Working with your vet to improve your dairy John H. Laster, DVM Todd County Animal Clinic Dairy Diagnostic Lab Service Elkton, Ky.
You might have a redneck vet if he.
1. Darts a rodeo bull in the dry cow lot.
2. Works on an animal that looks like a distant relative from Tennessee.
3. Rides an elephant to the pond to go swimming.
4. Darts a cheetah to remove a chicken bone.
Cheetos and the portable x ray machine
What vets can do for your dairy Residue prevention through protocols Increase revenue through prevention of mastitis, reproduction, and vaccination Help with nutrition and milk machine maintenance Facility and ventilation design and evaluation Vets should be more than glorified arms
VCPR Definition Veterinary Client Patient Relationship FARM program 3.0 is in effect and requires every owner to have veterinary-client-patient-relationship. Must have valid VCPR to write legal VFDs. Definition: VCPR- is a relationship representing how dairy producers and veterinarians work together to ensure the health and welfare of cattle. Which vet are you married to? No vet swapping!
VFD-Veterinary Feed Directive Requires valid vcpr for veterinarian to write. Applicable to all food additive antibiotics and water antibiotics There can be no extra label use of VFD antibiotics. Don t wait until the last minute to call your vet. Records must be kept 2 years for each script. If you mix your feed, producer and feed mill vfds must both be retained for two years.
Food residue avoidance through protocols The consumer and animal activists groups are leading the charge on a safer food supply. There are alternatives to milk now. The cost of residues can put you out of business.
Keep accurate and complete records!!!!!!!! Courtesy FDA online
Its best practice to test all drugs before entering tank, even after withdrawal is completed. IDEXX labs Ken Hoyt (207)756-3475 Vet approval for extra label Call milk company if in doubt Have company notify farm Where to test Records, Records, Records!
Oxytetracycline testing Source AABP newsletter November 2016 can easily detect oxytet at 300ppb Will be testing 1 out of 15 loads hitting the plant. Random sampling: may do all loads necessary in a few days, or may do on a set schedule. Very, very sensitive testing. Foot soaks count too.
Food animal residue Milk and meat are at risk. Vet best prepared to mitigate farmer s residue risk. USDA reports that approximately 3.1 million dairy cattle were slaughtered in the United States in 2012. According to FDA website, audits are finding extra label drug residues in milk. Ciprofloxacin (baytril metabolite, and nuflor more common) Don t forget who pays our bills!
She pays our bills!
How can we help? Your veterinarian is the most highly trained individual on the farm for the prevention of drug residues. Strong protocols are the key to success. Farm owner and manager responsibility to follow through on protocol. Protocols need to be written down and records kept for residue defense. Protocols without training, retraining, and then training again are dead.
If we could only find the bottleneck, I m sure we can increase our revenue stream!
Why do protocols matter?
How protocols can impact the bottom line. Reproduction cost: 2.50-4.50 dollars a day for each day open (smith, Gilson, graves, ely Georgia) Mastitis cost for each new case of mastitis:
Repro cost UGA dairy (smith, Gilson, graves, ely ) Table 3. Estimated Cost per Cow per Added Day Open of Higher Calving Intervals at Different Levels of Target Milk Production. Calving Interval (mos) Target Herd Avg. (lbs) 13 vs. 14 14 vs. 15 13 vs. 15 16,000 $2.92 $2.52 $2.76 18,000 $3.51 $3.04 $3.32 20,000 $4.24 $3.67 $4.10 22,000 $4.74 $4.11 $4.49 Table 2. Loss in Net Operating Income (Income - Expenses) with Increasing Calving Interval at Different Levels of Target Milk Production Calving Interval (mos) Target Herd Avg. (lbs) 13 vs. 14 14 vs. 15 13 vs. 15 16,000 $17,732 $15,358 $33,090 18,000 $21,368 $18,509 $39,877 20,000 $25,784 $22,337 $48,121 22,000 $28,850 $24,994 $53,844
Repro study university of Georgia cont. Midsouth Herd Average (lbs) N Days to 1 st Service Days Open Services/Pregn ancy (Pregnant Cows) Services/Pregn ancy (All Cows) Days Dry % Dry 40-70 Days 14000 18 117 202 2.2 3.1 79 47 15000 25 99 171 2.3 3.6 80 46 16000 44 99 169 2.3 3.4 71 64 17000 60 98 167 2.3 3.3 68 61 18000 101 99 169 2.3 3.6 69 65 19000 114 96 164 2.4 3.8 66 67 20000 123 92 160 2.4 3.8 66 72 21000 142 90 153 2.4 3.8 66 74 22000 96 92 150 2.3 3.5 65 74 23000 45 96 156 2.3 3.5 65 74 24000 70 88 157 2.4 4.1 65 76
As days open drop and days to first service drop, rolling herd average is increased. Takeaway: set up protocols with the vet to get days to first service as close to 60 days as possible, and have protocols for problem cows to reduce days open.
Repro protocol example Clean up: give all cows lutalyse at 25 and 35 days in milk DIM 50: give 2 cc cystorelin, wait ten days and give 5 cc lutalyse. Breed off of that heat. If no heat, wait fourteen days and repeat lutalyse to get breed date. ( covers cysts, acyclic cattle, and metritis) Shots are given at herd check: 1. If lutalyse is given with no response, wait four days after shot and begin ovsynch. If this is a second failure, do CIDR synch with protocol. Also evaluate BCS of cattle if several have issues. 2. If ovsynch is administered with no heat, wait fourteen days give lutalyse. If no response wait four days and institute CIDR protocol.
Repro Goals Push voluntary waiting period to 60 days. Try to have cows cycling and start having breed dates at 60 days in milk Get the cows cycling before the 60 days; don t wait to get them clean, well fed, and prepared to conceive until the VWP has lapsed. Keep days in milk, and days to first service as low as possible.
How protocols can impact the bottom line Reproduction cost: 2.50-4.50 dollars a day (smith, Gilson, graves, ely Georgia) Mastitis cost for each new case of mastitis: $190.40 per case Vaccination protocols
Mastitis cost breakdown (Johnson 2016 aabp) Reduced production:$121 Discarded milk: $10.45 Replacement cost: $ 47.73 Extra labor: $1.14 Treatment: $7.36 Vet services: $2.72 $190.40 per case
Production losses source J. Umphrey ABS Global
Production losses source J. Umphrey ABS Global
How to prevent mastitis Most mastitis issues have a first and last name - Dr. David Reid Training: always rewarding, sometimes frustrating.
Mastitis triangle: man, machine, environment
Key Control Points Fresh cows and heifers Lactating cow clinical infections monitoring of who cured and who didn t Chronic high cell counters Bulk tank monitoring Dry cow treatment and management
Fresh cows and heifers Don t wait until first test results! CMT paddle colostrum day #1 Mix reagents/ milk; get your fingers dirty and then swirl Gel or no gel? Gel=culture No gel=low scc= not infected Side note: wear gloves!
Protective vs infective On first day test, is it protective cells that cause cmt to gel or infective cells? A negative gel gives you 95% security that cow isn't infected at calving. ( Timms, NMC 2015) A positive could be 50% infected and 50% protective cells, so do the culture. Very important when staph aureus is a problem in the herd. Don t forget heifers.
Check your equipment on a scheduled protocol
Know your enemy and learn to work backwards Bulk tank cultures weekly on bigger dairies, monthly on less than 200 cows, unless purchasing. Culture new purchases, clinical cases, subclinical cases over 200,000 DHIA, fresh heifers, and fresh cows. Use the data collected to get an idea of where the issue is coming from.
What Do you see? Check everything that affects mastitis Man, environment, machine How do your cows come into the parlor? Are their hocks and udders clean? Are your people having to whistle and push to get them to enter? What do the teat ends tell you?
Teat ends slide courtesy of David Reid, DVM
Prep protocol example Receiver jar Stall 1 Stall 2 Stall 3 Stall 4 Stall 5 stall 6 milker 1 start: dip entire teat, strip 3 full stream strips downward, dip first 6 cows milker 2 (green)wipes lr,rr,rf,lf teats concentrating on teat ends and applies units milker 1 wipes and applies milker 2 starts: dip, strip, dip holding pens Stall 12 Stall 11 Stall 10 Stall 9 Stall 8 stall 7
Create a decision tree for your people
Decision tree protocol
Why vaccinate? Vaccination protocols
Cost of not vaccinating Milk loss (cost of testing, antibiotic cost, production decrease, treatment milk dump) Residue risk Extra label drug use may be needed Death loss: 11.3% total death loss of adults Replacement cost: $2260 (iowa state university extension, 2014) Decreased feed intake: SARA (subacute ruminal acidosis) is always a risk factor Handling of sick cattle: how do you prevent spread?
Prevalence of pneumonia in adult dairy cattle Ohio study found 13% of adult dairy cattle have clinical pneumonia each year. Accounts for 11.3% death loss in adult cattle per year. Source : (Veterinary Clinics of North America, 2010, Food Animal, Cooper and Broderson)
Rough estimate of cost 50 cow dairy, 70 pound herd average 13% incidence of pneumonia per year: 6.5 cows/yr 11% mortality: $2260/hd 1 cow/year Antibiotic costs 6.5 cows x ($40 per cow)= $260 Milk loss dump 96hr per dose of drug 2 treatments: 70# per days x 8 days of dumping milk =560#x 6.5 cows=3640# At $18/cwt=655.20 $2260 loss + $260 antibiotics +$655.20 milk dump 8 days=$3175.20 per year These numbers don t take into account for production loss during recovery.
How do you vaccinate to prevent disease? Have a serious talk with your veterinarian. Each farm s risk are different, your vet knows your farm best. Write protocols to cover your animals from the womb to the tomb.
It starts at birth Calves should have access to good quality colostrum just after birth. Calf should consume close to 10% of its body weight in quality checked colostrum in the first six hours of life. Check quality with colostrometer. Supplement with bovine plasma colostrum supplement if dam has poor colostrum quality. (lifeline, Saskatoon colostrum company)
UPENN vaccine protocol guidelines 30 minutes prior to colostrum Scour Agents (E. coli and corona/rotavirus) At Birth 4 quarts of high quality colostrum IBR/PI3 intranasal 2 ml MuSe Do Not Vaccinate (Injection) calves less than 7 days of age 2 weeks IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way
UPENN vaccine protocol guidelines Do Not Vaccinate (Injection) calves less than 7 days of age 2 weeks IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way Do Not Vaccinate (Injection) calves between 17 and 35 days of age (2½ - 5 weeks) 6 weeks IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way
UPENN vaccine protocol guidelines Turnout IBR/PI3 intranasal Dehorn 5 months IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way Brucella Remove extra teats 6 months Lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way
UPENN vaccine protocol guidelines 10 months or 3 weeks prior to breeding IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way At pregnancy diagnosis Lepto 5-way To Far-offs To Close-ups Lepto 5-way Deworm (heifers only) J-5 vaccine Lepto 5-way Clostridium 7-way J-5 vaccine
UPENN vaccine protocol guidelines 21-35 days Post Calving IBR/PI3/BRSV/BVD-mlv + lepto 5-way J-5 vaccine At pregnancy diagnosis Lepto 5-way
What it looks like for real Management of newborn calf: 1. Within first 12 hours of life, make sure that calf has consumed 10% of its body weight in colostrum, either by its mother's milk or by artificial colostrum. a. Example: 70 pound jersey x 10% body weight = 7 pounds of colostrum needed. 1 pint = 1 pound of milk, 7 pints= 3.5 quarts= one and a half calf bottles in first twelve hours of life. b. Lifeline for dairy animals and Saskatoon colostrum company colostrum are good substitutes for poor quality or quantity colostrum and can be purchased through any distributor. c. When mixing lifeline, use 1.5 quarts of warm water, and allow calf to suck or tube the calf to provide the colostrum dose needed during the first 12 hours of life. d. Purchase a brixx colostrometer to quickly and accurately measure the quality of colostrum the mother has, if she is milked out and the calf then fed. e. Colostrum management is essential to raising healthy calves. The correct timing and quality of colostrum will prevents scours, death loss from pneumonia, and will promote healthier replacement animals for the dairy. f. give first defense bolus during the first 12 hours of life to prevent scours, if calf is allowed to nurse its mother instead of being tubed with colostrum.
Megan Halcomb DVM Britni Thornburg, DVM me Mark Jaynes Can you find your herd vet? Wes Dyer, DVM Robin Dalton Fernando Alvarez, DVM Jenks Britt, DVM bama