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Welcome to the summer edition of the Farm newsletter! With good weather promised for this summer we are looking forward more than ever to spending time with you on your farm helping to improve efficiency and production. Please read the information on our routine fertility visits and our new website with details of the many services we offer to give essential help and advice on a huge variety of issues and diseases.
 

FARMERS’ MEETING

On Tuesday 23rd June we are holding a farmers’ meeting on the subject of Johne’s Disease. This is a common and serious disease the control of which can be very complicated. See the end of this newsletter for a brief introduction to Johne’s Disease and it’s control.


 

STRAITON VETS GO ONLINE!

Straiton vets have been working very hard to create a useful and informative website for our clients.

The website will be continually updated providing you with the latest news and information on special offers we are running, farmers meetings, and ongoing management issues such as mastitis, lameness, worming regimes and infectious disease control.

It is a work in progress and we hope that over the next few months and years it will grow to be a valuable source of information for our farm clients about the many diseases and various issues that affect the agricultural sector.

We would appreciate any constructive criticism so please feel free to contact us with your suggestions for information you would like to see on the website.

FOR ALL DISEASES VACCINATION IS THE MOST COST EFFICIENT INTERVENTION AVAILABLE, SO MAKE SURE YOU PLAN YOUR HEALTH REGIME CAREFULLY!
Feel free to call us at any time to discuss your requirements on 01785 715 799


 

Benefits of routine farm visits

Vital statistics

Engaging your veterinary surgeon on routine fertility visits hugely increase efficiency and productivity on dairy farms. Studies have shown that herds performing to achieve the following statistics are the most efficient and profitable:

  - Calving index recommended 365 days – each cow should be having a calf every year
  - Pregnancy rate to first service should be 60%
  - Calving to conception should be 80 days on average
This equates to 1.6 serves per cow if served by artificial insemination

We recommend regular routine fertility visits to help your herd achieve these statistics.
  - Herds of over 100 cows should be visited every 2 weeks
  - Herds of under 100 cows should be visited once a month

A routine fertility visit involves the performing Post Natal Checks on freshly calved cows and examining any cows where bulling behaviour has not been observed.

Cows in these categories would undergo a vaginal and a rectal exam to check for and treat conditions that can prevent the cow returning to and observable heat 45 days after calving. Reasons for this can be due to some of the following:

• Uterine infections
• Cysts on the ovaries
• Vaginal or cervical damage
• Urine pooling
• Oestrus cycle not active
• Peritonitis
• Poor nutrition
• Any systemic disease can reduce fertility

The vet will also examine cows that require pregnancy diagnosis. This can be carried out manually or with the ultrasound scanner, depending on the stage of pregnancy.
Cows that are confirmed not pregnant can be investigated and treated or managed accordingly.
 

DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY COW THAT IS NOT PREGNANT BY 80 DAYS POST CALVING IS COSTING YOU BETWEEN £4.00 AND £4.50 PER DAY??


 

Investigation of poor fertility

Keeping good records greatly helps when attempting to determine nature of a fertility problem.
The following list is non-exhaustive but shows some of the many factors affecting fertility that our vets deal with on a regular basis:

Nutrition

• Fatty liver syndrome
• Negative Energy Balance / Ketosis
• Sub-acute Ruminal Acidosis
• Dry cow / transition cow feeding
• Minerals / vitamins imbalances
• Water

Infectious diseases

• BVD
• Leptospirosis
• IBR
• Campylobacter
• Trichomonas
• Neospora
• Fluke

Management factors

• Handling at service
• AI technique/timing
• Semen storage
• Oestrus detection and animal identification
• Injury to uterus during last calving

Bull factors

• General health
• Ability to achieve intromission
• Semen quality
• Bull to cow ratio
• Remember your bull is half your herd!

Cow health

• Lameness
• Uterine infections
• Mastitis

Housing

• Slippery floors preventing bulling behaviour
• Overcrowding inhibiting bulling behaviour
• Bullying of heifers by older cows
• Access to bull to encourage bulling behaviour

Please contact us if you would like more information about organising routine fertility visits for your farm!

 

Johne’s Disease

What is Johne’s Disease?

Johne‘s disease is an infectious wasting condition of cattle and other ruminants. It is caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (commonly known as Map). It is closely related to the organism that causes tuberculosis. The disease progressively damages the intestines of affected animals, and in cattle this results in profuse and persistent diarrhoea, severe weight loss despite a good appetite, and infertility.

The disease is invariably fatal but infected animals are likely to be culled due to loss of production or welfare grounds. In dairy herds, the presence of Johne’s disease will significantly reduce milk yields well before other signs of the disease can be found.

The organism multiplies along increasing lengths of intestine and the associated lymphoid tissues. This interferes with the normal functioning of the gut to induce a protein-losing enteropathy leading to the characteristic clinical signs.

Although primary infection usually occurs in the calf, clinical disease is not shown until the animal is three to five years old. However, in heavily infected herds disease may be seen in younger animals.

How is Johne’s disease spread?

The organism is shed in the faeces of infected animals, even if they are not showing signs of infection. Newborn calves are the most susceptible to infection, and the susceptibility declines with age.

The majority of infections are contracted within the first few months of life through colostrum or when the calf sucks teats covered in faeces from an infected dam. Sometimes calves can be infected while still in the uterus.

It is possible that older animals get infected through contaminated water or food. For every clinical case of Johne’s disease in a herd there will be 20 infected animals which show no clinical signs.

How can Johne’s disease be controlled?

There is no treatment for Johne’s disease.

Ensure that calves only receive colostrum from their own mother. If the cow is infected she can only infect her own calf. If colostrum is pooled and fed to may calves then all of them could be infected from a single cow.

Good hygiene at calving and for the first few weeks of life can help prevent infection (clean bedding in calving pen, clean teats for suckling, good bucket hygiene).

Any cows that are confirmed with Johne’s disease should be tagged and ultimately culled, and any of their offspring should NOT be bred from, as they are very likely to be infected.

In affected herds, “snatch calving” when the calf is removed from the dam immediately and fed with artificial colostrum can help prevent infection.

Avoid introducing infected animals into clean herds!

TUESDAY 23rd JUNE -- EVENING MEETING ON JOHNE’S DISEASE. CALL US FOR DETAILS!