Reminders in February

Pink Eye 

The practice is seeing an increasing number of cases of Pinkeye. This is a contagious disease of calves spread primarily by close contact with infected animals and by flies. Vaccination with Piliguard can be a cost effective control method although vaccination must be given prior to disease occurring. In the affected animals topical ointments or sub-conjunctive injections with appropriate antibiotics are usually effective in curing the affected animals.

Excede LA Meat Withholding Times

Just a reminder that while the milk WHP for Exceed LA for cattle is NIL, the meat WHP for cattle is 14 days if injected subcutaneously at the base of the ear, or 56 days if injected subcutaneously in the anterior half of the neck.

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.