching the surface of the complex interactions of nutrition, management and reproduction. Laura has recently completed an advanced nutrition course, which has already been hugely beneficial in advising on production and reproduction issues. If you have any questions or want to discuss your herd s nutrition, please contact Laura at the clinic.

5 Bull Management Time to be thinking about Bulls! With mating just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about your bulls now so you can achieve the desired results. Purchase bulls in good condition and good health. BVD is a serious problem & service bulls pose a big risk to dairy herds. All bulls (purchased or carried over) should be tested & vaccinated (twice 4 weeks apart) prior to purchase or the start of mating. Ask for proof (vet certification) on all bull purchases. Bull soundness is vitally important. A vet check involving a rectal exam and scrotal measurement will eliminate 2/3 of dud bulls. A full semen evaluation and serving test is required to eliminate the remaining 1/3 and although more difficult, can be arranged. The latter could be considered if bull numbers are limited. Safety in numbers. Need 1 bull per cycling (non pregnant) cows, or on a typical day 1 bull per 2 cows on heat. Odd numbers of bulls can be good practice to minimise dominance and fighting issues. In addition, need extra bulls to allow rest and rotation. Yearling heifers need at least 1 bull: 25 heifers. Calving ease is especially important for yearling heifers. Jersey bulls have the smallest calves. Bear in mind that a bull is defined as easy calving for his breed. For example an easy calving Hereford bull is easy for Hereford cows! If using CIDR programs make sure you have enough bull power the days they are expected to return (1 bull / 2 cows expected to return / day). It is unwise to ever rely on a single bull, even if he appears normal. Rotating bulls around mobs, & resting bulls, is important in minimising the impact of unsound bulls or the risk of bulls becoming unsound due to overworking. Promptly replace unsound (lame, pinkeye, sick) bulls. A bull that has had a fever may have impaired fertility for up to 9 weeks. Mild sole bruising may come right if rested quickly. Do not allow bulls on to the cow yard. Watch bulls working. Make sure they are doing the business. Record some early bull matings. The non-return rate of the first 6-10 matings for each bull will give a good How many bulls do I need? Every year on a lot of farms, bull numbers are far less than they should be. Often this is a conscious management decision and sometimes it is a result of a poor AI period. Each year, before deciding on bull numbers, you should reassess the previous mating. Work out the likely number of cows pregnant to AI by checking last years pregnancy test figures. The total remaining cows at the end of AI need to be divided by 30. This is your minimum number of bulls running with the herd at any one time (double the number for rotation) Below is a table from the DairyNZ InCalf book. An average 400 cow herd, with moderate AI success (60% in calf prior to bull entry), will still have 160 nonpregnant cows left. This means you would need a team of 6 bulls running with the herd, and another team of 6 to rotate in, and as back up for injury and illness. That is a minimum of 12 bulls, on farm, for the average 400 cow herd. If you have been getting high empty rates, you need to look closely, along with everything else, at your bull management. When scrutinising the economics of buying those extra bulls, take into account that they only need to get 1-2 more cows in calf to cover their cost. Finally ensure bulls aren t flighty or aggressive and that all staff handling bulls are capable and aware of the dangers they pose. Talk to us if you have questions about bull numbers BVD Test ~ $16.50 (lab + vet costs) per bull BVD Vaccination $6.30 per shot x 2 Bull vet check - $13 per bull (prices exclude Gst)

6 Young Stock and Heifer Managament Heifer Synchrony for AB Are you short on replacements or trying to improve your herd genetics? Are you wanting to limit the number of bobby calves you have? If so then it might be worth considering mating your heifers to AI. Over the last few seasons, as we have shortened mating lengths, MT rates have become higher than we would like. This severely limits a farms ability to select culls, & as a result farmers are forced to keep cows they wouldn t normally keep, or they have to buy in extra stock. Did you know that on average the top 25% BW of cows produce 160kgMS more per season than the bottom 25%!! Many farmers are trying to include beef into their systems to reduce the number of bobby calves. Selectively mating the lower BW animals to beef and using AI in heifers will give you more replacements from the your highest genetic animals, and reduce your number of bobby calves. Provided you have well grown heifers, AI could be an option to: Increases replacement rate & culling scope Improves herd genetics Increase income from stock sales Programmes vary from complete synchrony (100% mated on one day, to mating over 12 days. Costs vary depending on degree of synchrony. Please talk to your vet to find out more Heifer Checklist Make sure heifers have been worm drenched eg ECLIPSE. Blood test at least a month before mating for selenium and copper and if necessary treat. Organise (JERSEY) bulls and make sure they have been tested for EBL and BVD. Need 1:30 (mature bulls) or 1:25 (yearlings). Consider terrain (may need more bulls or smaller mobs if hilly). If synchronised, make sure bull numbers are adequate to cover the returns. Vaccinate for BVD if off farm or this has been diagnosed as a cause of poor conception rate or abortion. Ensure rising plane of nutrition A man riding out in the bush fell from his horse and broke his leg. He was a long way out, so the situation looked pretty grim. Then the horse grabbed the man s belt in his teeth and dragged him to the shade of a nearby tree. He made the man as comfortable as he could and then galloped off to get help. The man discussed the incident a few weeks later with a friend, who very impressed praised the horse s intelligence. He s not so smart, said the animal s owner. He came back with a vet. CALF DISBUDDING WELFARE CHANGES MPI has recently reviewed the Dairy Cattle Welfare code. One of the changes that was made was that from October 2019 it will be compulsory to use local anaesthetic for disbudding calves. Farmers and contractors will still be able to disbud calves but they will have to use local anaesthetic and will have to undergo some training to do so. TPVC STRESS FREE CALF DISBUDDING The procedure involves sedating calves followed by local anaesthetic and disbudding. The major appeal to the method is the sedation, which means there is no restraint required for injecting the local or the disbudding. The calves lie down and are easily injected and disbudded in the yard or pen. The method is also very quick with 2-3 Vets / Techs attending larger groups and able to do 100 or more/hour. While the calves are sedated we remove extra teats. For best results it is very important that the calves are disbudded before they are 6 weeks of age. Older calves incur a $2.25 per head surcharge. Cost $5.85 per head ex G.S.T. Want to see how we disbud calves? Go to

7 Young Stock & Heifer Management Treating your Calves for Worms With calving comes a busy time of year that seems to go on until Christmas! Before doing what you ve always done with drenching, ensure it is still correct for your property. Young Stock Drench Rules: Use combination drenches - Best production responses and best for preventing resistance. Ostertagia is our most production limiting parasite, but in young cattle treating Cooperia is also very important. A combination product containing levamisole is therefore recommended in stock under 15 months of age. Combination drenches such as Arrest C, and Eclipse pour-on contain levamisole. Give the drench properly - Dose accurately for weight, take your time and do it right. Pour-on, injectable and oral drenches can all be given poorly, so make sure you do it correctly Take care not to overdose young calves - Especially those under 10 weeks of age and Jerseys (low fat) - Don t mix drench in with the milk - Avoid abamectin containing products in calves un der 120kg Don t drench any more often than you have to. Start from 10 weeks of age. Early Leptospirosis Vaccination in Calves Latest NZ research shows that some calves are infected with leptospirosis and shedding bacteria before they are vaccinated at 6 months of age. Once infected, these calves, regardless of being vaccinated, will continue to shed leptospires in their urine for 2 years or more. This means that as two-year old milking heifers they are potentially a source of leptospirosis for milkers and other dairy industry workers. This has lead to the Best Practice recommendation that calves should be vaccinated at 3-4 months of age and again 6 months later. Our advice is: 1. Consider early vaccination whatever your situation. 2. If you are a closed herd with heifers grazed at home until at least 6 months of age then the current protocol may suffice. 3. If you are not a closed herd or your calves go off farm before vaccination, then you should be opting for early vaccination. Please talk to your vet or ring to book. Sudden death in calves? Clostridial bacteria (like tetanus and black leg) are everywhere in the environment. Infections are rapid and calves can go from being healthy to dead in less than 24 hours. Prevention is cheap and easy by vaccination with either Ultravac 5 in 1 or Covexin 10. Choice of product and timing of vaccination is determined by the historical risk period but can be as early as 2 weeks. Calves can also be vaccinated at disbudding time. + Heifer BVD Pre-Mate Vaccination Reminder Heifers out grazing and potentially mixing with other stock are at risk of BVD. Unvaccinated stock need 2 shots a month apart. Those heifers just needing a booster should have it done before mating starts. Includes ARREST C 5L + ECLIPSE Pouron 2.5L + 30ml Gun with 2 nozzles PLUS - 1 Oilskin vest Enough to drench 100 calves for 6 mths Special price $770 ex GST ($50 discount)

8 No Frills - Best Prices Purchase any of the following products and take home a Oilskin Jacket or Vest: Genesis 5.5L Pour-On Drench Spring Promo Nil milk WHT Reliable, proven NZ drench $434 excl. GST Treat 220 x 500kg cows at $1.97 each Treat 366 x 300kg heifers at $1.19 Genesis Pour-On 5L (vest) Eclipse 2.5L (vest) Eclipse 5L (jacket) Eprinex 5L (vest) Eprinex 20L (jacket) Eprinex 5L pour-on Premium cattle drench Nil milk and meat WHT, Proven best milk production gains Improved body condition score Reduced calving to conception interval in heifers $495 excl. GST Treats 100 x 500kg $4.95 each Eclipse 5.5L Pour-On Combination of abamectin & levamisole for superior Cooperia control & treatment of resistance Ideal for young stock up to 15 months of age Quarantine drench for stock changing properties Rainfast 2 hours after treatment Low dose rate 1 ml / 20 kg bodyweight $1187 excl GST Treats 433 x 300kg heifers at $2.74 each PROUD LOCAL SPONSORS We proudly support many local schools, clubs and community events including: Rangiuru School Te Puke High School Te Ranga School Te Puke Squash Club Maketu Fire Brigade Te Puke Boys & Girls Ag Club Te Puke A&P Association Te Puke Tennis Club Fairhaven School Te Puke Young Farmers Club Te Puke Sports Rugby Club Pongakawa School Paengaroa School Otamarakau School WE STOCK AGVANCE PRODUCTS Te Puke Vets supports and supplies a number of Agvance s products including Optiguard, Solutrace mineral range & Monensin. Please contact us if you are running short or for more information