CARRICKVETS.ie
SPRING 2014
NEWSLETTER
Carrick Veterinary Centre,
Unit 11, Steadfast Industrial
estate, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.
We are hosting a talk
on calf health and fertility in
cows in the Fiddlers Elbow
in Carrickmacross on
Tuesday the 21st of January
at 8.00pm. Everyone is
welcome. Charles Charvasse
from Pfizer animal health is
presenting the talk. The talk
is topical with calving about
to start. The talk is informal
with plenty of questions and
answers.
IBR VACCINATION.
In spring calving herds
with cows starting to calf in
January and February. IBR
vaccination is due now. IBR
positive cows are most likely to
shed virus shortly after calving.
Vaccinating the cows before
calving reduces shedding of the
virus and concentrates
colostrums with IBR antibodies.
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IBR VACCINES WHICH ONE TO
USE?
I have always preferred
the live IBR vaccine given every
6 months. If a farmer has a spring
calving herd he may elect to use
the dead vaccine now however.
Rispoval IBR inactivated works
12 months. In my opinion if a
farmer has a split calving herd he
should keep giving the live
vaccine every 6 months. There
may be some prudence in sitting
on the fence this year and waiting
for the results of using the
inactivated vaccine around the
country. I have made enquiries
from the 2 main drug distributors
in Ireland and they have told me
the majority of the IBR vaccine
sold in December and so far in
January is the live IBR vaccine.
ROTAVEC CORONA
Rotavec corona should be
in the country on the 16th of
January. We should be supplied
shortly afterwards. We do not
think we will get enough supplies
as the company is rationing the
vaccine around the country. If
you need rotavec corona make
sure you contact us as soon as
possible so we can do the best to
help you. Rotavec corona only
needs one shot 3-12 weeks before
calving. Rotavec corona covers
e-coli, rotavirus and coronavirus
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scours. Other scour vaccines
need two shots as a primary
vaccination. In addition other
scour vaccines are generally
given six weeks before calving.
This is not always accurate if
calving dates are not known.
We have scour test kits in
the office to distinguish scour
problems. The kit will check for
e-coli, rotavirus, coronavirus and
cryptosporidium. Interestingly it
is common to find multiple bugs
in a calf poo sample. There is no
vaccine for cryptosporidiosis.
Treatment requires halocur given
orally to new-born calves on day
one and each day until they are 7
days old.
Rotavec corona given at
st
the 1 January will cover cows
calving from the 21st January
until the 1st of April.
We also stock interkokash
disinfectant. It is the only
disinfectant licensed to kill
coccidian and cryptosporidium.
JOHNES DISEASE.
Following on from the
BVD eradication scheme Animal
Health Ireland is attempting to
eliminate Johnes disease from the
national herd. We are doing a
training course on the 29th
January and we will be able to
help farmers from then on who
sign up to the scheme.
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Trace element
deficiencies in Ireland.
The commonest
deficiencies are copper,
selenium, iodine, cobalt and
manganese.
Copper deficiency can be
primary due to low levels of
copper in soils or secondary due
to high levels of molybdenum in
the soils which negate absorption
of copper in the rumen. Classic
symptoms of copper deficiency
are infertility, ill-thrift, rusty
coat, spectacling around the eyes.
Younger calves may have
enlarged joints although they are
not lame. There are several
treatments by injection or bolus. I
do not like the copper injection in
the 100ml bottle. It causes a lot
of lumps and abscessation at
injection sites and for that reason
I do not stock it. Copper boluses
are the preferred choice.
Iodine deficiency causes
infertility, weak calves at birth
and late term abortions. Iodine
releasing tablets in water,
painting lugols iodine in the hide
of the animal, bagged minerals
and boluses are possible options.
Cobalt deficiency causes
pine and ill-thrift.
Selenium deficiency
causes infertility, white muscle
disease in young cattle, immunoTel:042 9661384
suppression, bawling calf
syndrome and weak calves at
birth.
Manganese deficiency
causes dwarfism in calves. 10%
of all such cases are referred to
vets so it is mainly unreported.
The syndrome is found mainly in
suckler cows fed silage alone
over a long time. Calves are
presented with short legs,
sometimes bull- nosed with
widened rib cages. They may be
sickle hocked and their joints are
enlarged. Dwarfism in calves is
mainly caused by poor absorption
of manganese across the rumen
of the cow into the blood stream.
Acidosis and/or mycotoxins may
be involved in the disease
process. Treatment involves
addition of straw, hay or barley
to the diet.
High iodine All trace
boluses contain copper, iodine,
selenium, cobalt and manganese.
Two boluses given to an adult
cow generally provide cows with
one third of their trace element
requirements for up to six
months. The other two thirds are
attained from the grass, silage
and concentrates. The gold
standard for measuring trace
elements in cattle is a liver
biopsy. Blood and milk sampling
can point you in the right
direction. Low blood levels are
generally accurate. Sending grass
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and silage of to laboratories to
measure trace elements and their
antagonists is a good idea.
Mineral companies should do this
for free if you are buying bagged
minerals from them.
Measuring potash,
phosphates and nitrates in the soil
is useful as well as soil ph. High
potash soils impact on calcium
and magnesium absorption
leading to higher rates of
subclinical milk-fever. Higher
nitrates in soils leads to embryo
loss in cows and increases
subclinical ketosis after calving
due to the cow having to waste
energy eliminating waste
products. Soil ph effects uptake
of nutrients and grass growth.
Acidic soils should be limed
before the end of January.
Dairy farmers prefer
bagged minerals as in addition to
trace elements there is cal -mag
and phosphates to reduce the
incidence of sub-clinical
milkfever.
We post our newsletter
online at carrickvets.ie
The large animal
domain has useful links to
calf –notes, the farmers
journal and nadis.
We wish all our
customers a happy new
year.
Tel:042 9661384