Mastitis and colostrum management update Dr Kiro Petrovski University of Adelaide, Roseworthy
Biography Started working with dairy cows at age of 11 First independent calving First cow surgery at 16 Work on mastitis 19 years Mastitis treatment products development since 2004 Bomac, Bayer, Elanco, Pfizer, Homeopathic farm supplies, Luoda Pharma Organic vs. conventional farming Causes of mastitis Economics of mastitis Mastitis management
Biography cont d Herd health consultancy NZ (2006-2013) Mastitis consultancy NZ (2006-2015) Europe (2005, 2008, 2014) USA (2007) Argentina (2007-2012) Mastitis and herd health problem solving (2004-2015) 11 countries Farmer and veterinarians discussion groups and workshops (1997-2016)
Up-dates on calf management and mastitis for dairy farmers Dr Kiro R Petrovski DVM, MVSc, PGDipVCSc, PhD Senior Lecturer August 2016 kiro.petrovski@adelaide.edu.au Mt Gambier 15 September 2016
Roadmap Preventive measures to control outbreaks Best management of colostrum for healthy calves What is new in calf management At Roseworthy What is new in mastitis treatment At Roseworthy On-farm strategies to maximise mastitis management and minimise cost
Preventive measures to control outbreaks of calf disorders Failure of passive transfer Failure to get quickly enough good quality colostrum Calf diarrhoea Acute (infectious, nutritional) Chronic (parasitic, nutritional) Infection of the umbilical remnant Navel ill Septic arthritis Joint ill Enzootic pneumonia General sickness and weak calves Bacterial meningitis & Septicaemia Metabolic acidosis Pathogen pathogenic ity Infectious load Calf susceptibili ty Calf diarrhoea Environme nt and husbandry Modified from Bazeley, In Practice,, March 2003 Nutrition Quality of stockmans hip
Calf mortality rates Dairy 2-60% per farm per year Probably best KPI 6% Beef 1-7% per farm per year Probably best KPI 2% Excludes predation
Risk factors summarised Controllable Partially controllable Non-controllable Calf resistance - passive transfer of immunity Dystocia Weather Quality of management Calving hypoxia Season Hygiene Type of housing Twinning Prevalence of disorders in the herd - Infectious pressure Vaccination protocols Management of pregnant dams Availability of calving assistance Origin of calves Feeding management - dams - calves Calving facilities Calf carer Calf size Age of the dam Staff limitations Dam-offspring bond - not important for dairy?
Calving (normal, dystocia) Environment (contamination) Weather Suckling Clean transport Navel dressing Colostrum intake Sick calves Energy Hygiene Pens / pasture Feeding equipment Watering equipment Calf rearer Feedstuffs storage Housing and stockmanship Bedding Ventilation Pen management Calf survival Feeding Solids Milk / replacers Pasture
Prevention of calf disorders Vaccination of dams Timely assistance with calving difficulties Colostrum management 3Qs (quickly, quality and quantity) Navel management Spray with proper navel stuff (not teat disinfectant) Biosecurity Prevent entry and spread of disease Hygiene Comfort
Best management of colostrum for healthy calves 10% of BW within first 12 hours Not less than 7% of BW Depends on quality of colostrum Blood levels of IgG (18-24 hr old calves) Adequate passive transfer >8 g/l or 10 g/l Partial failure 4-8 g/l Complete failure <4 g/l Blood levels of total protein (18-24 hr old calves) Adequate passive transfer >55 g/l Partial failure 50-55 g/l Complete failure <50 g/l Antibody concentration in colostrum/milk
Why colostrum and Colostrum absorption Why colostrum Immunity Nutrition Programing Low proteolytic activity in neonatal GIT Anti-trypsin component in colostrum Reaching the small intestine First 6-24-36 hrs specialised enterocytes Absorption of immunoglobulins Later specialised enterocytes sloughed Replaced by normal enterocytes
Quality of colostrum Hygiene essential Adequate colostrum min 50g immunoglobulin/l Colostrometer Red = inadequate Yellow = borderline Green = adequate Brix refractometer >20-22-25 indicates adequate colostrum
Colostrum requirements First 6 hours 100g IgG 6-18 hours additional 100 g IgG Quality of colostrum IgG content Volume for >100 G IgG Excellent >90 g/l >1.2 L Good 65-90 g/l Moderate 40-65 g/l 2 L 3 L Poor <40 g/l >4 L Uptake of colostrum Excellent Good Moderate Poor Ceases IgG content <4 hours 4-12 hours 12-24 hours 24-36 hours >36 hours
Milk volume in first lactation Weight Passive Mean herd milk yield (litres) Effect transfer of body weight at first calving (HF primiparous cows) <5,000 5,000-6,000 >6,000 Mean <480 Inadequate 3,833 (n=80) 4,172 (n=308) 4,910 (n=95) 4,261 480-520 Partial failure 4,063 (n=27) 4,388 (n=259) 5,224 (n=81) 4,548 >520 Adequate 4,337 (n=12) 4,549 (n=239) 5,402 (n=92) 4,770 Difference between adequate and inadequate colostrum intake = 509L in the first lactation How much for the life?
What is new on calf management at RW Estimate colostrum quality locally Age of dam Breed Season Colostrum yield Estimate colostrum intake locally Effect of cross-fostering Effect of colostrum mixing Effect of diluting colostrum Estimate epigenetic programing effect of colostrum Production, fertility and product quality Pilot study finished
Pilot study results Near Mt Compass, SA HF only 30 cows colostrum Production of immunoglobulins cow dependent 15 calves, 3 groups Original dam full colostrum Foster dam full colostrum Foster dam half colostrum Half quality colostrum resulted in failure of passive transfer No significant difference between feeding from original or foster dam detected NOTE: small sample size
Call for assistance Dairy and beef farmers to do this again on larger scale Next year colostrum quality only in first instance Planned to do full repeated study year after this We provide all sampling and testing equipment Test individual cows and colostrum given to the calf/calves We need approx. 4 farms (preferred different breeds) to host 2 students for the calving season (spring and autumn) Can be the same farm with split calving But can be 4 different farms each time Involved farms will get first study results (before anyone else sees them) If interested can get colostrum quality results as you go Can do measurement of total protein per calf at approx. 24 hours age (need AEC approval)
What is new in mastitis treatment at RW New mastitis treatment development Antimicrobial usually used as rumen modifier 5-7 years away We detected novel resistance pattern in CNS isolated for the SE of SA Early stages of work Risk of mastitis treatment failure Common mechanism for humans, plants and animals Potential to cause public and occupational health risks Farmers, farm staff, veterinarians No difference form other CNS morphologically
On-farm strategies to maximise mastitis management and minimise cost Follow Countdown 2020 guidelines Have herd health management programme in place Call promptly when problems arise Proper management of cows at drying off Timely culling Nutrition Dry cow product Use of internal teat sealants Proper management around calving (transition cow 3-4 weeks either side of calving) Nutrition (prevent milk fever and changes in appetite) Milking (full milking from start ASAP) and milking procedure (enjoyable experience for the cow) Detection of mastitis (palpate from milking 1 & RMT from milking 5) Teat disinfection in high concentration Hygiene KNOW YOUR ENEMY take regularly milk samples Properly train your staff in detection, treatment and management of mastitis
Call for assistance We need a minimum of 10 samples of bulk milk and hospital mob separately per farm Take sample, freeze, deliver to your vet By 31 st October 2016 We will provide you with free information on your Mycoplasma status by 30 November 2016 If you interested in testing you CNS resistance profile let us know We will need samples from you Free of cost Delivery only Unfortunately, if other bacteria involved we do not report back testing only for CNS and Mycoplasma Do you have plenty of calves with Tilted heads Joint ills Pneumonia We can help to test for Mycoplasma in your herd Talk to your vet to get in contact with us We need appropriate samples Free testing takes bit longer as it is a research lab If urgent we will try our best to accommodate this
Do you have herd level problem with health Talk to your vet We can be involved in your herd health management programme We are here to support you and your industry We can come to your farm Students regularly involved Charge for the travel and time only, no additional fees If few of you get together much cheaper (travel cost divided between all) Talk to DairySA They can get in contact with us for further education events