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Heat Detection Refresher and Training

We recently held a successful training day with staff, covering the important areas of reproduction health, heat detection skills, measuring mating success, along with practical tips around using heat detection aids, assessing questionable heats and measuring your submission rates.

If you or your farm missed out, then call us! We can run it on-farm for 1-2 hours, and help to get your farm team refreshed and informed of the critical importance of good heat detection – make it a TEAM APPROACH!

Pre-mating Checks for Herd and Heifers

We are busy going through some repro meetings with you all. Here are a few common discussion points or themes;

• Heat detection planning: aids to be used, get ear tags tidied up, if Protrack users get EID’s, unlinked cows sorted etc.
• Pre-mating bloods done: we are seeing plenty of issues around some of these minerals, either too low (e.g Iodine, selenium) or too high (e.g Magnesium, Ketosis levels).
• Bull planning: remember all adult bulls need an annual BVD vaccine booster (if they were vaccinated as a yearling).
• Why wait programmes with PG.
• Avoiding leaving Non-cyclers until the last minute: same message, but a very critical one.

Creating a plan and setting goals with all farm staff are so important for a good Repro outcome. Have a go at developing one today. Start looking at last year’s Fertility Focus Report as a guide and call us to help.

BVD Infection in Calves

Recently we have had several Farm Breakdowns in BVD disease from incoming infected calves, often born from Heifers infected out at grazing blocks.

If you are keeping calves from heifers, and you are seeing some issues around poor calf health, poorer growth rates etc then call us to discuss. Remember to check your herd Bulk milk BVD tests this spring pre-mating.

Drenching Herd Cows Pre-Mating

Just a discussion point really. If you feel some of your younger cows are struggling with condition and weight loss pre-mating (and if not drenched pre-calving), they could benefit from a non-milk withhold drench. This would ideally be an Eprinomectin drench type because of its persistent activity and well-researched milk production responses.

Individual Cow BCS Scoring

This can be a useful management herd tool to set up feeding cows preferentially during mating, either in herds or in Protrack-based feed groups, and can be simply done during a milking. Below is an example graph of a herd scored Late September, that now has the light cows in one herd, with additional feeding etc and not struggling /competing with heavier, fatter or dominant cows.

The 5 Cow S’s...…. What's wrong with her?!

• Sick
• Sad
• Slow
• Sunken-eyed
• Slab-sided

We are called to see plenty of these on a daily basis, especially now as the pressure of Peak lactation is on them.

There are many reasons why a cow who was milking well yesterday, is off her milk today.  One point is sure, leaving her for a few days before calling us, in most instances just reduces our chances of helping her when we arrive. Some possibilities are;

• Displaced Abomasum: easily correctable with relatively quick simple surgery if done early. This allows her to get back to normal production in a few days. If left too long, they slowly get thin and dry themselves down.
• Liver infection: confirmed with our in-house blood test analyser in 15 minutes. Antibiotics and supportive drugs, again if left too long, similar outcomes to that described above.
• Peritonitis: similar to above.
• Abomasal Ulcers: early intervention with feed changes and antibiotics are helpful
• Ketosis:  Quick cow-side blood testing can help diagnosis. Ketol or Rumensin, and feeding changes.
• Damaged infected Uterus: treatment and prognosis planning.

Remember – they are not always Johnes disease cows!

Calf Health Review

Overall calf health has been good. Disease on-farm infections we have seen are;

• Rotavirus infections x 9 farms
• BVD PI calves x 4 farms
• SBE meningitis infections x 2 farms

Please keep us posted if you suspect unusual sickness in your calf mobs. It is best to identify before it spreads rapidly through the calf mob. You don't want it spreading into the milking herd if the calves are on the platform paddocks.

Staff News

We had the fantastic efforts of Samara and Lewis, coming back to us, as our UK locums this spring which was a huge help.  Thanks guys.

John Turner is approaching his well-deserved retirement and sadly leaving us just before Xmas. We would love you all to come and help celebrate this special occasion and Xmas cheer, here at the NCVC clinic. This will be on Thursday, Dec 12th from 5.30 pm onwards. More details in the next issue.

As always, any queries just keep in touch with us.

Trish, Alistair, John, Rob, Ian,  Keira, Mara, Sarah W, Alana, Ingrid, Sam, Justin, Lewis, Julia, Nathan, Catherine S, Sarah McP, Martina, Jamie.

We're loyal, not just local.

www.ncvets.co.nz | enquiries@ncvets.co.nz