Sam’s trip to a bovine transfer unit in Canada

This month Oakhill Farm Vet Sam travelled across the Atlantic to Alberta, Canada to visit a bovine embryo transfer unit.

Sam had an interesting insight into the bovine industry there…

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The main industries in Alberta are oil and beef.
Alberta has the second largest total farm area in Canada.
Alberta’s feeder cattle (steers and heifers for feeding or slaughter) account for 59.6% of the national total and the beef breeding stock accounts for 42.3%.
The predominant breeds that were dealt with at the embryo transfer unit were Angus, Charolais, Hereford and Simmental.
Typical herd size was 200-300 cows.
Artificial insemination is common practice in the beef industry.

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The climate is very challenging in the winter. Temperatures can plummet to -20°C to -30°C in January when pedigree herds are calving! Keeping water troughs thawed out and keeping on top of frost bite damage to calves’ ears were particular challenges. The region consists of very marginal grazing land with some barley grown. In mid-may the grass had only just started to think about growing, whilst back home many 1^st cut silages were over and done with!

Cattle handling facilities were excellent; hydraulic squeeze crushes were the norm in the region allowing for safe and efficient handling. The cows were of a moderate size with excellent maternal characteristics. Calving ease was a very important trait selected for by farmers. Calves with a birthweight over 100lbs (45kgs) were not retained for breeding irrespective of pedigree. Meat quality is important to the Canadians; marbling is a very desirable feature.

Due to geographical constraints, the majority of cattle travelled to the ET unit for flushing or implanting. The methods and materials used to perform embryo transfer were very similar to here in the UK.

Frozen embryos were shipped all over the world: UK, USA, Argentina, Australia, Thailand to name just a few countries. Introducing genetics into a country through use of embryo transfer is very useful in terms of infectious disease control.

For further information on embryo transfer, please contact the Oakhill Farm Team.

Mobility Scoring

Early identification and prompt treatment is one of the cornerstones of lameness control within the Healthy Feet Programme. Numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of early treatment and we would all accept that treating a lame cow sooner rather than later can only be a good thing.

However, treatment of these early onset cases of lameness is often delayed as other cows get prioritised at the foot trimming visit. For instance, chronic score 3 cows, acute score 3 cases and dry off trims generally make up the bulk of the cows presented to the foot trimmer, rather than the score 2 cows.

Early identification and prompt treatment often requires no extra capital investment and can make a huge difference to the number of lame cows in as little as 6 months.

There are also significant long term benefits as lameness leads to chronic bony changes in the hoof, which in turn predisposes cows to repeat lameness events in subsequent lactations.

Mobility scoring has often been seen as an unwelcome paperwork exercise imposed by outside agencies. On the other hand, we feel that monthly mobility scoring to generate treatment lists is extremely beneficial and can be a very cost effective way to tackle lameness in your herd.

We offer monthly mobility scoring through our Vet Tech service.

These visits often coincide with milking and the data is recorded through our on-farm software App.

We can then generate treatment lists for you or your foot trimmer. In addition, we can also add the results from the foot trimming records back into the software.

This allows us to monitor lameness levels, lesion prevalence and treatment success over time.

For more information about our Vet Tech Service, please call 01772 861300

Sheep – The Big Five diseases

The Big Five Diseases in Sheep

Maedi Visna

Maedi Visna is a wasting disease causing chronic pneumonia. It is caused by a highly contagious virus. Most sheep are infected as lambs via colostrum or aerosol, however generally do not show signs until they are 4 years old.

The main signs are:

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Thin ewes/wasting away
Pneumonia
Mastitis
Arthritis
Reduced fertility
Smaller weaker lambs which grow poorly due to a lack of milk

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Blood tests are commonly used to diagnose MV. Selecting thin cull ewes to test will help identify the disease if present within the flock.

If you suspect MV in your flock or wish to know your MV status we can do a 12 cull ewe screen.
Please call 01772 861300 to discuss.

Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma – OPA

Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma is caused by a virus leading to a progressive and fatal infectious lung cancer of sheep. The virus is spread from infected sheep by aerosol and nasal discharge. It is often seen in older thin sheep. There is no treatment.

The signs are very similar to chronic pneumonia:

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Difficulty breathing
Weight loss
Excessive watery fluid from the nose
Sudden death
Secondary infections such as Pasteurella are common.

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Once signs are evident the disease is fatal.

The definitive diagnosis is made by post mortem examination of the lungs.

If there is suspected OPA ultrasound examination of the lungs can be considered.

Johne’s Disease

Johne’s disease is caused by a bacterium which grows very slowly and lives for a long time in the environment. It is mainly spread through faecal contamination of feed and the environment, ewes also pass it to their lambs across the placenta and in colostrum. It is the same agent that causes Johne’s disease in cattle.

Infection generally occurs early in life, sheep often do not show signs for years and act as carriers, these are referred to as ‘sub-clinically infected’.

Affected sheep suffer from:

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Severe weight loss
Sudden death
Anaemia
High parasite burdens
Affected flocks suffer from poorer production, more thin ewes and increased culling.

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Testing for Johne’s can be tricky at an individual level. There is no single diagnostic test that can detect the disease at all the stages and sub-clinically infected animals may test negative.

Blood screening groups of cull/thin ewes can be effective at identifying Johne’s disease in your flock.

Border Disease

Border disease or hairy shaker disease is a virus which causes birth defects, barren ewes and abortion. It is from the same family of viruses as BVD in cattle.

If a ewe is infected during pregnancy the virus passes through the placenta to the lamb, in some cases this causes embryonic loss or abortion. Some lambs survive and are born Persistently infected (PI). PIs shed the virus continuously and can infect other sheep and lambs. This can be a major problem in naïve flocks unknowingly buying in PIs which can then cause around half of lambs born to be affected by the disease.

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Infection in non-pregnant adult sheep is generally short lived and mild, often no clinical signs are seen.
Hairy shakers are lambs infected with the virus whilst developing in-utero effecting their nervous system which leads to trembling and incoordination. They also have long curly wool.
Some lambs are born completely normal but maintain the infection, these are called Persistently Infected animals (PI).

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Hairy shakers are usually a good way to diagnose the presence of the disease. These lambs can also be blood tested to confirm presence of the virus.

Blood testing a group of ewes can identify if the flock has been exposed to the disease and is likely to be present.

Caseous Lymphadenitis – CLA

CLA is a chronic bacterial infection of the lymph nodes resulting in abscesses. The bacteria often enters via cuts and is commonly spread through close contact when animals are housed or are trough fed. The disease can also be transmitted indirectly such as on shearing equipment.

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Infected animals have lumps often behind the jaw, in the arm pit and in the groin. These lumps are often cold and painless but can burst open and drain pus. Once they have healed and scarred over the abscess can re-occur.
Abscesses also form inside the sheep causing ill-thrift and weight loss.

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Lumps and abscesses are a classic sign of the disease and should not be ignored.

Diagnosis is either by sampling the intact abscesses and culturing the pus or by blood test.

If you would like further information, please contact our Farm Team.

Neonatal Lamb Care

Lambing time is the most crucial part of the year for making your sheep business profitable. Lamb deaths from birth to 3 days old should be less than 7% however many farms range between 10- 25%.

A major factor influencing mortality in neonate (young) lambs is ewe body condition; as this directly relates to lamb body weight, colostrum quality and quantity. It is therefore important to ensure ewes are at BCS 2.5 to 3.0, (so vertebral spinous processes only felt with pressure and transverse processes only felt with hard pressure), and they are on a rising plane of nutrition in the run up to lambing. Energy and protein blood profiles can be taken 2 to 3 weeks before lambing to ensure ewes are receiving the correct nutrition to help reduce cases of twin lamb disease.

Another major cause of neonatal mortality is watery mouth. These lambs typically are lethargic, salivate and have a distended abdomen. It is caused by Ecoli and picked up by ingestion. Treatment involves electrolytes and antibiotics but is often hopeless. Therefore the emphasis should be on prevention which involves keeping pens clean, (especially towards the end of the season), dipping navels with strong iodine and ensuring all lambs get enough good quality colostrum quickly. See below:

Always ensure colostrum is…

QUALITY

Ensure ewes in good BCS, if you’re uncertain as to the quality of colostrum; colostrum quality can be measured using a refractometer: aim for specific gravity >1.05. Only use sheep colostrum replacement (colostrum from a milking sheep farm will usually be better quality than powdered colostrum); cow colostrum can cause a fatal anaemia. Also remember to give your Clostridial and Pasteurella vaccine four to six weeks before lambing to ensure the lambs receive antibodies against these diseases. (Any ewes that haven’t had this vaccine before will need a course of two injections four to six weeks apart).

QUANTITY

200ml/kg within 18 hours of birth, with a maximum of 50ml/kg intake on each occasion.

Remember lambs in adverse weather conditions will require more colostrum or milk as more energy from their feed will be used to keep them warm.

QUICKLY

Within 2 hours of birth.

SQUEAKY CLEAN

Ensure ewe udders are clean and dry and the equipment to mix and administer colostrum is cleaned and disinfected between lambs.

QUANTIFY

We can also look if your lambs have received enough colostrum by blood testing any less than a week old.

Finally, there is continual pressure on antibiotic use. So to ensure we don’t end up with a world full of super bugs we need to be careful how we use antibiotics. Preventative use of antibiotics, such as blanket use of Spectam or Betamox LA for watery mouth needs to be reduced as this will actively select for resistance and there is pressure from Red Tractor Assurance to reduce this practice.

We recommend only using antibiotics….

- Towards the end of the lambing season, when the sheds have a build up of Ecoli.

- In triplets, when their ewe may have poorer quality and quantity of colostrum

In lambs from ewes in poorer condition, as the quality and quantity of colostrum will be poorer.

Also remember entropion, where the lamb’s eyelid is inverted causing the eye to be held shut, tear staining and damage to the eye. This is a heritable condition so affected lambs should not be kept as replacements, ewes should not be used to breed replacements and consider ram choice if a large percent of flock are affected.

If you have any questions regarding lamb care, please contact the Oakhill Farm Team.

Mastitis in ewes

Mastitis in ewes can be fatal and usually results in the end of her productive life.

The usual presentation is acute gangrenous mastitis (blue or black bag) usually caused by either Staphylococcus Aureus or Mannheimia Haemolytica. S. Aureus is normally present on the teat skin but damage to the teat ends allows it access into the teat canal and causes mastitis.

M. Haemolytica is present in the tonsils of lambs so colonises the udder during suckling. The bacteria produces toxins which prevent blood flow and cause the udder to turn blue/black hence the name. This often occurs around peak lactation (three to six weeks post-lambing) and the initial clinical signs may be as subtle as a ewe looking lame or a lamb bleating because it’s hungry. The disease then rapidly progresses.

The risk factors include:

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Under feeding ewes round lambing or ewes in poor condition, as lambs to these ewes will cross suckle or create teat lesions by over suckling.
Damaged teat end or Orf on teats
Lumps in the udder
Lambing inside (the longer the time spent inside the greater the risk of developing mastitis)
Dirty, wet pens and dirty hands when handling udder/ underneath of sheep
Harsh, cold weather

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Treatment is unlikely to save the udder but may save the ewe’s life:

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Remove lambs from the ewe and ideally artificially rear as rearing these lambs on another ewe may spread the mastitis
Antibiotic injectable AND non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as Loxicom
A ewe that has had mastitis will be more likely to get fly strike so preventative fly treatment is essential.
There is a vaccine against S. Aureus available; VIMCO. This has to be given three and five weeks pre-lambing. Most of the trial work has been done in dairy ewes and it is licenced to reduce to the incidence of subclinical mastitis. Potentially this could also help to reduce the incidence and severity of black bag in your flock however at the moment there is limited evidence to prove this.

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If you have any questions regarding mastitis in your flock, please contact our Farm Vet Team.

Extended liver fluke season and climate change

Fascioliasis

An important stage of the Liver fluke life cycle takes place in mud snails and requires wet and warm conditions (above 7 – 10°C) during the summer months. Over the last couple of years unseasonal weather has seen these conditions well into autumn and winter. This means that sheep and cattle are still being infected later in the season and more frequent testing and treatment may be required.

Fascioliasis can have a serious financial impact on a sheep farm with immediate losses up to 10 per cent caused by acute/subacute disease. Chronic disease could half profits by reducing lamb crop and increasing ewe mortality. Lack of treatment in cattle will lead to reduced growth and yields and discarded milk if treatment is no targeted.

We recommend testing your sheep and cattle for the presence of Liver fluke. Treatment needs to be targeted at your flock/herd and will vary from farm to farm. Please discuss your individual requirements with your vet to develop a treatment plan for the coming months.

BVD -STAMP IT OUT

A new initiative has been launched to help farmers in England tackle BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea).

It is currently estimated that BVD costs British farmers up to £60million/year, reducing productivity and profitability as a result of poor growth rates, poor health with increased pneumonia and diarrhoea, reduced fertility with higher rates of foetal death. Rigorous testing of the herd is vital to help eradicate the disease from the unit.

BVD FACT
The estimated cost of BVD is between £13 and £31 per cow in Great Britain.

The £5.7 million funding package from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) is managed by SAC consulting and is the largest BVD project launched in England. Farmers will be able to apply for free on farm health planning for BVD control. Keepers of breeding cattle will be eligible for the scheme, which will help to assess the BVD status of the herd and develop a control plan.

After attending the first meeting a one to one on farm visit will be undertaken to carry out a check test on the herd. If the results indicate active infection then a follow up visit will be arranged to develop a customised action plan which may include further testing (PI hunt). The overall aim will be to reduce, eliminate or prevent BVD within the herd.

Beef & Youngstock – Housing Considerations

We have experienced a drier summer than we are used to and this has posed different challenges. Worm burdens have been greatly reduced on pasture over the summer however if we get a heavy rainfall following this dry period there is likely to be mass emergence of worms onto pasture which may have severe consequences for our livestock if left untreated.

Exposure to lungworm may also have been reduced over the summer and so we would advise watching out for or listening to cattle to see if they are coughing over the next few months and treating if necessary. Lungworm can cause significant respiratory disease and death in cattle and should not be overlooked in any grazed stock. Where cattle have been grazed for extended periods the use of long acting anthelmintic bolus activity may have worn off and further treatment may be necessary.

Testing for Lungworm larvae can be done on a faecal sample however is slightly different to a normal worm egg count. If you would like to check grazed stock for Lungworm please submit a faecal sample stating that you require Lungworm testing.

Bringing in cattle from markets, other farms or common grazing can introduce new diseases to your own farm, including parasites such as liver fluke. Liver fluke is a common parasite that infects cattle, sheep and other domestic animals as well as wildlife such as deer and rabbits. Following several wet years monitoring, testing and treating for liver fluke early is also recommended during this year.

Resistance of liver fluke to treatments, in particular products containing triclabendazole (TCBZ), appears to be an increasing problem and one that needs managing on all livestock farms. It is important that care is taken to reduce selection pressure for resistance whenever possible by only using triclabendazole-containing products when no other options are suitable. Other medicines which contain the active ingredients, closantel, clorsulon, nitroxynil, oxyclozanide and albendazole are effective against adult flukes and some (nitroxynil and closantel) are effective against late immature stages between seven and eight weeks old.

If treating now or immediately on housing we would recommend using a Triclabendazole product but if cattle are housed for 7 weeks or more, one of the other products is often more suitable. Please speak to us about testing or when to treat.

Heat detection – is she or isn’t she?

It is well documented that modern day high yielding cows express heat with a lower intensity and duration. The reduced intensity of heat expression and subtle expression of secondary signs of heat may lead to uncertainty over an animal’s heat status, particularly if the cow has returned at an irregular interval.

Studies have shown that around 10% of cows are served when they have high progesterone (not truly in heat). Interservice interval data may give a clue as to whether heat detection is accurate on farm; high percentages at 25-35 days and particularly at 1-17 day intervals generally warrants further investigation to rule out heat detection inaccuracy on farm.

Insemination of cows that are not in heat will inevitably reduce the apparent conception rate on farm. Inaccurate heat detection is not only associated with a waste of semen but can lead to pregnancy loss in around 17% of inseminated pregnant animals. Approximately 6% of cows show overt signs of heat despite being pregnant. A quick way to confirm that a cow is not in heat is to use a milk progesterone test, cow side progesterone tests are available that can be used on farm for around £3/cow. High progesterone indicates that the cow is not in heat.

For further advice, please contact the Oakhill Farm Vet Team on 01772 861300

Red Tractor Farms: Responsible use of antibiotics.

If you are farm assured with Red Tractor, certain antibiotic products such as kelacyl, cobactan, naxcel, baytril, cevaxcel, marbocyl, are now restricted. If you use these products you could receive a non-conformance at your next Red Tractor inspection. Therefore we now recommend only using this product if there is culture and sensitivity to prove that it’s the only product that works for the health condition.

As of the 1st June 2018 the use of Highest Priority Critically Important antibiotics must be a last resort and their use must be under the direction of a vet, backed up by sensitivity or diagnostic testing.

Please find below further information regarding recent Red Tractor changes…..

DAIRY FARMS

As a Red Tractor dairy farm, you are now required to undertake an annual review of antibiotics with your vet, but what does this involve?….

Medicine records must provide an annual collation of total antibiotic used for the unit

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Antibiotics collated by product name;
Collation either by your vet from prescription data or completed by farmer from medicine records;

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An annual review of antibiotics used must be undertaken by your vet

Your vet review will…

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Include review of medicines and antibiotic purchase and use, including antibiotic collation;
Includes discussion on the use of Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HP-CIAs)
Include review of any antibiotic failures;
Include recommendation for responsible reduction of antibiotic use where possible, in particular, in relation to HP-CIAs
Review overall use of dry cow therapy and protocols and where appropriate make recommendations for selective antibiotic use

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Review can form part of the Vet Health and Performance Review.

Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics must only be used as a last resort under veterinary direction

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HP-CIAs are defined by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and colistin
Use is supported by a vet report outlining one or more of the following:
– Sensitivity testing
– Diagnostic testing

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BEEF & LAMB FARMS

As a beef or lamb Red Tractor farm, it is now compulsory to have a written annual livestock health and performance review undertaken by your vet.

What does this involve? …

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Your vet attends your farm at least annually and sees livestock
Annual review to:
– Identify key issues and make recommendations to improve identified issues
– Review records and data, including medicine records and prescription data outlining total antibiotic used by product name, making recommendations to responsibly reduce antibiotic usage where appropriate without negatively impacting welfare
– Review use of Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HP-CIAs) and make recommendations for responsible reduction
– Review prophylactic treatment and make recommendations for alternative disease prevention strategies
– Consider industry initiatives e.g. BVD Free England

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Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics must only be used as a last resort under veterinary direction

How you will be measured:

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HP-CIAs are defined by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and colistin
Use is supported by a vet report outlining one or more of the following:
– Sensitivity testing
– Diagnostic testing

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This month Oakhill Farm Vet Sam travelled across the Atlantic to Alberta, Canada to visit a bovine embryo transfer unit.

Sam had an interesting insight into the bovine industry there…

For further information on embryo transfer, please contact the Oakhill Farm Team.

Early identification and prompt treatment is one of the cornerstones of lameness control within the Healthy Feet Programme. Numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of early treatment and we would all accept that treating a lame cow sooner rather than later can only be a good thing.

We offer monthly mobility scoring through our Vet Tech service.

The Big Five Diseases in Sheep

Maedi Visna

Maedi Visna is a wasting disease causing chronic pneumonia. It is caused by a highly contagious virus. Most sheep are infected as lambs via colostrum or aerosol, however generally do not show signs until they are 4 years old.

If you suspect MV in your flock or wish to know your MV status we can do a 12 cull ewe screen.Please call 01772 861300 to discuss.

Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma – OPA

Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma is caused by a virus leading to a progressive and fatal infectious lung cancer of sheep. The virus is spread from infected sheep by aerosol and nasal discharge. It is often seen in older thin sheep. There is no treatment.

Johne’s Disease

Infection generally occurs early in life, sheep often do not show signs for years and act as carriers, these are referred to as ‘sub-clinically infected’.

Border Disease

Border disease or hairy shaker disease is a virus which causes birth defects, barren ewes and abortion. It is from the same family of viruses as BVD in cattle.

Caseous Lymphadenitis – CLA

CLA is a chronic bacterial infection of the lymph nodes resulting in abscesses. The bacteria often enters via cuts and is commonly spread through close contact when animals are housed or are trough fed. The disease can also be transmitted indirectly such as on shearing equipment.

Lambing time is the most crucial part of the year for making your sheep business profitable. Lamb deaths from birth to 3 days old should be less than 7% however many farms range between 10- 25%.

Always ensure colostrum is…

QUALITY

QUANTITY

QUICKLY

SQUEAKY CLEAN

QUANTIFY

We recommend only using antibiotics….

Mastitis in ewes can be fatal and usually results in the end of her productive life.

The usual presentation is acute gangrenous mastitis (blue or black bag) usually caused by either Staphylococcus Aureus or Mannheimia Haemolytica. S. Aureus is normally present on the teat skin but damage to the teat ends allows it access into the teat canal and causes mastitis.

The risk factors include:

Treatment is unlikely to save the udder but may save the ewe’s life:

Fascioliasis

A new initiative has been launched to help farmers in England tackle BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea).

Heat detection – is she or isn’t she?

As of the 1st June 2018 the use of Highest Priority Critically Important antibiotics must be a last resort and their use must be under the direction of a vet, backed up by sensitivity or diagnostic testing.

DAIRY FARMS

An annual review of antibiotics used must be undertaken by your vet

Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics must only be used as a last resort under veterinary direction

BEEF & LAMB FARMS

Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics must only be used as a last resort under veterinary direction

As always, if you have any questions our Oakhill Farm Team are happy to discuss: 01772 861300

If you suspect MV in your flock or wish to know your MV status we can do a 12 cull ewe screen.
Please call 01772 861300 to discuss.