NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010
Staff News
Some of you will have met Tim Adams, our TB-testing locum over the summer months. He has now taken up a position as an equine vet and we wish him well in his future career. For this autumn and winter, Jonathon Wilton is going to help us with the TB testing. Jonathon grew up in the Abergavenny area and has several years experience in mixed veterinary practice in this part of the world.
Cattle Handling Facilities
Poorly designed and maintained facilities can cause injuries to cattle and handlers and have been proven to reduce weight gain and meat quality. For many producers investing in a brand new handling system has been seen as too costly, but low-cost modification to existing facilities can bring about vast improvements, greatly reducing the dangers and saving time by working more efficiently with the cattle.
The key principles which encourage calm movement with minimum intervention from the stockperson include:
- Cattle show less hesitation when moving through curved races, lanes and forcing pens.
- Minimise the opportunity for animals to turn round by using long, narrow pens.
- Reduce distractions from nearby animals and handlers by using solid sided races and pens.
- Equipment should operate quietly to avoid frightening cattle.
- Exits should be obvious, avoid 90 degree turns and obstructions near the crush exit, the nearest wall should be no closer than 6m in front of the crush.
- A raised walkway will encourage the handler to stand in the correct position relative to the animals and will reduce the need to enter the pen or race to encourage animals forward. Cattle move most willingly when the handler is located at an angle of 45-60 degrees back from the animals shoulder.
- The crush position should be such that cattle are given the impression they are being returned to where they entered the system. A cattle-free, safe working area should be designated around the crush to prevent damage to equipment and injury from loose cattle.
- Cattle become extremely nervous when they slip; worn floors are responsible for many cattle and handler injuries. Provide a non-slip surface to avoid hesitant animals.
Where a new handling system is being considered it should be remembered that any faults in the system will have to be corrected at a later date, so careful planning is essential. For those who wish to improve on their current system, some fairly simple and inexpensive modifications of existing facilities can overcome persistent problems with handling. Extensive information is available for those who would like to improve their handling facilities. As vets, we see all types of systems, good and bad, and will be able to advise on what might work best for you.
Milk Let-Down in Heifers
This seems to have been more of a problem recently with some herds having to use quite large quantities of oxytocin. This should not be necessary. It is important to make milking a pleasant experience, not associated with fear or pain. If fear is involved, adrenalin will be produced and the let-down mechanisms will be inhibited. The following tips may help:
• Bring heifers through the parlour before calving so that they know the routine. Applying a good teat dip at this stage will also get them used to being handled.
• Do not chase them round the collecting yard to get them into the parlour
• Take care with the backing gate, especially if it’s electrified.
• Try to ensure that the heifer is not squashed into the parlour between large cows, making her become uncomfortable.
• The full procedure of pre-dip, fore-milk, wipe and dry before the unit applied will help milk let-down. Some milkers massage the udder with a warm cloth before unit application.
• Some consider that feeding concentrates in the parlour helps.
• Some farms keep a separate heifer group.
• Excess udder oedema is painful and will reduce milk let-down. Over-feeding and insufficient exercise pre-calving are predisposing factors.
• One machine manufacturer has an initial rapid “stimulation pulsation” phase, run at a lower vacuum, to try to stimulate milk let-down before unit application.
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A suggested routine for the first few milkings is:
1. Bring heifers gently into the parlour, carry out a full udder preparation routine and apply the unit. If no milk, remove after 1-2 minutes maximum.
2. Repeat for the next two milkings, doing your best to optimise the let-down response, perhaps by manual massage of the udder.
3. If there is still no milk let-down, at the fourth milking use 2ml oxytocin as soon as she enters the parlour, so that she will associated milk let-down with udder preparation and not with unit on.
4. Use 2ml oxytocin for four milkings, then 1ml for the next two milkings, then 0.5ml for two (provided this low dose still works), then try without.

Dates for your Diary - Sheep Meetings
We are holding 3 Farmskills meetings in association with Tyndale Vets. The dates and subjects have been decided, but some of the farm venues are still to be confirmed.
1. Wednesday 3rd November. Advanced Sheep Keeping – lameness and nutrition (venue-Undy area)
2. Wednesday 10th November. Advanced Sheep Keeping – parasite control and infectious disease (at Upper Cwm Farm, Llantilio Crossenny, Abergavenny courtesy of Mr Chris Ball)
3. Wednesday 17th November. Basic Sheep Skills and Stockmanship (venue Dursley nr Glos.)
On each day there will be 2 talks, lunch and a farm walk. There will be a charge for these courses of between £50-70, 50% of which will be subsidised for Welsh farmers.
If you have any questions about these courses or anything else in the newsletter, please contact us at the office.