Cepravin Milk Quality Competition Winners'

In conjunction with MSD (the manufacturers of Cepravin) we have just run our fourth competition for Milk Quality Production . Eligible entrants were those clients enrolled in infovet. (This season we also requested Oceania suppliers to submit their BMSCC as there are still technical issues linking data to infovet). We sought the lowest five day average BMSCC as at 11th of December 2014.

Well done to the Top Three Farmers who will receive $750, $500 and $250 respectively as a voucher to use within our practice.

Last season there were eleven farmers with a BMSCC under 80, 000. This season there are 30 farmers with a BMSCC under 80, 000. This is an outstanding result and reflects the increased emphasis being placed on prevention of infection especially around calving. Congratulations to you all.

Leptocred

It is that time of the year again when we need to start thinking about Leptospirosis control of your farm. Many of our clients are now part of The Veterinary Centre 'Leptocred' Programme.

It is vital for the dairy industry that we continue to have a robust programme that strengthens Leptospirosis protection and at the same time allows flexibility with vaccine use.

The annual reaccreditation consult is an essential part of this process. It is also a pertinent time to take a step back and look at Leptospirosis management on your farm and throughout the dairy industry.

We require all existing Leptocred officers to make a time to sit down with one of our vets for their 2014 audit and reaccreditation for 2015. We would like to get these consults completed before Christmas as once we reach January and February our workload increases significantly with early pregnancy testing.

Coccidiosis

Recently we have seen a number of  cases of coccidia. Coccidiosis is caused by a parasitic bug, it results in a bloody scour which is seen in calves greater than 3 weeks of age up to a few months of age. Affected calves often continuously strain to defaecate. The percentage of a mob affected can be very high as can the mortality rate. Calves which survive a severe infection will have significant checks in growth. Full recoveries can take over a month..

Coccidia are resilient bugs. Most calf meals contain coccidiostats (these are not protective until calves are eating over a kg/day). Treatment can be made with Baycox C which is a single oral drench or daily with Deccox powder mixed in milk for a period of a week.

It's time to vaccinate for BVD

• We recommend that calves be given their first dose at 3-4 months of age followed by the first booster 3-4 weeks later.
• At 13-14 months of age (pre-mating) heifers should receive a booster (if yearling heifers have not been vaccinated as calves they should receive two doses at this point).
• Cows should receive an annual booster pre-mating. This should be ideally done at least 10 days before the planned start of mating each year.

Remember to also ensure that bulls are tested for BVD and are vaccinated before coming onto your property.

Scours in calves - Nicola Neal BVSc

A scour outbreak in your replacement heifers can have a devastating effect, not only on the calves but also the farm team.  As always, prevention is better than cure so here are a few simple ways to decrease the chance of getting scours.

1. Keep the environment as 'clean as possible'. Do not overcrowd pens, allowing 1.5sqm/calf and no more than 20 calves/pen. Try not to do any more than 2 batches of calves through each pen. Disinfect pens regularly with Virkon and top-up or change bedding if it starts ti get mucky.
2. Ensure all calves get a minimum of 2 litres of fresh, good quality first-milking colostrum within 12 hours of being born and another 2 litres in the next 12 hours. This may require you to pick up calves more than once daily or tube calves in the paddock in the afternoon.
3. Ensure good routine in the calf shed, with milk at a similar temperature and consistency at each feed (i.e. not colostrum at one feed, then milk powder at the next), consistent knowledgeable staff and well maintained, hygienic feeding equipment.

If you start to see calves beginning to scour, here are some ideas to maximise recovery and reduce any further sick ones:

1. Spread calves out as much as possible, either across pens or out into clean paddocks, weather permitting. Ideally paddocks would have some shelter, as turning out calves can be stressful and make a scour problem worse.
2. Consider getting 10 blood samples taken from 2-8 day old calves to check if they are getting enough colostrum, early enough for it to be absorbed properly.
3. Increase disinfection of the calf pens, calf trailer and feeding equipment. Do not forget your boots and clothing too!
4. Get professional advice! There are many effective treatment and management techniques out there, depending on the specific cause of your outbreak.
5. Ensure all scouring calves are getting adequate fluids each day. This is 6-8 litres of fluid/day, with both good quality electrolytes and milk being fed at different times during the day.
6. Critically sick calves that can't get up may need IV fluids and or bicarbonate to get them up again. I recently treated a calf which was very close to death with bicarbonate into the vein and had it up and drinking within 3 hours. Do not give up too easily as we can often get these valuable replacements right again!