Farm Newsletter - February

Transcription

1 Farm Newsletter - February Calf Nutrition - Part 2; 2nd March 2016, The Surgery- Southley Road, South Molton 7:30pm Thank you to everyone that joined us for the first in our series of calf rearing meetings. I hope it was an enjoyable and informative evening. Following on from our meeting at the end of last year we will be discussing feeding the pre-weaned calf, weaning and covering some post weaning rations. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, or to book a place please contact the surgery Lamb Macs Available Bayer have very kindly donated us some lamb macs, so we currently have a limited supple of lamb macs available free of charge for the upcoming lambing period. If anyone would like some please call us or drop in at the surgery and speak to a member of the farm team.

2 2 Farm Staff Contact Numbers Vets Interest Mobile No. Alan Jaques Cattle Rachel Forster Sheep, Equine & Acupuncture Sam Lintin Cattle Kate Stevens Large & Small Animals Anna Howard Large & Small Animals Serena Shanahan Large & Small Animals Admin Staff Responsibility Phone No. Farm Dept. Farm Administrator Louise Rowson Drugs Ordering / Credit Control Marilyn Sloane Accounts Inside this issue: Page News and Events 1 Contact Details 2 Lungworm 3-5 Lambing supplies 5 Sheep News, Lambing Preparation 6-9 Countryside stewardship scheme 10 Drugs Update 11 Dog Microchipping 12

3 Lungworm in Cattle 3 The disease is caused by the worm Dictyocaulus viviparus. Adult worms live in the animal s lungs where they produce eggs which hatch quickly. The first stage larvae then move up the windpipe are then swallowed and passed out in the faeces. These then mature on the pasture to stage three larvae, once eaten by an animal the larvae migrate through the gut wall towards the lungs. Over the next few weeks the larvae reach the lungs and mature into egg laying adults. An adult worm can produce several thousand eggs. All cattle are at risk of lungworm until they have been exposed to the larvae/worms and developed immunity. It is essential that cattle keep this immunity but it can be lost if animals do not receive a degree of regular exposure. Clinical signs An increased rate and depth of respiration, with a dry cough, in any age group of cattle while at grass should raise suspicions of infection. In some cases with adult animals, the symptoms may only be a drop in milk yield, weight loss and occasional coughing. Diagnosis requires veterinary clinical examination and usually laboratory testing of faeces or of blood samples. Accurate and fast diagnosis is important in order to provide effective treatment of affected animals and to avoid the unnecessary use of expensive anthelmintics.

4 Treatment Lungworm can be treated with wormers 4 (anthelmintics). Ensure they are effective against D. Vivaparus (your vet can help you to chose an appropriate product). Sick animals may also benefit from antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. All animals in the group should be assumed to be infected if one or two animals show clinical signs therefore treat the entire group. What is the prognosis? Prognosis is very much dependent on the level of infection and the amount of damage that has occurred. Some animals can die or have to be culled after a heavy, chronic lungworm infection. Secondary lung infection is also a common sequel to lungworm infection. Prevention. Husk is a much less predictable disease than that caused by gut worms and requires a different approach to control. Husk will not be controlled by a dose and move strategy. There are two strategies for controlling lungworm: 1) Vaccination - by far the most effective way to control husk 2) Suppression with regular worming Lungworm prevention is based upon development of immunity and is best achieved by vaccination. Periods of natural exposure to lungworm (and other parasites) during the grazing season to allow for immunity to develop, then infection controlled by applying strategic anthelmintic treatments, is a

5 very risky strategy for lungworm prevention but would control PGE ( gut worms) 5 in most situations. Therefore, PGE is often a secondary consideration to the more important lungworm disease. Vaccination is the best course of action to prevent lungworm infection. Vaccination uses irradiated live lungworm larvae to cause a controlled infection. A course of the vaccine is given to young stock with the second dose being given at least 2 weeks before turnout vaccinated and unvaccinated stock should not be mixed for at least 2 weeks after the second dose has been given. It is preferable for calves to be exposed to low levels of lungworm larvae throughout the grazing season to maintain this immunity. If you would like to discuss lungworm control or if you would like to order your lungworm vaccine, please call us at the surgery. Lambing Supplies If you need to order supplies for lambing, particularly antibiotics, please can you give us as much notice as possible, preferably 24 hours. This will enable un to ensure that all the medicines you require are in stock and dispensed and ready for you to collect when you arrive. Also just a quick reminder that all prescription only medicines which includes all antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and topical antibiotic sprays, require the animals to be treated to be registered as under our care which means we must have seen them or visited the farm with in the last 12 months. This means that if we have not seen your animals in the last year we will not be able to dispense the medications with out visiting you farm so please contact us as soon as possible to avoid any delays.

6 Preparations for Lambing 6 Nutrition in Late Pregnancy Getting nutrition right in the final few weeks of pregnancy is vital to prevent metabolic diseases occurring in the ewes, minimise the risk of prolapses and to ensure vigorous lambs are born of good birthweight that are able to feed on a plentiful supply of good quality colostrum. Grouping ewes according to their body condition and litter size will go a long way towards ensuring that both the ewe and her lambs nutritional needs are met. Ensuring sufficient trough space is vital, so that all ewes receive their allotted feed. The minimum requirements for concentrate feeding are 45cm/ewe and for ad lib forage (hay/silage/tmr) 12cm/ewe. Lactating ewes have an increased thirst, and need a large water intake to produce milk. A method of providing fresh ad lib water to ewes in individual pens, as well as to the main flock, must be in place. The Lambing Shed Good hygiene is required in the lambing shed to prevent diseases from occurring in the lambs. Bedding in the pens should be clean and dry at all times apply the squelch test regularly by walking through each pen both through the middle and feed and around the water trough troughs. If any area of the pen is wet, new bedding must be applied. Clean bedding keeps teats clean which prevents mastitis. Also, if lambs suck clean teats they are less likely to ingest environmental bacteria such as E coli when they feed, leading to less joint ill and scours. Placentas can carry infectious diseases, so these should be removed from the lambing area as soon as possible.

7 Minimum space requirements for 60-90kg ewes in 7 late pregnancy are square metres. This can be reduced by 10% if ewes are winter shorn. Pregnant ewes should be kept in small bunches, maximum 50 to a group. The minimum floor space for an individual pen, housing a ewe and her lambs up to 6 weeks old is square metres. Aim to set up in advance sufficient pens for 10% of your ewes, but have some spare hurdles in case you need to build more! Individual pens have a rapid turnover of lambs, and can become a hotbed for disease. Wherever possible, muck out after a ewe has been turned out. If time is short, applying lime and then a new layer of clean bedding should be sufficient. LAMBING SUPPLY CHECKLIST DISPOSABLE GLOVES LUBRICANT LAMBING ROPES, HEAD SNARE STRONG IODINE (10% SURGICAL SPIRIT) THERMOMETER COLOSTRUM STORE STOMACH TUBE WARMING BOX PROLAPSE HARNESS 20% CALCIUM 40% GLUCOSE TWIN LAMB DRENCH NEEDLES/SYRINGES ANTIBIOTIC/ANTIINFLAMATORY GET Your Lambs Off to a good start All lambs should have their navel treated with strong veterinary iodine within 15 minutes of birth, and again 4 hours later. Check that the navel has dried and become brittle over the next couple of days. Ensuring lambs receive adequate colostrum quickly enough, and in sufficient quantities is the next challenge. Every lamb needs 100ml/kg of ewe colostrum in the first 4 hours of life and a

8 total of 200ml/kg by the end of the first day. The gut starts to lose the ability to 8 absorb protective antibodies from the colostrum after the first 12 hours of life. COLOSTRUM SUPPLEMENTS COLOSTRUM INTAKE REFERENCE CHART AVERAGE WEIGHT (KG) FROM 70KG LOW- LAND EWE INITIAL COLOS- TRUM FEED (ML) SINGLE TWIN TRIPLET TOTAL COLOS- TRUM REQUIRE- MENT 1 ST 12 HOURS (ML) A study carried out by Cambridge University vet school to test the levels of protective immunity in 10 of the UKs most popular lamb colostrum supplements has concluded that these products should not be relied upon as a replacement for ewe colostrum. Ewe colostrum typically contains 50g/litre of protective antibodies (IgG), providing 25g IgG to a typical twin lamb at its first feed. None of the colostrum supplements supplied anywhere near this amount, providing on average only 3g IgG per feed. Lambs are dependant upon this IgG as a source of protective antibodies to help them fight infections commonly encountered early in life since in ruminants they cannot cross the placenta to the foetus. If a lamb does not receive sufficient ewe colostrum, then these supplements won t help to raise their immunity. They do however provide a good source of energy and protein for newborn lambs. If a ewe has good quality colostrum thick, yellow and creamy- especially a single ewe with plenty to spare, milk one half of the udder and store it. Fresh colostrum can be stored in the fridge for a week in a

9 X 9 spotlessly clean container. Alternatively freeze in 100ml portions and defrost gently in a water bath. NEVER USE THE MICROWAVE, it will destroy the protective antibodies. If ewe colostrum is not available, cow or goat colostrum is the next best alternative, preferably sourced from cattle vaccinated against clostridial diseases. Cow colostrum can cause a severe anaemia in lambs, so ensure colostrum from several different cows is collected, and pooled together before feeding to lambs. Sheep colostrum has more protein and energy than cow or goat colostrum, so an extra 30% per feed should be given to make up the nutritional shortfall. Decision tree for hypothermic lambs temperature What to do 39-40C Normal no action needed 37-39C Moderately hypothermic Dry Feed colostrum Return to ewe <37C Severely hypothermic <5 hours old Dry, Warm to >37C Feed colostrum 50ml/kg Warm to 39C Return to ewe >5 hours old Inject intraperitoneal glucose Dry, Warm to >37C Feed colostrum Warm to 39C Return to ewe If you would like training in intra-peritoneal injection technique, please ask one of our farm vets.

10 Countryside Stewardship Funding 10 There is currently funding available for farm improvements under the countryside stewardship scheme. A brief outline is detailed below but more information can be found on the government website: Applications are open now until either 18th March or 30th April, depending on what you are applying for. Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for land managers to look after their environment through activities such as: conserving and restoring wildlife habitats flood risk management woodland creation and management reducing widespread water pollution from agriculture keeping the character of the countryside preserving features important to the history of the rural landscape encouraging educational access The scheme is: open to all eligible farmers, woodland owners, foresters and other land managers suitable for many types of land use (e.g. conventional and organic farmland, coastal areas, uplands and woodlands) competitive scored against local priority targets to maximise environmental benefit

11 Drug Update 11 There have been a few changes in drugs recently so we thought a quick reminder would be helpful. There have been some supply issues with the Engemycin farm packs, We are able to get the odd bottle at the moment but if it is not in stock Alamycin 100mg/ml is currently in stock as an alternative but is only available in 100ml bottles. Anti-inflammatories have also changed a little recently. We are currently stocking 3 anti-inflammatory treatments: Ketoprofen (Ketink) anti-inflammatory with zero milk withhold Meloxidyl (Recocam) long acting anti-inflammatory lasting hours Flunixin (Cronyxin) fast acting anti-inflammatory with 24 hour milk withhold, must be given i/v. These drugs all come from a family of drugs know as Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAID) which provide pain relief, reduce inflammation and also have anti-endotoxic properties, which means they are good at reducing toxins associated with conditions such as toxic mastitis.

12 Dog Microchipping 12 Please don t forget, from the 6th of April 2016, all dogs in England must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are 8 weeks old. For every dog that is currently not microchipped, you will have until 6th of April to get them microchipped and registered on an approved database. If a keeper of a dog which is not microchipped gets served with a notice requiring them to have the dog chipped, they will have 21 days to do this. Failure to comply will result in a 500 fine. Failure to up date you personal details on the database could also result in a notice being served and a 500 fine. If your dog needs to be chipped or you are not sure if they are chipped or not please call us at the surgery. Contact Info: South Molton, The Surgery, Southley Road, South Molton, North Devon, EX36 4BL Telephone: (24 hours - 6 lines) Farm Department: (Office hours only) Fax: Barnstaple, Unit A, Riverview Commercial Centre, Riverside Road, Pottington, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 1QN Telephone: Fax: info@marketvets.co.uk