Farm Newslet ter March 2016

STATION ROAD . SETTLE . BD24 9AA

MAIN STREET . HIGH BENTHAM . LA2 7LE

24 hour

dedicated

farm cover GISBURN AUCTION MART, LANCS BB7 4ES

Dalehead Practical Lambing Course

On the 24th February, we held a practical lambing course at our Gisburn Auction Mart office. Farm vets Karen and Simon discussed a range of topics including ewe management up to lambing, normal and abnormal lambing presentations and how to correct them, as well as lamb and ewe diseases seen around lambing time and how to recognise and treat each one. After

lunch, two practical lambing simulators were used to demonstrate lambing techniques while various problems that are regularly encountered were discussed. Farm vet nurse Anna helped people give intraperitonial glucose injections (into the abdomen), stomach tube lambs, advise where best to inject a lamb as well as the use of rubber rings. The meeting was informal with lots of discussion amongst the group whilst receiving hands on practical learning. It was an informative day with lots of positive feedback and following on the success, there will be further meetings covering all aspects of sheep flock health with hands on practical experience as well as discussions and demonstrations.

Sheep Abortions

Any group of sheep experiencing more than 2% aborting is likely to have an infectious cause of abortion present in the flock. Any aborting ewe, her lambs, afterbirth and subsequent vaginal discharges should be considered contagious to other ewes and humans (especially women of child bearing age) until proven otherwise. It is well worthwhile contacting us to have aborted lambs and afterbirths tested to determine the cause of the problem.

Enzootic Abortion Vaccine For anyone thinking of vaccinating hoggs against Enzootic Abortion as they return from wintering, we have the option of ordering some short dated Cevac Chlamydophila vaccine (expiry date 14th May 2016) at a reduced price. The vaccine is available in 20 and 50 dose bottles and will result in a significant saving over longer dated vaccine.

For more information, please contact Anne or Kate at the surgery.

Lambing Time

Special

Do you know the BVD status of your herd?

Nationally the extent of losses due to BVD infection are considered greater than the combined losses attributable to Leptospirosis, IBR, and Johnes disease with an estimated cost to the cattle industry of £40 per cow/per year. Within our practice we have found that over half of dairy farms which have been tested are carrying the infection and up to 75% of suckler herds. BVD infection in the herd can result in fertility problems such as reduced conception rates, early embryonic losses, abortions and stillbirths. Perhaps even more significantly it suppresses the immune system of infected animals resulting in an increased incidence and severity of scours and pneumonias in calves and more severe outbreaks of disease such as IBR or Neospora in adult cattle. One bit of good news is that it is relatively easy to determine whether infection is active within your herd by blood sampling a selection of homebred youngstock (9-18 months of age) for antibodies (evidence of exposure) to BVD in both suckler and dairy

herds. Dairy herds can also have a bulk milk sample tested for antibodies to BVD and screening for the presence of virus in the milk. Funding is currently available to cover the costs of the laboratory fees for the screening tests to determine the BVD status of your herd as well as a free on-farm consultation to discuss actions to be taken should infection be found to be present. This scheme runs until the end of April 2016. The other good news is that if infection is found to be present it is possible to eliminate the virus and protect the herd by a combination of :

Identifying persistently infected (PI) animals

Vaccination

Testing bought-in animals

Maintaining secure farm boundaries

It would be beneficial for every herd to have a screening test even if you are already vaccinating. To discuss the testing options available please speak to one of the vets.

Bovela BVD Vaccine

Until recently all BVD vaccines have required an initial course of two injections approximately four weeks apart with either six or 12 monthly boosters.

Bovela is a completely new live BVD vaccine which only requires a single intramuscular injection to provide full immunity. This makes it much more straightforward to correctly vaccinate and fully protect animals. A booster vaccination is recommended after 12 months. The vaccine is ideally suited for vaccinating heifers prior to turnout that are to be served through the summer and bought-in replacements. The vaccine can also be used for whole-herd boosters in herds which have already used another vaccine. For more details or to order your vaccines—please ring the surgery on 01729 823538.

Vaccination protocols for cattle prior to turn out

In the spring, prior to turnout, is when the majority of breeding cattle are vaccinated against BVD and Leptospirosis. In addition to single annual boosters for animals already in a vaccination system, previously unvaccinated animals may require a course of two injections approximately four weeks apart to become fully protected (Bovella BVD vaccine just requires a single injection followed by annual boosters) for both BVD and Leptospirosis. It is recommended to complete the initial vaccination course prior to service so consideration needs to be given to which animals are going to be served through the summer. Farms that vaccinate heifer replacements against lungworm will also need to vaccinate calves over two months of age with two doses of Huskvac four weeks apart with the second dose at least two weeks prior to turnout. For further advice on the most appropriate vaccines to use on your farm, which can be given at the same time and which worming programmes may be most appropriate after lungworm vaccination, please speak to one of the farm vets on 017290823538.

Cattle Handling Facilities

We are now into full swing in lambing season but have one eye on the horizon with respect to spring calving. Sheep brought into the practice for caesareans have the benefit of heat on their bellies and, soon after, so do the lambs. The vet benefits from the good restraint and excellent lighting facilities of the lambing room and even the farmer has a straight back and gets to listen to the radio during the procedure! This results in a quick and accurate caesarean section giving the best chance of a successful outcome for both ewe and lamb(s). In the suckler cow world however the conditions are often a challenge for a major abdominal surgery of this nature. Most animals are in a calving pen (of some sort!) which, with quick and cheap modifications could be turned into a very respectable facility for operating (or calving cows that are reluctant to let you help).

A gate hung from the wall in an appropriately sized pen allows one person to load and restrain the animal (fig 1). A piece of chain from gate to wall (indicated in orange) now has the animal secure but is quick release if needed. This allows the Vet (green) and Farmer (blue) to assist the cow or work on the calf in safety (fig 2).

The standard five bar gate (fig 3) can be quickly modified by removing a section of gate at the level of the cow’s knee from rib to pin bone (fig 4). Various hinged gate have been used but the simplest is to use a smaller diameter pole to slide inside the hollow bar of the gate to prevent her from trying to jump out of the side when loading.

The cow can now be restrained in position with a halter or a bulldog clip and farmer, vet and calf are safe from kicking or trampling. If the halter is tied towards the left (the gate side in fig 2.) then the cow, should she decide to go down, will slide down the wall with her wound uppermost and the gate can be opened and the operation continued.

‘Perfect Udder’ freezer bags for calf colostrum

Many people freeze colostrum from cows with excess good quality colostrum to administer by teat or stomach tube to calves born to mothers with either poor quality colostrum or which can’t be milked out. ‘Perfect Udder’ freezer bags have a large surface area and are made out of conductive foil-plastic that speeds up freezing and thawing of colostrum. A stomach tube feeder or teat can be attached directly to the bag for administering the colostrum to the calf.

We are stocking the ‘Perfect Udder’ starter kit which provides ten colostrum freezer bags plus a stomach tube attachment and teat feeder. Contact the surgery for more information on 01729 823538.

Possible Disruption and Road Closures—Tour de Yorkshire 29th April 2016

The Tour De Yorkshire is coming to Settle! We will be breaking out the bunting and spray painting some bikes. Stage 1 on the 29th April will finish in Settle market place at around 4.00-5.00pm. The race route will undergo a rolling road block just as the race approaches, but the main road through the market place will be closed all day. The closure starts from the end of Station Road, through to the end of the Horton Road.

Station Road itself will remain open and therefore access to the surgery is unaffected, but obviously the town will be very busy and Station Road will be used to divert traffic from the main road. All of the public car parks will be used by official vehicles and therefore unavailable. Alternative car parks (Rugby Club, Giggleswick School etc ) will be set up for public parking.

The farm department will be operating as a normal day, although obviously it may take us longer to travel about the local area and out along the A65 in the Skipton direction. In view of the parking, traffic and masses of lycra, that day is best avoided as far as routine collection of parcels and other non urgent matters are concerned. Due to our limited parking, it will not be possible for clients to leave their cars at the surgery for the day, but obviously parking whilst visiting the surgery will be unaffected. We will post a further update in next month's newsletter, or go to our website or Facebook page which will be kept updated. The official site for the race is letour.yorkshire.com. Allez Allez!

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Is Your Farm Dog Microchipped?

By 6th April 2016 microchipping will be compulsory for all dogs, owners with un-chipped dogs could face criminal prosecution and a

hefty fine. Throughout the month of March we are offering reduced priced microchips at only £5.00 (exc VAT) and Anna, our farm

veterinary nurse, can come out on a FOC farm visit and microchip your dogs for you. For more details and to book your farm dog a

FOC farm visit and reduced priced microchip —give the surgery a call on 01729 823538. (Please note: the FOC visit is made by a

nurse only and is only for the purpose of microchipping the farm dogs).

Super 7 Navel Dip

We are now stocking ‘Super 7+’ Navel Dip suitable for use on lamb and calf navels at birth. It is a safe and

effective formulation developed for the purpose of drying out the umbilical cord. It contains no iodine or

spirit but in trials has been found to be at least twice as effective as a strong iodine solution at drying the

navel. The product contains a dye for early identification of dipped or sprayed animals. The product is

available in either 500ml sprays or 3.8l containers. For more information or to order your ‘Super 7+’ Navel

Dip, please contact the surgery.

Drug Orders—Important Information

It helps to reduce waiting times for dispensing if orders are rung in well before collection (preferably with 24 hours notice for larger

orders). It is not unusual for us to have 80 separate collections in a day during busy times and all of the drugs in these orders need

batch numbers recording and booking, quantities checking and many, such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, tubes and sprays

are prescription only medicines (POM’s) and need authorisation by a vet prior to dispensing. Dispensing takes time—just as it

does at the chemist— and whilst pre-ordering will hopefully eliminate waiting times, at busy periods there may be a slight wait. If

drugs are not pre-ordered, this wait is likely to be longer, especially with larger orders and if a vet is not available to authorise any

POM’s required, we will not be able to dispense them.

Please check and confirm before leaving the surgery that you have the correct drugs in the required quantities. Fridge items—for

example vaccines—unfortunately cannot be returned later, as we have to guarantee their correct storage at all times (our fridge

temperatures are constantly, closely monitored) and we cannot verify this once the drugs have left the surgery. If your parcel is being

collected by a third party, please ask them to confirm your name and the farm name as we hold it on record in order for us to dispense

the drugs to them. It would also be helpful if they knew what the items they were collecting are and are aware that if there are any

fridge items, these need to be transported directly back to you.

When ordering drugs for collection at Gisburn Auction on Thursdays, please ring and place your order by 4pm the day before.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Worming Adult Ewes around Lambing Time

During the summer months worm larvae ingested by sheep off the pasture develop into egg laying

adult worms within about three weeks. However, the faecal egg output by the ewe is limited by the

immunity she has developed to gutworm infections.

In the winter months worm larvae ingested by the ewe don’t complete their development straight

away but become inhibited (dormant) L4 larvae in the stomach wall. They lie dormant until

activated in the spring to become egg laying adults. This, combined with a lowering of the ewe’s

immunity around lambing time, results in a significant rise in faecal worm egg output from two

weeks before until six weeks after lambing. This can result in a substantial increase in pasture

contamination and increased worm challenge for growing lambs.

The most important time to consider worming adult ewes is around lambing. Whichever wormer is used, it is important that it is

effective against the inhibited L4 larvae that ewes can be carrying at this time of year.

Other considerations to bear in mind are whether to use a wormer with a persistent action so the ewes can help clear the pasture of

overwintered worm larvae and further reduce the challenge to young lambs (such as with Cydectin drench) or whether a combined

fluke and worm or worm and scab treatment should be considered.

To discuss which products may be most appropriate for you or to develop a worm and fluke control plan for your flock please contact

the surgery on 01729 823538.

www.daleheadvetgroup.co.uk March 2016