Eight Ways to Keep Cattle Healthy For Less This Winter

There are a couple of busy months ahead for those calving cows this autumn. While there has been plenty of talk about the crippling costs and poor profit margins in the beef sector, this is also becoming a new reality at farm level.

Every farmer is looking to cut costs, and veterinary medicines and doses will be on most farmers’ hit-lists. But there are ways to minimise your veterinary bills without sacrificing the health and performance of your herd.

None of the measures suggested here are rocket science, but it is mind-boggling how many farmers continue to ignore some of these options.

For example, it is often estimated by companies that analyse silage that less than 20 pc of all farmers that make silage every year spend the €40-50 that it costs to get it analysed.

It’s impossible for a farmer to make informed decisions on what’s best for his herd without any information on what nutrients are being supplied by the main source of feed for the animals for up to half of their life.

As technology progresses, and our understanding of biology increases, the range of tools and products on the market to help farmers address health issues in their animals is ever-expanding.

And there is no shortage of marketing expertise and money spent on convincing farmers that any one of these products can solve all their problems.

But, at the end of the day, it is up to the farmer themselves to know what is the best fit for their herd, ideally with the help of their local vet.

The other issue that appears to get no more than just a token acknowledgement from many farmers is the whole issue of biosecurity.

For example, the number of farmers that have asked me to dip my wellies in some kind of disinfectant on arrival in their yards over the last year could be counted on one hand.

Any service provider that is travelling from one farm to the next is a potential vector of every disease that is present on Irish farms. A biosecurity dip costs no more than a few cents in disinfectant, yet how many have you seen this year?

1. Measurement

The first step is to know where you are starting from in terms of performance and disease pressure.

I still strongly maintain that if we don’t measure we can’t manage, and this extends to the nutritional management too.

For example, few farmers out there get their silage tested, but tens of thousands of euro will be spent on investigating fertility and other performance related issues on Irish farms every year.

A silage analysis is a vital part of the plan for winter feeding. Very often the underlying issue on farms that I investigate with fertility problems and poor thrive in winter are related to mineral imbalances.

I’ve seen farmers spend €300-400 on things like iodine supplements for water and mineral licks, despite the fact that they don’t actually know what is the cause of the problem in the first place.

A basic drymatter and digestibility test on silage will only cost €20, but this won’t provide information on micro and macro mineral imbalances. For this, you will be looking at a cost of closer to €45. Soil and blood sampling for minerals are also sensible options if there is an on-going problem.

 

2. Sample and dose

It is also a good idea to take faecal samples from cattle before housing to give you an idea of parasite burdens before stock are housed. Again, we are talking about €10-15 for a fluke and worm test. All you really need are dung samples from your five thinnest cows to give you an idea if there’s a problem.

If there are no eggs you can get away with delaying dosing for up to 10 weeks after housing. If there are any eggs present, you need to tackle the problem straight away.

Whether you go with a cheaper dose that kills only adult fluke or a more bells and whistles product that does all stages is up to the farmer in question. While the cheaper product might only cost 50c/cow, you will need to go in with another dose within 10 weeks to hit the immature fluke that were missed the first time. Often, time pressures make the €4/cow that the likes of Trodax costs a more practical option. But whatever you do, plan your dosing around some test results after having a chat with your vet or advisor about the options.

Two other parasites I am seeing more of are biting lice and mange in housed cattle. These can be treated effectively with topical pour-ons at intervals throughout housing. This year fluke burdens may not be as high, but fluke dosing should still be the main priority with a wormer at housing.

 

3. Record everything

The way to plan around infectious disease is always about prevention. If you are consistently getting problems like pneumonia or calf scour, then isolating the cause and using an appropriate vaccine vaccine makes the most sense for long-term control.

Vaccines are seen as expensive extras, but when used appropriately they can save money and have a huge influence on stock performance.

For example, a farmer could easily spend €300 treating five calves that get sick with scour or pneumonia. If he loses one of these animals, then you can start doubling or tripling that loss.

In this scenario, the €6/cow that a rotavac vaccine costs to protect calves against scour for example might end up being cheap. Of course, the opposite may also be the case if your hygiene is very good for example.

The bottom line is that record keeping plays a key role in whether to use a vaccine or not. You need to know what percentage of your calves have been affected with something like pneumonia before you can make a call on investing in a vaccine. And don’t to factor in poor growth rates as a cost when you’re doing your sums.

 

4. Pay more than lip-service to biosecurity

Biosecurity is a huge area where farms can reduce their vulnerability to disease.

The main source of most infectious agents like IBR, RSV, BVD, Salmonella and Johnes are from bought-in cattle.

Breeding your own replacements, buying stock from known sources, and blood testing and isolating new stock will dramatically reduce problems with disease outbreaks.

These steps can build your herd’s immunity without a big outlay.

Even a footbath at the gate sends a simple message that you are serious about keeping up the health of your herd. All the big outbreaks of disease I have seen in the last number of years are herds with high levels of bought-in cattle, coupled with an absence of basic biosecurity controls.

 

5. Colostrum is king

Another potential flash-point is calf health, which starts with colostrum and good hygiene. I am a huge advocate of colostrum feeding and have seen a lot of disease over the last 12 months that was linked directly to calves not getting enough beastings.

In dairy cows, there is the 1-2-3 rule that recommends that farmers feed 3 litres of the first milking to new-born calves within two hours of birth.

In beef herds, the same principles apply, although milk from suckler cows will tend to be richer so farmers don’t need to get hung up on getting three litres into claves. Even thin cows will produce better colostrum than any synthetic option, in my opinion. But note that it takes a newborn calf approximately 30 minutes to suckle two litres of colostrum.

It is worth milking the cow and tubing a weak calf. That is why having a good calving gate and restraint is so vital when calving cows.

Most diseases affecting newborn calves are viruses and the only defence against these is ensuring that they get the antibodies from their mother’s colostrum.

 

6 Watch out for over-stocking

Over-stocking can also cause huge disease problems at housing. By increasing stocking levels you increase infection pressure.

Ventilation also plays a key role where pneumonia is present and often by sorting issues with ventilation you can reduce the spread of pneumonia in housed animals.

One of the key performance targets in any suckler herd is to ensure a calf per cow every year.

So when breeding begins, cows that are not seen bulling should be scanned and treated to get them back in calf as quickly as possible.

 

 

7. Hygiene, bye bugs

Hygiene plays the second most important role in a new-born calf’s life.

I recommend that sheds are power-hosed, steam-cleaned and then something like Kilcox Extra sprayed onto all surfaces before stock are housed. Ensure cows are calved down in deep, clean straw bedding and that calves’ navels are washed early and regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Beware of the bull

Dystocia or over-sized calves is also causing a share of head-aches for farmers.

This can lead to increase in perinatal deaths and problems with weak and injured calves.

It also leads to a cow bonding more slowly with the calf and reducing the amounts of colostrum absorbed.

So choosing the right sire is so important, especially for heifers.

Thankfully now there is more emphasis on the suckler cow that has milk, fertility and mothering ability.

If in doubt about the size of a calf it is always better to get a second opinion.

The calving jack can be a wonderful tool but a devastating weapon also when used incorrectly.

 

(Source – Irish Independent – Indo Farming – Tommy Heffernan – 10/09/2014)