Farm First Newsletter – May 2012
IBR Vaccination Offers
For those of you who didn’t make it to our meeting last week, there has been new research on IBR vaccines which has shown that the best protection for herds is given by following the protocol below:
1st dose - IBR Marker live (either IM or intranasal)
2nd dose – (within 6 months) IBR marker inactivated (IM). The inactivated dose is then repeated annually. To get the best protection all animals (heifers and cows) should have the same course of vaccines, with heifers started before they go to the bull.
The usual (pay at time) prices for these vaccines are:
IBR Marker live 10 dose £25.31-£2.53/dose,
IBR marker live 50 dose £126.-£2.52/dose
IBR marker inactivated £25.19- £2.51/dose.
Pfizer, one of the companies that makes an IBR vaccine has some offers available on the above vaccines which reduce the price significantly, so if you are interested please phone the practice to discuss
Calvings - When to Call the Vet
There are unfortunately no fail-safe rules that indicate that a calf will have a normal delivery, but here are some rules that might help decision making. The calf may be too big to deliver if:
1. The body of the calf will not enter the pelvic canal, especially if the bone of the calf is pressing against the bone of the cow.
2. The front legs are forced to cross over as they enter the pelvic canal, due to the size restriction of the canal.
When coming forwards, it is a good sign if there is room to put your hand above the calf’s head as it enters the pelvic canal.
If the calf is coming forwards, it’s best if two people pull on a rope, pulling one leg at a time. If BOTH legs can be pulled out so that more than a hands breadth above the fetlock are sticking out of the vagina, then the calf should come (using the jack).
If the calf is coming backwards, if both back legs can be pulled out by two men so that a hand’s breadth above the hock is visible outside the cow’s vagina, then it should come (always check other signs as well).
Other things to check:
• If coming backwards, check that the calf’s tail is tucked down between its legs and not sticking upwards.
• If the soft tissue ring of the cervix is catching on the calf (usually on the head if coming forwards), see if you can push it back over the head with your hand, rather than just pulling against it.
• If unsure, do not risk the cow going down in the crush.
• For big calves coming forwards, rotate the calf 45 degrees after the chest has been delivered, to reduce the chance of the calf’s hips getting stuck in the pelvic canal.
• Calving may be easier when the cow is lying down.
• Use plenty of lubricant.
Remember a healthy non-traumatised calf with good vitality should;
a )be active and able to lift his head within a few minutes of birth
b) should be able to achieve sternal recumbancy within 5 minutes(sit up on his chest)
c) should be attempting to stand within 15 minutes and standing within 1 hour
d) suckling should commence within 2 hours(and ideally sooner!)
Ram Vasectomies
A vasectomised (teaser) ram can be used to bring your ewes into season before your tups go out. Not only does this enhance fertility it can also be a great way of tightening your lambing period. The ewe flock is isolated for at least one month from sight, smell and hearing of rams or wethers, after which a vasectomised ram is put with the flock for a period of 12 days. The ram is then removed and replaced by normal rams. Provided the ewes were on the point of cycling, this results in a close compacted lambing, usually in two peak periods some six to eight days apart.
Once a ram is vasectomised he should not be used for at least 8 weeks as he may still be fertile, so if you want a ram to be vasectomised for use this year, we should be operating on him in the very near future. Vasectomies can be performed on farm or at the practice. The cost is £74 + vat, with significant reductions for multiple vasectomies
Farming Connect
Just a reminder that if you register your farm with Farming Connect you can get 80% funding for up to 5 days consultancy on your farm. Rob, Andrew and Jane are all registered consultants with the scheme and so far our clients have used the grants to fund DairyCo mastitis and lameness investigations and Beef and Sheep Health Plans. We are keen to make the most of this funding while it is available, so if there is an issue on your farm that you would like to get to the bottom of, please give us a ring to discuss how we can help. It’s worth just registering with Farming Connect even if you are in no hurry to access the funding, because if you hit a disease issue for which we could utilise the funding, it speeds up the application process considerably.
Meetings
Rob will be speaking at a meeting on June 13th at the Hogs Head at 7.30 pm. The subject of the meeting is “Worming Strategies for Beef and Sheep Farmers”.
Breaking Practice News
Andrew has just announced that he and his wife Ana are expecting their third baby. I know you will all wish to join us in congratulating them both! We think they might be going for a rugby team. Robert has decided that he obviously isn’t working Andrew hard enough so if any of you have any castrating or dehorning(especially of adult animals)you would like done, please could you ring in and we will get Andrew to come along do the necessary(that should sort him out!-Rob)
