SEPTEMBER 2016

VETTALES

Te Puke Veterinary Centre Newsletter

NEWS BRIEFS Hi everyone It never rains, it pours - nothing could be truer for us in the last few months. However, as with the dairy payout there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel.... so onwards and upwards and into the spring!

In this Issue . . .

Calf Notes Drenching Strategy for Lambs Scabby Mouth Effect of Shearing on Lamb Growth Bull Check List Cows not producing? Metri-check promotion Heifer Synchrony options Mating Time Must Do’s Herd BCS Promotion

KEY BENEFITS OF EARLY CIDR TREATMENT

The best economic benefit has been proven to occur when non-cyclers are treated a week to ten days prior to mating. The extra days in milk gained make good eco-nomic sense... Whether the milk price is high or low! Benefits are: Cows get in calf earlier On average 16 more days in milk next season Fewer non-cycling cows requiring treatment the

following season Tightens calving pattern More AB calves

The additional milk alone makes early intervention worthwhile. If you wait and treat during the mating pe-riod, the return is significantly lower (as there are less additional days in milk gained). Early treatment results in eight times more milk, compared with treating cows after three weeks of mating, so act early to get more milk into the vat next season. Even 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.

Non-Cycler Programmes

$36 per cow excl. GST (average cost)

To receive Vettales (colour version) by e-mail please ring clinic with your details

CALF NOTES

Coccidiosis

Can cause ill thrift, weight loss, straining or diarrhoea (with or without blood). Most commonly seen in calves between 4 weeks and 6 months, particularly after weaning.

Prevented by feeding meal with a coccidiostat for a minimum of a month after being on pasture. Calves are not exposed to coccidia until on pasture, so it is important that they get exposure and develop immunity to the disease while still on medicated feed.

If calves are not on medicated meal, a drench of Baycox C 2 weeks after going on to pasture will prevent disease.

Worms

Don’t drench any more often than you have to. Start from 10 weeks of age.

Use a combination drench such as Arrest C, Oxfen Plus or Eclipse pour-on to help delay onset of resistance and also to deal with all worms, including Cooperia.

Take care not to overdose young calves, especially those under 10 weeks of age and especially Jerseys (low fat).

Yersiniosis

A bacterial disease in recently weaned calves causing diarrhoea and ill thrift. Usually most of the mob is affected, with some individuals scouring severely and dying if untreated. The disease is set off by stress factors such as under feeding, low energy diets, changes in diet, transport, yarding and bad weather. Calves run in large mobs are more susceptible.

Treatment is by antibiotic drench or injection.

Post-weaning Diarrhoea and Ill thrift

Diarrhoea and ill thrift can occur in some mobs of calves up to 4 months after weaning, without any of the above being the primary cause. It appears that the problem is one of digestion / rumen development. Jersey calves seem particularly susceptible. Leaving the calves on meal longer to start with, or putting them back on meal if symptoms develop usually fixes the problem. Levels as low as 0.5 kg / calf / day seem to make a difference

Growth rate after weaning is very sensitive to feed quality and quantity. The dry matter intake required for a calf is 2.5–3.0% of liveweight per day. To ensure adequate energy intake, pasture must have a high ME i.e. high quality.

Sudden Death

Calves found dead - often blown up. Can be due to clostridial disease. Vaccinate with Covexin. Can also be due to an intestinal accident (twisted gut) BVD Testing

Ear notch calves from 35 days of age in herds with BVD - to identify and cull PIs.

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, take a moment to make sure it is still correct for your property.

Here are some basic rules that all farmers should go by: Use combination drenches

- Research has shown the use of combinations are the best for production and preventing resistance. Os-tertagia is our most production limiting parasite, but in young cattle treating Cooperia is also very impor-tant. A combination product containing levamisole is therefore recommended, especially in stock under 15 months of age.

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 with young calves - Don’t mix drench in with the milk

- Avoid abamectin containing products in calves un-der 120kg

Take care of yourself - As calves get more difficult to handle, pour ons or

injectables are easier and safer.

Includes ARREST C 5L + ECLIPSE Pour-on 2.5L (combo drenches containing le-vamisole) + 30ml Gun with 2 nozzles

Enough to drench 100 calves for 6 months

FREE SUNBEAM SLOWCOOKER

Special price $750 ex GST ($50 discount)

LAMB REMINDERS

Pulpy Kidney

Causes sudden death in lambs mainly between 1-3 months of age. If ewes were not vaccinated, then lambs should be

done ASAP. Give the first shot at docking or before and then a follow up 4 weeks later. This will provide immunity for 12 months.

If ewes were vaccinated then lambs on properties with history of sudden unexplained deaths should be vacci-nated twice from 2 months of age.

Scabby Mouth

If you have had scabby mouth or have vaccinated for it in the past, you need to vaccinate your lambs at docking. Need to order

WORM STRATEGY FOR LAMBS Drenching of lambs is about to start so it’s a good time to think about your worming strategy for the year. Resistance to one or more drench types is widespread and farmers need to have a plan that both identifies resistance and minimises its development.

Reduce the Worm Challenge

Graze lambs on safe pastures i.e. new grasses, hay and silage paddocks and feed crops.

Try to use farm paddocks for different purposes each year. Use adult stock and alternate species to reduce larval challenge on pasture.

Drenches

You should know which drenches are effective on your farm. Do yearly drench checks (10 faecal samples 7-10 days after drenching). Do a full drench test every 2-3 years. Choose your drench on the basis of these re-sults.

Evidence suggests that combination drenches can slow the development of drench resistance. Use minimum of a double combination. Three actives better.

Good drenching practice is essential. Weigh animals and set the dose to the heaviest.

Do the minimum number of drenches necessary. This means do not start until necessary i.e. weaning. Use faecal egg counts & regular weighing to monitor worms.

Consider tapeworm control for the first 3-4 drenches.

Refugia The idea of refugia is to make sure that worms susceptible to drench remain in the population, breed and as a result dilute the gene frequency for resistance.

The benefit of refugia is greatest when lambs are going onto clean pasture.

Leave 5-10% healthy animals undrenched. More (20%) may be better but may result in production losses.

Good Nutrition

Healthy animals can fight worm challenges more easily.

Higher pasture covers and grazing residuals offer less worm challenge.

Grazier Member - Dog Vaccination Runs Basic Health check Discounted Members price

We will be doing the annual Grazier Dog vaccination runs in October and November. If you want to be added to our list or you have a new dog please ring and let us know.

Scabby Mouth in Vaccinated Lambs

Veterinarians are occasionally asked about scabby mouth in vaccinated lambs. This can be perplexing and annoying for farmers who expect vaccination to give full protection.

Reasons:

1. Vaccination for scabby mouth is similar to natural infec-tion in that it does not prevent infection, rather it reduces disease severity. Thus where there is a high virus challenge and/or presence of pre-disposing conditions, infection can overcome vaccine immunity & limited disease will occur.

2. Vaccination technique is critical. Scratching must be done carefully so that the skin is broken but not so deeply that it bleeds and washes the vaccine away. Ten to twenty lambs should be checked 1-2 weeks after vaccination to ensure the vaccine has “taken”. The vaccination line(s) should be raised and whitish surrounded by red inflammation. Re-search suggests an average take of 79% can be expected thus a 1/5 of lambs are likely to be sub-optimally pro-tected.

3. Scabby mouth vaccines contain live virus and are therefore susceptible to inactivation due to high or low temperatures and contamination with chemicals such as fly strike pre-ventatives.

4. Predisposing factors vary from season to season. This years challenge was worse due to more thistles following the drought.

In summary it is not unusual in a year with a lot of thistles to get 20-25% of lambs with mild to moderate lesions. These should heal relatively quick and cause minimal economic loss.

The reaction on the lamb on the left is satisfactory, the one on the right is not. Note that only one scratch is re-

quired with the Scabigard application method.

Eukanuba 20kg Farmer Pack

Formulated for Active & Performance dogs

Special Price $103.50 excl. GST

Purchase any of the following products and take home a Coleman Lunch-Mate: First Drench Hi-Mineral 20L Iver Matrix Tape Hi-Mineral 10L or 20L Matrix Hi-Mineral 20L Matrix Tape Hi-Mineral 10L or 20L Switch Hi-Mineral 20L

Which Vet is the Best Surgeon?

Last Friday night we were having a beer after work, when the talk as it does, turned to surgical skill. Dan, Bryce and Cribby were all pretty full of themselves, so the rest of us said “prove it - demonstrate your skills!"

So Bryce stepped forward, opened a tiny box, and released a fly. He drew his scalpel and Swish! the fly fell to the floor, neatly divided in two!"

"What a feat!" said everyone “That’s amazing”.

Dan was not daunted at all and smiled confidently. He stepped forward and opened a tiny box, releasing another fly. He drew his scalpel and Swish! Swish! the fly fell to the floor neatly quartered.

"That is skill!" nodded everyone - that’s awesome. "How are you going to top that Cribby?"

Cribby didn't say anything but stepped forward, opened a tiny box and released the last fly. He then drew his scalpel and Swoooooosh! flourished his scalpel so mightily that a gust of wind blew through the room. But the fly was still buzzing around!!!

Everyone was disappointed and gave Cribby heaps - "What kind of skill is that? The fly isn't even dead."

"Dead?" replied Cribby, “Dead is easy. But..., Castration...??"

Effect of shearing on lamb growth and carcass performance Authors: McLean NJ et al.

Summary/comment: There are a number of reasons why farmers might elect to shear their works lambs, including incentives provided by meat companies due to the meat hygiene benefits (or disincentives for not shearing them!), additional income from the wool, and the anticipated reduction of diseases such as enzootic pneumonia and flystrike. However, one of the main reasons that farmers give is the belief that, once shorn, their lambs will grow faster.

This project, undertaken by members of the AbacusBio team and funded by the Alliance Group, endeavoured to determine if there was any truth in this popular belief regarding shearing and increased growth rates. The study was conducted on three farms; one in Wairarapa and two in Southland. It was found that shorn lambs did, in fact, have a slightly faster growth rate than their unshorn counterparts, but this benefit was negated by the weight lost during the pre-shearing yarding and fasting process. So, from a financial point of view, the only benefit ended up being the extra income gained from the wool, which equated to between $1.00 and $2.00 per lamb, once the cost of shearing was de-ducted.

It is well documented that shearing does increase a lamb’s appetite, so it was reasonable to assume that improved weight gains could result. However, the po-tential gains could well be limited by the availability of enough good quality feed on many farms at the time of year when most lambs are shorn. Environmental fac-tors, especially climatic ones, are also likely to have an influence, potentially leading to a wide variation in any benefits gained between seasons and between differ-ent parts of the country. Also of note is whatever the current wool price is. If wool is the main or probably only financial benefit, then wool price is critical.

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 and service bulls pose a big

risk to dairy herds. All bulls (purchased or carried over) should be tested (blood test) and vaccinated (twice 4 weeks apart) prior to purchase or the start of mating.

Bull soundness is vitally important. A vet check involv-ing a rectal exam and scrotal measurement will elimi-nate 2/3 of dud bulls. A full semen evaluation and serv-ing 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 30-40 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 ex-ample an easy calving Hereford bull is easy for Here-ford 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 ap-pears normal. Rotating bulls around mobs, and prefera-bly 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 high temperature 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 in-dication of their ability to get cows in calf.

BVD Test ~ $16.50 (lab + vet costs) per bull BVD & EBL ~ $19 (lab + vet costs) per bull

BVD Vaccination – $6.10 per shot x 2 Bull vet check - $13 per bull

(prices exclude Gst)

Cows Struggling with Production? It is early in the season and the weather of late definitely hasn’t been conducive for most things dairy farming related, but we have had several comments around poorer than expected early milk production. Much of this comes down to cow con-dition at calving, how well she is transitioned through the calving period, and how well she is being fed. If your cows aren’t performing as well as expected, then Energy Watch is a cow side test that provides on the spot information about the energy status of the herd. A low energy status has an obvious direct impact on milk production, but also importantly leads to the cow’s immune system being compro-mised and increased levels of diseases like uterine infections. If you are interested in discussing Energy Watch testing, please give us a call at the clinic.

Metri-Checking Taking a pro-active approach to dealing with uterine infections (see below) provides the best outcome as far as time for the infection to resolve and return on investment goes. Trial work shows that leaving cows untreated resulted in a longer period from calving to conception. Leaving your ‘dirty’ cows won’t help them self cure, however it does increase the difficulty of diagnosis due to the cervix closing. Metri-checking is a quick and easy way to identify uterine infection. Treating metri-check 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.

This year, if you Metricheck 70% or more of your herd you will get:

Special price of $1 per cow excl. GST

Enough tail paint to paint your herd for free (1 bottle/60 cows in herd).

Infected uterus Pus inside metrichecker

Heifer Synchrony for AB

Increases replacement rate Improves herd genetics Allows increased culling scope Option of 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.

Prostaglandin (PG) Programmes

PG programmes are a cost effective means ($7 ex GST per shot) of being able to AB heifers over a reduced time period. However heifers must already be cycling to respond to PGs. The most common programmes are:

Two injections 12 days apart - Mate on detection for 4-5 days - Expect 80% submission rate in well grown heifers

Partial AB of Mob - Inject all animals the day before AI starts. - Mate on detection for 4-5 days. - Approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of mob should come up. - Option to repeat injection on those not mated 11 days after the first injection.

Eleven day - Mate animals on detection for 6 days then inject remainder of mob not mated (approx 2/3 of mob). - Continue mating on detection for another 5 days

Cidr Programmes

Allow for 100% to be mated on one day. Do not have to be cycling to respond. Three yardings including AB. Average cost $35 excl. GST.

Heifer Checklist Make sure heifers have been

worm drenched eg ECLIPSE. Blood test at least a month before MSD 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 syn-chronised, 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 concep-tion rate or abortion.

Ensure rising plane of nutrition

Trace Elements Notes

Any required supplementation should be done at least 3-4 weeks out from mating to reap full benefits and to avoid adverse affects. Selenium most important, particularly its effect on sub-

mission rates. Easily tested for & easily supplemented via injection, drench, drinking water or pour-on.

Low copper affects conception rate. Injectable copper should be given ideally no closer than 21 days prior to the start of mating. Any later and it has been shown that it can have an adverse affect on reproduction.

Iodine has an influence on reproduction and many farmers believe stock iodine added to the trough water increases the strength of heat behaviour.

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 poten-tially 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.

AGVANCE Leading supplier of Minerals, Vitamins and Pre-mixes for NZ farmers. Te Puke Vets supports and supplies a number of Ag-vance’s products including: Optiguard Calf mineral supplement that helps prevent scours Solutrace mineral supplement range - Metabolizer Plus - DCM Monensin We hold a few bags of the most common products in stock so if you run out give us a yell. You can also order through us. Prices are the same as direct.

MatingTime 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 BCS @ mating is >4 for cows and >4.5 for 2yo’s.

B. Check milk BVD status. If you haven't signed give us a ring.

C. Metricheck and treat dirty cows D. Drench and blood test yearlings. Sort out a

programme if going to synchronise. E. Have a heat detection protocol. F. Tail paint herd 30-35 days prior to the

start of mating. Herds that tail paint early on average perform better reproductively.

G. Blood test herd for trace elements. H. Health check bulls, test and vaccinate for

BVD. Make sure numbers are adequate. I. Treat anoestrus cows early

TPVC Services

InCalf Advisory - pre-mating visit Herd Body Condition Scoring Calf weighing & recording Painless Disbudding - finish tail before 6 weeks old Grade busting - on farm help if grading for bulk SCC Milking investigations - milking visit to assess machines, milking technique and other mastitis risk factors

Use of eCG in non-cycling cow treatment programs Novormon eCG is an injectable vet medicine that can be added to a standard non-cycling cow treatment program to improve pregnancy rates. Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) acts on develop-ing follicles in the ovary to increase development, result-ing in a slightly larger egg at ovulation. There is also an improvement in the function of the corpus luteum (CL) that forms on the ovary to maintain the pregnancy. Additionally, cows that do not hold to the insemination at the end of a non-cycling treatment program are more likely to return to heat in the next 24 days, when they have had eCG as part of the treatment program, rather than becoming ‘phantom cows’ that don’t show oestrus again yet are not pregnant. ‘Plus eCG’ programs have been extensively trialled and validated on numerous New Zealand commercial dairy farms in recent years. In a large study undertaken by veterinary medicine supplier AgriHealth in spring 2010, over 2,000 non-cycling cows from 15 herds across the country participated. Results of this vet journal published study provides con-fidence in recommending the addition of eCG in our non-cycling cow programs. Adding eCG to a standard pro-gesterone treatment program improved the 4 week in-calf rate of cows by 7% compared to the other treatment programs in the study. Other published studies have showed a similar improvement in early pregnancy rates. 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 anoest-rus cow programme.

Pre-mating Herd Condition Score With ever increasing importance on cow condition, and many of you having taken advantage of the DairyNZ Condition Scoring Initiative last autumn, it is important you continue collecting this invaluable information. Te Puke Vets have experienced Accred-ited Condition Scorers. We record your information and, where we can, enter it into MINDA for future reference. Minda on the Web is a fantastic tool which is cur-rently being under utilised by the majority of farm-ers. The ability to easily record and analyse a whole range of data is invaluable for assisting in herd level decisions and checking what is or isn’t working in your herd.

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 is important. If you are interested in having your herd scored, please let us know.

Spring Special—Free Tail Paint

If you get your herd condition scored pre-mating we’ll enter that information into MINDA for you and supply you Tail Paint for free (2 bottles/herd

scored).

Herd Condition Scoring

No Frills - best prices Genesis 5.5L pour-on

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

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 inter-

val in heifers $469 excl. GST Treats 100 x 500kg cows @ $4.69 each

Extended credit (pay December) available on all drenches and Reproductive work

KAIWAKA WET WEATHER AND

COLD WEATHER PRO-TECTIVE CLOTHING

(several ranges inc children)

September Sale 20% off

Existing stock

THROUGHOUT THE DECADES, MERIAL ANCARE HAVE BEEN DISH-ING UP QUALITY PRODUCTS THAT GET THE JOB DONE RIGHT.

Purchase any of the following products and take home a Sunbeam Slowcooker:

Calf Pack (Arrest drench and Eclipse pour-on) Eclipse Pour-on 2.5L 4 x Ivomec plus 500ml Injection - Controls fluke as well as internal parasites 4 x Genesis (plain) 500ml Injection - Easy to use, non-sting - Can be used in sheep and cattle 4 x Genesis B12 + Selenium 500ml Injection - Contains Cobalt (vitamin B12) and Selenium Matrix C Hi-min 5L, 10L or 20L - Oral triple combo - 1ml/20kg dose rate Switch Fluke 10 10L

Purchase Eclipse 5L and receive a Sunbeam

Stainless Electric Frypan for free.