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Staggers and stumbles

Already we have seen a lot of chaos from calves and cows with “staggers”. Ryegrass staggers is a nervous disease caused by grazing endophyte infected ryegrass. It is not to be confused with “grass staggers”, which is caused by magnesium deficiency. Endophyte is a fungus which protects the plant from attack from pests (giving them a production advantage), however, the fungus also produces a toxin, which when ingested, causes cows to lose their balance.Controlling the disease can be frustr...

Early pregnancy scanning

By now the bulls are out on many farms and people are able to relax a little bit more- apart from cutting more silage! This is a good time to look ahead and book in herd pregnancy testing.Performing an early PD at 12-14 weeks after the start of mating (with a follow up 6 weeks after the end of mating) has several advantages:Able to age pregnancies and determine more accurate calving datesYou know which mating a cow held toAble to calculate a 6 week in calf rateYou can confirm they are in calf to...

BVD - don't ignore the calves!

Most farms are on board now with regular (3 times a year) monitoring of herd BVD antibody levels and checking for PIs (persistently infected BVD carrier) in the herd between calving and mating via the bulk milk. If you aren't doing this then discuss with one of our vets next time you see one.BUT what about the youngstock? When heifers enter the milking herd as 2 year olds we get an opportunity to use bulk milk to check that none are PIs..... if there is a PI, a...

A curious calf case

ast season, Richard and Beth tackled a curious case of a calf with a strange growth in its mouth. It was noticed soon after birth when the calf struggled to suckle. Removal was challenging as the growth had a massive blood supply - a small nick resulted in copious bleeding! The growth also wrapped around several teeth and was pushing them out of alignment.We tied ligatures to restrict the blood supply and shrink the growth (similar to using a rubber b...

Pet services

Pets are an important part of our family, bringing joy and companionship to our lives. They promote mental and physical health, and looking after their’s is just as important.This is where we come in - our devoted vets care just as much about your furry friend as you do. Our clinic offers day to day primary care such as health checks, vaccinations, desexing, microchipping, nail clipping and monitoring of chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis. We are equipped to offer services such as radiogr...

Mineral monitoring

In early January this year a local dairy farm discovered through routine bloods and liver biopsies that the copper and selenium levels in the herd were getting quite high. This farm is a high producing, high input herd.The minerals are given daily in the feed and the mineral is a high quality chelated formulation (much more readily absorbed than the sulphate or selenate forms). The herd had not shown any symptoms of selenium or copper toxicity but it was decided to stop the mineral supplementati...

Acorn toxicity

We have seen a few cases of acorn toxicity in the last month. At this time of year there are very large numbers of acorns on the ground. Cattle can graze quite happily year after year in a paddock with oak trees without problems, but every now and then an animal develops a taste for acorns, or feed availability is scarce and they will start to eat them. It is a good idea to fence off areas that acorns can be eaten.Unripe acorns are thought to be the most toxic, but ripe acorns and oak leaves can...

Goat bedding

Between Nov 2017 and April 2018, a pilot study was carried out on a dairy goat farm in Taranaki, to compare how different management strategies affected the quality of wood shaving bedding and the impact on animal health. The study was performed in one barn, containing 388 milking goats (increasing to 460 by end of the study). The goats were split into two herds, kept on either side of a barn with a central feed alley. The right side of the barn was managed as the farmer usually would: initially...

Diarrhoea in kids

Two major causes of diarrhoea in kids are Cryptosporidium and Coccidia however it’s very difficult to diagnose the cause in goats. The management of the diseases are similar. There are three key points:1. Identify and isolate any kids with diarrhoea.  Work with infected kids last and keep your hands and boots washed with a strong disinfectant such as “Virkon” or “Trigene”.  Both Crypto and Coccidia are resistant to most disinfectants so your boots need to be free of any dirt ...

Mastitis management and services

Drying off cows on a seasonal dairying farm often comes with a sigh of relief. After a long season all staff are looking forward to a well earned break. The cows too seem to relish the change of pace where they don’t have to trudge to the shed night and morning. One thing’s for sure, they get really grumpy when you try to get them back to the shed a week later!There are some special things happening at drying off. The udder begins to involute (shut down) and many protective and restorative m...

Farm animal wellbeing

As a community of people responsible for dairy animal welfare we have a moral obligation to minimise pain. Codes of welfare have been written to more precisely define requirements for welfare, and these include a commitment to minimise pain and distress.Thinking about the sources of pain for our dairy cattle, there are only about four – Accident/injury, disease, normal physical trauma (eg calving labour) or a routine procedure (eg castration) – defined as a painful procedure in the code of w...

Farm management

On most dairy farms calving is one of the most intensive times of year. It requires a team effort to go smoothly and achieve ideal outcomes. Given the likelihood of staff turnover, the need for annual refreshing and the appearance of new information, precalving training is essential. There is a lot going on at one time, and a great deal to consider if you don’t want to miss anything and want the whole team on the same page.The key goals of calving time are to:Ensure most cows deliver their cal...

Lameness management and services

Is she lame? Are they lame?Identifying lameness is a bit like identifying mastitis – sometimes it’s very obvious, sometimes it’s not. The most obvious type of lameness is when a cow can’t place her foot/feet on the ground and you can’t move her... She’s in a great deal of pain and it’s a welfare obligation to help her. Less obvious are the subtle signs of non weight bearing cows can show as they move along in a mob.The arching back and lifting of the head may not be as clear; they ...

Reproductive management and services

Pregnancy testing is one of the routine procedures our vet practice offers to dairy farms, and one of the most valued. Using manual skills and ultrasound technology we can determine pregnancy status with a high level of accuracy, particularly if the test is done between 6 and 14 weeks post service.Pregnancy testing is useful for a range of purposes, such as:Determining whether a cow thought to be in calf is still that wayPredicting calving date, therefore influencing drying off and feeding decis...

Clostridial disease

Clostridial diseases are caused by a family of bacteria recognised for rapid growth and overwhelming blood poisoning. They can cause some very nasty tissue swelling and death is a common outcome. Species other than cattle can be affected, and some diseases (eg Tetanus) are caused by the same bacteria in many species, including man. If cases are treated early they may respond to high doses of penicllin, but usually it is too late by the time they are noticed. The most fortunate thing about them i...

Kidding problems

Does carrying multiple fetuses may stop eating in the last 4-6 weeks before kidding if feed intake doesn’t match the needs of the dam and fetuses. Sleepy sickness is when does metabolise fat which produces ketones (a toxic by-product) because their feed intake doesn’t match feed demand.Maintaining does in a medium body condition rather than overly fat condition early in pregnancy will help keep down the disease. Multiple fetuses will tend to crowd the animal’s digestive system therefore li...

Vaccination

In goats we recommend using Glanvac 6 as protection against cheesy gland (CLA), black disease, black leg, malignant oedema, pulpy kidney, and tetanus. This product is licensed for goats and requires two 1ml doses under the skin a month apart. You can vaccinate at any age and it’s good to get a first shot in at disbudding. For optimal protection have the dams fully vaccinated before they kid. The other vaccination goats need is against toxoplasmosis.Toxo causes abortion and birth defects, goats...

Pneumonia

The main things that influence the amount of respiratory disease seen in a shed are the temperature, ventilation, animal density and general construction of the shed....

Johnes in goats

Infection: Goats get infected with Johnes by eating contaminated faeces. Young stock are more likely to become infected than old. The bacteria sits in the lymph nodes (often for years) until it is released under a period of stress (entering a new herd, kidding etc) and causes disease.Signs: Unlike cattle, goats do not get diarrhoea. A Johnes goat loses weight, has a rough coat and becomes depressed. You can see swelling under the jaw sometimes. Typically signs are seen at 2-3 years old. Animals ...

Calf scours

Calf diarrhoea (scours) is normal. As newborn calves adjust to drinking milk (rather than being supplied food by the placenta) it is only natural that the gut should begin to function in “fits and starts”. The best assessment of whether or not scours is a problem is to look at the mob or pens of calves; not just considering the consistency of individual faeces, but viewing the whole group and the whole calf (not just the faeces).In any given mob of calves, 10% scouring is no big deal – esp...

Foot care

Feet need trimming about every 6-8 weeks. In the wild goats walk around on hard stoney ground that wears down their hooves. In dairy goat situations their feet aren't worn down. This predisposes them to scald, footrot and skeletal deformities....

Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAE)

Goats are infected as kids when they drink colostrum from an infected doe. Infection doesn’t occur before birth.There are two main forms of the disease: nervous and arthritic.Nervous:Signs are first seen at 1-4 months old. The kids become increasingly weak in the back legs until they can’t walk (over days/weeks).Initially the signs can look like a lameness.The kid is usually bright and alert and keeps eating.Older goats can sometimes get the nervous form too, it looks like listeria- circling...

Body condition scoring

There are two areas to access when condition scoring goats; the lumbar area (short ribs) and the sterna area (brisket)....

Abomasal bloat

Abomasal bloat occurs when there is an overgrowth of bacteria in the stomach of kids (and lambs). This leads to a build up of gas in the stomach which either leads to rupture (like in the picture) or crushing of vital organs. Most kids that get bloat die.There are a few ways to prevent Abomasal bloat, the main two that are used are ad lib feeding (milk is always available) and adding yoghurt to the milk.Ad lib feeding works because it stops the stomach getting too full. The yoghurt works because...

Late lactation BMSCC

Tips for managing a late-season increase in your BMSCC!
Strip the herd to check for clinical cases - regular stripping (e.g. one quarter per milking) can help detect new clinical cases quickly and reduce the spread of infection.Use herd test information to identify high SCC cows. When considering how to manage these look at:Age of the cowPregnancy statusUdder/teat conformationHow many quarters are affected by Milk production?How long she has been infected?Was she high at the last herd test?Was...