WINTER DYSENTERY - seems to be doing the rounds again
We're seeing a sudden outbreak of suspect localised Winter Dysentery in our area.
What to look out for:
- milk drop
- lots of cows scouring
- drop in intakes
WD is caused by Bovine Coronavirus which is a virus that causes an infectious scour that can sweep through adult cattle over a few days and cause significant milk drop; farms are experiencing 10-20% reduction in bulk tank volume.
The scour is highly infectious to other cows, and seems to be transferred between sheds and between farms very easily.
It goes without saying that biosecurity for incoming visitors is critical, and keep up with all your efforts to move starlings on from feed faces, bunks and clamps as they are thought to be a high risk vector for transfer of disease between farms.
Don't forget, there are other causes of scour in adult cattle that are not mild and self-limiting and these will need to be ruled out ASAP:
- BVD
- Salmonella
- acidosis
- mycotoxins from mouldy/spoilt feed
All our dairies will be offered an extra FOC bulk tank Salmonella screen this month.
BREAK THE CYCLE OF DD - how effective is your footbathing regime?
Digital Dermatitis (DD) is a very common infectious cause of lameness in UK cattle - many of you will recognise the characteristic painful skin lesion between the heel bulbs in the hind feet.
Once a cow is infected with DD, she's very likely to be infected for life unless you treat her promptly with appropriate topical antibiotics.
Treponemes are the bacteria thought to cause DD - there are many strains which can cause varying severity of disease. Once a cow is infected the bacteria can become dormant if the conditions aren't quite right for it to grow - and it is these carrier cows that are the main source of continuous infection in the herd spreading it via slurry where the Treponemes can survive for up to 3 days.
FOOTBATHING & DD CONTROL
Footbathing plays a vital role in the prevention and control of DD - mainly to prevent the resurgence of the inactive, chronic DD lesions, but also to keep the feet cleaner which helps to reduce new infections.
WHO TO FOOTBATH?
Often we prioritise the milking cows for footbathing - but it is really important to consider a protocol that includes dry cows and heifers too or these will simply become the new source of infection on your farm.
Heifers infected with DD before they calve are 2x more likely to have DD in their first lactation, give 350kg less milk and take longer to get back in calf compared with uninfected milking heifers
Here are some pregnant heifers going through the permanent footbath for the first time. These will be footbathed once a week to help control DD once they calve down.
WHEN TO FOOTBATH?
How often you will need to footbath is very farm specific - but generally the more frequently the better! Where risk is high, some farms footbath daily. If farms are purchasing stock - these should be footbathed before joining the herd to reduce the risk of buying in a new strain of DD.
FOOTBATH DESIGN
Good, calm cow flow through the footbath is essential to avoid muck contamination, reduce splash-out of the chemical and ensure there's minimal disruption to the cow flow if they are footbathed after being milked. Although very popular, the rigid plastic footbaths with pronounced ridges on the bottom are uncomfortable for the cows to walk through and will hinder cow flow.
Permanent built in footbaths provide better cow comfort and flow - here are some tips for optimal footbath design:
- Cows don't like to step up or down into the footbath so the bottom of the bath should be at the same level as the entry/exit points
- The base of the footbath should provide grip as she walks through - rubber matting can be an ideal solution as it provides grip and comfort for her
- Each foot needs 6 seconds contact time or to be dunked at least twice, if not three times so the footbath needs to be 3.7 - 4 metres long - you can reduce the width to 60-70cm to reduce filling costs
- Fixing sloping side panels to the edge of the bath reduces splash-out and makes sure every footfall is in the footbath solution
- The footbath fill needs to be at least 10cm deep to ensure the whole foot is being submerged - this is also true for the last few cows going through so check how the footbath looks for those last few cows
- Make sure it is easy to fill, empty and clean - the easier it is to maintain, the more frequently it will be used! A wide bore bung, good water pressure and handy supply of chemical really help make to make footbathing easy if you do not have a fully automated one.
This is a well designed footbath with a 6" outlet allowing rapid emptying and refilling mid way through milking each afternoon.
SHOULD I USE A PRE-WASH FOOTBATH?
There are mixed opinions on having a pre-wash bath - it is probably more effective to have a longer chemical bath or two adjacent chemical baths.
Studies have shown:
- the pre-wash bath actually increases muck contamination of the chemical bath
- if the foot is wet on entry to the chemical bath it is less able to absorb the solution
- a pre-wash bath adds a significant amount of water to the chemical bath - reducing its concentration
WHAT TO USE IN A FOOTBATH?
It is a common misbelief that the chemicals you add to a foothbath act as a "treatment" - they don't; they are being used as a disinfectant.
Any active lesions need to be lifted and treated with topical antibiotics.
EFFECTIVE* DISINFECTANTS:
*there are only a few good studies on the effectiveness of the various chemicals that are currently being used in footbaths.
The only clinically effective disinfectants from studies are:
- 2-4% Formalin
- 5% Copper Sulphate
Peracetic acid and hypochlorite parlour washings have not been found to be effective forms of controlling DD.
Whilst Formalin and Copper Sulphate are both effective for DD - there are a number of precautions that must be considered before use:
- Formalin is a cancer risk so gloves and a mask SHOULD be used to avoid exposure to staff who are filling / mixing the product. Formalin should only be used in a footbath if it is a well ventilated area - ideally outside.
- Safe disposal of the footbath chemical must be considered too - especially with copper sulphate which can build up in the soil if it is disposed of in slurry which is then spread onto pasture.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A CLEAN FOOT:
Regardless of the disinfectant you use in the footbath, it can only work if it contacts the skin of the foot and so a clean foot is essential before entry into the footbath and each foot will need 2-3 dunks.
As a rule of thumb: you'll need 1 litre of solution for every cow to pass through - so a 200 litre footbath needs to be changed every 200 cows
HOW BIG IS YOUR FOOTBATH?
Accurate measurements of your footbath are essential to determine its volume when full so you know how much chemical to use to get the right concentration.
FORMALIN 2-4%
COPPER SULPHATE 5%
HOW EASY IS FOOTBATHING ON YOUR FARM?
An easy fill, easy empty, easy clean footbath can really help get DD under control - but footbathing that is poorly done can cause more problems than it solves.
Automatic footbaths such as HoofCount are brilliant at automating footbathing so it becomes an easy, every day event and makes a huge difference to DD control on farms.
Although DD is highly contagious, it can be controlled effectively in a herd by:
- Improving foot hygiene by better slurry management
- Early and effective treatment of new lesions with topical antibiotics
- Footbathing to reduce infection pressure and prevent shedding by the carrier cows
Paula is our AHDB "Mobility Mentor" and ROMS scorer - get in touch if you want any more details about DD control in your herd.
SHEEP SCANNING RESULTS
The next milestone coming up in your sheep farming calendar is pregnancy scanning. Scanning typically occurs 80-90 days after tupping to best show a pregnancy and the number of lambs she is carrying.
Scanning percentages can be used to help benchmark how the flock is performing; a lowland flock should be aiming for a lambing percentage of 195%, with ewe lambs at 100%. It can be difficult to know how a farm is performing at a one off scanning but over time we can see a trend and use this to help make positive changes to the flock.
Barren ewes, or those that haven’t got in lamb, are recommended to be culled out of the flock to avoid feeding unproductive ewes through the winter. Ideally barren rates shouldn’t be over 2% of the flock, with levels up to 20% in ewe lambs being accepted.
We can test your barren ewes for infectious diseases that may have caused them to lose their pregnancy and gives us an opportunity to intervene for this lambing, and next season too. If we know of any new diseases that are circulating on farm, we can help to maximise the number of live lambs born to avoid a worsening lambing percentage.
Common diseases we can test for include:
- Enzootic abortion (EAE) or Clamydia
- Toxoplasmosis
- Worm burdens
- Skin parasites
- Trace elements
- Lameness problems.
Protocols, which may include vaccinations, can be then developed for the remainder of the pregnancy helping to make every lamb inside every ewe count.
Using your scanning data is also vital for grouping and feeding ewes for the number of lambs they are carrying - this means we can control body condition coming up to lambing, hopefully prevent big singles, as well as reducing the risk of twin lamb in multiples.
MEDS NEWS
Allevinix 250ml shortages
One of the most commonly used anti-inflammatory meds we use "Allevinix" has a short term supply issue on the 250ml bottle - there's plenty of 100ml stock and this is price matched to the 250ml price so you may just get 3x100ml bottles for the next few weeks until we get more 250ml bottles back in stock.
Betamox Shortages
There's a short term supply issue with Betamox - we have got some stock but it's limited and we don't have a return date yet for normal supply. This means we've had to look for an alternative that is Amoxicillin based (group D) and similar on withdrawals times for protocols on our dairy units.
Vetrimoxin LA is Amoxicillin (like Betamox) but a bigger dose (1ml/10kg) given IM and then repeated after 48 hours. This means you get 4 days cover from the two injections.
MILK WITHDRAWAL: 3 days
MEAT WITHDRAWAL: 18 days
CHRISTMAS MEDS ORDERS
If you could do with a restock before Christmas, please send across your drug orders as normal via WhatsApp, text or give your vet a call and we will get them dropped off as usual. Some of the wholesalers will be on limited deliveries between Christmas and New Year but we'll cover this with extra stock held in our pharmacy at HFV.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM HFV
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients for their continued support and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As always, we will be just at the end of the phone if you need anything at all over the festive period.
Paula, Tom, Katie, Els & Pete
01630 810016
Get in touch
Paula: 07764 747855 paula@haywoodfarmvets.com
Tom: 07837 291097 tom@haywoodfarmvets.com
Katie: 07507 656747 katie@haywoodfarmvets.com
Els: 07980 487146 els@haywoodfarmvets.com
Open hours: M-F | 8:30 - 16:00
Out of Hours: 01630 810016