Eltham Vet
Eltham Vet Services is a 10-vet practice that has served the farms and family pets of Central and South Taranaki with distinction since 1937. For your pet’s healthcare & your peace of mind contact or visit us.
WELCOME TO OUR SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER
I am writing this straight after watching the All Blacks lose back-to-back tests to the springboks and I find myself sitting here thinking how quickly I’ve fallen back into the habits of Al by starting a newsletter off discussing the rugby! I’ve now given up on international rugby and have switched to supporting Tasman, who need to hold off challenges from Wellington and Auckland over the next few weeks to allow Taranaki to have a shot at the Ranfurly Shield before the end of the season. If Taranaki manage to take the shield into another summer break, I might even wear the Taranaki jersey Al brought me to celebrate (Even if my old man disowns me for it being an avid Waikato and swamp fox supporter)
It’s been great to see such a settled spring, most cockies are happy with the level of feed around and the lack of mud which is a great start to the season. As you will read in the newsletter though, these good growing seasons do create a few issues of their own, especially with a few more metabolic issues in dairy cattle this season than last and more farms seeing both individual and bulk tank SCC problems. It seems to always be the way with farming, even in the best spring you can imagine, there will still be something to get caught out by!
As always our September newsletter is focused on how to put back in the calves we’ve just spent the last two months removing. With a lot of cows milking well, we must make sure we are ticking all the boxes to keep them from losing condition and having an excuse to miss out on getting pregnant early. This includes feeding them well leading into mating, checking trace element status premating, and proactive treatment of ‘dirty’ cows and of your non cyclers. There have been some interesting changes in how we are now recommending you treat non-cyclers so make sure you read our article on this, so you are up to date come CID-R time. If you want advice on making sure you are doing everything you can to get your cows back in calf, make sure you give us a call and talk to one of our knowledgeable vets (this may rule me out!).
Cheers, Leon
Dairy cow lameness course Wednesday 4th Dec 2024
Lameness course covers: effects and costs of lameness, normal anatomy and function, main causes of lameness and how to treat them. eg White line disease, footrot, sole penetrations, how to prevent lameness, races and yard issues
There is a practical session with real cow feet
We will also cover leg roping and knife sharpening
Course runs from 9.30-2.30 , notes and lunch provided
$230 inc GST
Please contact the clinic on 06 764 8196 or click the link to put your name down
BULK SCC ISSUES
Last year we saw a massive variation in BTSCC in our clients, ranging from averages of 40,000 right up to 400,000! And this year doesn’t appear to be any difference. One obvious advantage of a low bulk SCC is that you are a long way from grading and one or two cows with clinical mastitis is not going to cause you to grade. Other benefits include financial incentives (Open country and Fonterra both reward low BTSCC), improved production, healthier cows and reduced clinical mastitis rates.
Using Dairy NZ’s Smart Samm gap calculator for a 300 cow herd producing 130,000 MS/year there is a 2.1% increase in production when bulk SCC decreases from 300,000 to 150,000 average. This equates to 2730 MS and is a gain of $20475 at a $7.50 payout. There is an expected 3.3% increase in production if the bulk SCC drops from 300,000 to 100,000. An increase in production of 4290MS, $34320 at $7.50.
So, there are definite financial advantages of having a low bulk SCC, especially if you include other spin offs of lower bulk SCC and lower infection rates in the herd like lower clinical mastitis rates, less spread of mastitis pathogens at milking and lower mastitis or high SCC culls.
Unfortunately decreasing your bulk SCC is not a quick fix. It usually requires work over 2-3 seasons to achieve the desired results. Getting help from your vets can help you target areas to focus on. We can either offer advice around managing your cell count, perform a milking management consult to help identify possible problems or culture clinical mastitis or high SCC cows to identify what bugs are causing you problems.
Once the bacteria involved in causing SCC issues are identified a plan can be made to reduce subclinical infection rates.
Since focusing on this area over the last few seasons we have helped multiple farmers get out of the danger zone of grading and those just wanting to improve their average BTSCC below industry targets
Please contact the clinic if you would like to discuss how milk cultures or our services can help you.
METRICHECKING
What: Metrichecking is a cheap and easy way to look for vaginal discharge in dairy cows. This checks for evidence of infection or endometritis (known commonly as being ‘dirty’). Endometritis is defined as inflammation of the lining of the uterus or endometrium without systemic signs.
Why: After calving, most cows’ uteruses will carry a mild to moderate infection or bacterial load. While most cows will clear these infections naturally, around 10-20% won’t and these cows will develop endometritis. Endometritis can delay the cycling of a cow and reduce conception rates with knock-on reduction in fertility results. A New Zealand study showed that cows that were dirty at metricheck time at a single whole herd check a month before the planned start of mating, had a 15-20% lower six week in calf rate than the cows in the same herd who were metricheck negative.
Risk factors include assisted/difficult calvings, retained foetal membranes (RFM), twin calvings, hypocalcaemia/milk fever and ketosis, but ongoing research has suggested that around 70% of cows identified as positive at whole herd metrichecks had been considered ‘not at risk’ so whole herd metrichecking is recommended.
Treatment: Those cows that are identified as being ‘dirty’ can be treated with an intrauterine antibiotic which has nil milk or meat withhold. Some of these cows require multiple checks/treatments
Plan: The most effective way to check and treat for ‘dirty’ cows is to do so in batches to increase the chance of a cure rate prior to PSM. Cows should be done every 3 weeks starting around a month after PSC. Research has shown you get the very best results by checking the herd at least 3 times. A large NZ study involving 15,500 cows on 29 dairy farms compared doing one whole herd check with the batched metricheck approach, as above. This study found that the metricheck positive cows identified and treated in the batched approach had a 10% higher six week in calf rate and a 3% higher twelve week in calf rate (or a 3% lower empty rate) than the cows identified and treated using the one whole herd metricheck approach! One whole herd check is still better than not doing anything if this is your only option.
You can purchase a metrichecker from us, we can come and train you how to do it or we can do the whole job for you.
Please get in touch with your vet to discuss your options and make a plan.
MILK FEVER
We have had multiple reports of farmers having higher down cow/milk fever cases this spring. Clinical cases are obvious (down cows, prolapses or wobbly cows) but subclinical milk fever can present as slower calvings, more retained membranes, calves born dead or more assisted calvings. Milk fever increases the risk of other diseases such as ketosis and metritis. Cows suffering from clinical milk fever produced 14% less milk, while cows with sub-clinical milk fever produced 7% less milk. The impact of this disorder on the average NZ farm was estimated to be $8,000 per 100 cows.
Several nutritional factors affect the risk of milk fever, including pre-calving feeding level and minerals (pre-and post-calving). Magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and dietary cation anion difference (DCAD) are of importance in that order from most to least. Older cows (6yrs or more) and North American genetics are more at risk of milk fever than those of New Zealand origin. Jersey cows are 2.5 – 5 times more likely to get milk fever than Holstein-Friesian cows. BCS targets at calving (BCS > 5.5) or well below (BCS < 4.0) are at increased risk of milk fever as is calving during wet or frosty weather - most probably due to lower dry matter intake, increased stress, and less efficient magnesium supplementation (less water drunk and magnesium oxide washed off pasture).
Research on the effect of milking once a day during the colostrum period on milk fever is limited. What is known is that milking cows once a day for the first 4 - 8 days of lactation improves energy status during this period. The reduced milk production has a potential benefit as there is reduced demand for calcium in these cows and this may help maintain blood calcium. If you are having more cases than normal, we are happy to discuss strategies suitable for your farm to reduce the impact of milk fever.
JOHNES DISEASE
Johne’s disease is a common problem in cattle in Taranaki. It costs the NZ dairy industry between $40 million and $90 million every year in lost milk production and poor calving rates.
In Johnes disease milk yield is affected before fertility or body condition. Milk production is reduced by about 25% in the lactation before the cow becomes clinical so for each sick cow there are probably several more infected cows which have reduced milk yield but are not yet scouring. JD isn’t going away, as farming intensifies it is likely to increase. Higher stocking rates, effluent discharge on to land instead of into waterways and housing cows all make it easier for JD to spread.
Johne’s disease is not a problem for every herd but don’t be too quick to decide it is not a problem for yours. At Eltham Vets we look after about 210 herds. Last season 41 herds found infected cows through the milk test. Another 21 herds found infected cows through blood testing. That’s 62 herds so 30% of our herds had a positive Johne’s Disease test in just one year.
Testing and culling infected cows is one way to decrease JD in your herd. Milk testing can be done on individual samples at herd testing. The cost through LIC is $6.25 ex gst per cow. Blood testing will always have its place for individual skinny scouring cows, but the milk test offers you an opportunity to detect and cull infected cows while they are still in good enough condition to go to the works. Johne’s disease affected cows pass on the infection in their diarrhoea so removing cows from the herd before they start scouring removes the biggest source of infection for the next generation of calves. Johnes milk testing and culling is the best tool we have to greatly reduce spread of Johnes disease and the losses associated with clinical Johnes disease. If you have 1 clinical cow every year or every second year it may be worth booking your herd in for the milk test. Johnes milk testing is likely to become a condition of sale in the future. If you have any questions or you would like to book your herd in for milk Johnes testing herds are currently being booked in. Please contact Teresa at the clinic to discuss.
NSAIDS - They aren't all the same
We all know the benefits of Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory (NSAIDs) in stock – but we prefer one over the others for treating sick calves. Meloxicam as a single dose should be chosen in the case of a scouring or unwell calf as it has proven data supporting recovery rates in neonatal disease. Ketoprofen (Ketomax 15%) has been associated with abomasal ulceration and perforation in calves so we do not recommend this product in pre-ruminant animals.
NON CYCLING COW UPDATE
Since the current non-cycler CIDR program came out in 2007 after the banning of oestradiol, there has been very little change to the 10 day program we have been using.
Research published in 2021 showed a 4.2% increase in First Service Conception Rate by adding in a second prostaglandin shot on Day 8 of the program.
Further research undertaken in the 23-24 season has shown an additional 5.6% increase in first service conception rate by adding in another prostaglandin shot on day -3 (3 days before CIDRs go in). This results in a tighter synchrony, allowing for better conception to fixed time AI.
Together these two additions increase the First Service Conception Rate by 9.8% over our current program (a 33% relative increase over our current program)
This coming season we will be running the double PG shot program (“CIDRsynch”) as standard but the delux triple shot version (“CIDRsynch plus”) will be available for those that wish to use it (for CIDRs going in on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays).
The cost will be $60/cow +visit fees for CIDRsynch and $68/cow +visit fees for CIDRsynch plus.
If you have any questions please contact your vet to discuss these programmes.
CALVING CUP UPDATE
We have had an in house competition going on during this calving season between the vets. Johanna is in the clear lead and has now started lapping some of the vets on the board & Jack is hot on her heels in 2nd place on calvings. Keep an eye out for the board when you pop into clinic to see whose in the lead.
Eltham Vet Services is a 10-vet practice that has served the farms and family pets of Central and South Taranaki with distinction since 1937. For your pet’s healthcare & your peace of mind contact or visit us.
