Animal Health in a Growthy Spring
/It is a great opportunity with the current conditions to feed animals optimally, establish winter feed crops and recharge supplement supplies. However, many farmers comment that stock don’t “do” in lush, growth conditions.
November Animal Health to consider taking action on:
Docking drench of ewes, especially if they have not had long acting treatments pre-lamb. We have had reports of ewes responding well to this. You can do a FEC (drench check) to work out if a docking drench is required, or just target lights and 2 tooths.
Pre-wearning tape drench of lambs. Tape drenches can provide an extra kilogram of liveweight gain if given one month prior to weaning compared with standard drenches.
A combination drench for yearling cattle, plus B12 and selenium if not previously addressed.
Fly was a big headache last year for many farmers. Clik spray-on is widely used in fine wool at tailing. It is in short supply this year, so ring Jeff to secure your order. Vetrazin spray-on, or Clik-zin spray-on is suitable for cross-breds.
If lice was an issue over the winter use a diflubenzuron jetting fluid (Zenith or Fleecemaster) for your fly-lice treatment. Use Cyrex if strike is present. For a pour-on option Encore will have good lice knock-down with reasonable fly protection - just be aware of the longer meat withhold period.
Feet are going to be a niggle this spring and summer, if preventative measures are not undertaken prior to Christmas. Treating lambs at tailing for lameness can be well worth it. Having an extra person squirting blue spray between scaldy toes works really well to break the cycle and keep their growth rate on track. Foot bathing cycles are also warranted post tailing.
