Sunshine and cell counts
Historically, turn out and "Dr Green" meant an improvement in udder health with fewer cases of clinical mastitis and lowered cell counts, but as mastitis pathogens and patterns change on farm, and winter housing and environments improve, we can see a seasonal spike especially in cell counts during the summer months.
Strep. uberis is the usual suspect; an environmental bug that can also pass cow to cow and there are typical hot spots at pasture especially around shaded trees where stocking density can be very high when the weather is as hot as it has been! Strep. uberis can survive for up to 21 days on pasture before UV light destroys it so make sure your rotation is set to reduce this risk.
Pre-dipping what look like already clean teats in the summer months can seem a bit OTT, and obviously adds time to the milking routine, but it can really help reduce the environmental load of bacteria sat on the teat skin. It is these bacteria that can then get into the udder during the milking process and cause the sub-clinical infections which show up as an increased cell count. Remember the pre-dip is a rapid kill product but still needs at least 30 seconds contact time in order to be effective.
Please get in touch if you are struggling with summer cell count issues and you want to know a bit more about control strategies that would work on your farm.
COVID-19
The lockdown may be easing, but not a lot has changed with the Coronavirus itself; apart from perhaps some space becoming available in hospitals across the country.
We are pretty used to dealing with population level disease on farm, and controlling disease entry and spread - and this is no different. Make sure you have a plan in place for you and your team, and a plan in place for any essential visitors to minimise the risk to you and your families.
The lock down rules have been very effective in keeping the R0 below 1 and reducing the numbers affected with COVID-19 and these rules need to still apply when you have essential visitors on farm such as vets, AI techs, foot trimmers etc. Keeping 2 metres apart is about the length of a cow so use them as your new unit of measurement!
Fluke treatment in the dairy herd - an UPDATE
The National Office for Animal Health (NOAH) and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) have published an updated document describing in detail the milk withdrawal periods for the various dairy cattle fluke products on the market. Any flukicide residue found in milk sampled under the UK's Residues Surveillance Plan will now be investigated.
Fluke treatment can be difficult in dairy cows as only a few products are licensed for animals producing milk, these treatments only treat the adult fluke and all of them have different milk withdrawal times. Treating at drying off is an option but again, these products have a long milk withdrawal time so accurate calving dates become essential. As always treatment is only part of the solution - preventing access of grazing animals to wet or boggy areas is also vital in reducing the infection pressure from the water snail that completes the fluke life-cycle.
Always make sure you read the product label carefully for any medicine used in a food producing animal and if in any doubt please telephone for advice before you treat!
Calf Immunity Check
Did you know? The placenta in a cow has three layers and this totally blocks antibodies or immunity crossing over from the cow to the calf meaning the calf is born without any protection at all from disease.
The newborn gut is amazingly adapted so that at birth it has tiny holes in it, ready to let antibodies from the colostrum directly into the blood stream which then protect the calf for the first few months of life. Those holes start shutting as soon as the calf is born, and by 12 hours old only 50% remain, with the gut being effectively closed at 24 hours old so getting colostrum into that calf at birth is critical. Colostrum feeding beyond 24 hours is still very important as the antibodies in that milk sit in the gut and block bacteria and viruses attaching which reduces the chance of scour.
Do you have a colostrum plan on farm? How do you know your calf has had enough colostrum?
We can take a quick blood sample from newborn calves (1-7 days old) and check the level of Total Protein (TP) in the blood which is very closely matched to the level of antibody in the blood - so an indirect measure of successful colostrum transfer. This can be done both in the face of a calf health problem, but also is an important tool on an ongoing basis to keep an eye on colostrum management over time.
Colostrum is effectively a free vaccine, specifically targeting the bugs present on your farm and we need to make the most of it!
Medicines Review
HFV work alongside farmers to review and pre-plan medicine use to ensure that in every instance we prioritise prevention; as well as considering best treatment options for clinical disease, so that medicines are only used when necessary, are used appropriately and stored correctly.
A meds review is a great opportunity to share information and hear feedback about the different medicines used on farm. It is also the time to review the amounts of meds being used and the overall prevalence of disease, as well as updating you on any new research or prevention strategies which may help reduce disease on farm.
Once your meds review is complete you will get a laminated copy of your meds list to go up on farm as a reminder of protocols, dose rates and withholds for all staff to refer back to.
INFO
- Practice Phone: 07398 743095
- Email: mail@haywoodfarmvets.com
- Website: haywoodfarmvets.com
- Open hours: 08:30 - 16:30 (24hr emergency cover)