Farm First Newsletter July 2012

Milking Routine

Diagram of a quarter of a cow’s udder

Jane has just been on a DairyCo mastitis plan update course and one of the main discussions was on milking routine. When cows enter the parlour they have 1.5 – 3kg of milk in the cistern immediately above the teat, and will let this milk down as soon as the cluster goes on. The remainder of the milk is in the alveoli where it is produced, and the oxytocin and the milk let down reflex are required for us to harvest this milk. If the teats are not stimulated properly before the cluster goes on, the cow will not let milk down from the alveoli and after a minute or so the milk in the cistern runs out.At this point, no milk will flow and this has the same effect as leaving a cluster on at the end of milking i.e. teat end damage. This increases the risk of mastitis and high cell counts. To prevent this, cow should be prepared in batches of 5 (or up to 8), and whatever teat preparation is done, it should be done in the order of cow 1-5 each time. e.g. spray cows 1-5, wipe and foremilk 1-5, apply cluster 1-5. Although this may take longer to carry out, it may speed up milking as cows let down their milk faster, can increase yields as more milk is let down, and reduces the risk of mastitis.

Sheep Abortion Vaccines

Now is the time of year to be thinking about vaccinating your replacements against Enzootic Abortion and Toxoplasma. We now have Cevac Chlamydia Abortion Vaccine in stock, at the following prices: 50 dose pack - £114.31 (includes 10% pat discount) = £2.28/dose, 20 dose pack - £50.34 (includes 10% pat discount) = £2.51/dose. There is a free gun for purchases of 50 doses and above, and larger discounts are applied if over 300 doses are ordered. Toxovax costs £84.24 for 20 doses (PAT) or £210.55 for 50 doses. We have to order this in advance and it only has an 8 day shelf life, so be ready to use it when you order it. If you have any questions about vaccinating sheep for abortion please ring us.

Sheep Worming News.

We will shortly be participating in the XLVets Grassroots Worming Campaign and Farming Connect have also provided some funding to enable us to discuss sheep worming and resistance issues with our clients, and carry out some testing. If you are interested in this please contact us at the surgery. The 2012 SCOPS leaflet listing all anthelmintics available for sheep, can now be downloaded from the SCOPS website. http://www.scops.org.uk/alerts-detail.php?AlertID=13

We have an offer on Zolvix at present. Buy your Zolvix before 31.7.2012 and we will give you an extra 5% off the cash price for any quantity of the wormer you purchase

Normal cash price for 1 litre of Zolivix=£147                    Offer price     £139.23

Normal cash price for 2.5litres of Zolvix=£368                 Offer price    £348.08

Normal cash price for promo pack(2x1l + gun/backpack)  Offer price  £321.50

Dose of Zolvix for 25kg lamb = 2.5ml (cost =35p/lamb)

Malvern Sheep Event

NSA Sheep 2012 will be staged at the Three Counties Show Ground, Malvern on Wednesday 4^th July. The event, the largest of its kind for the UK sheep industry, will be building on its previous successes with more than 300 exhibitors and over 9,000 farmer visitors, along with international representatives from the major sheep producing countries. This year’s theme is sustainable intensification. If you go, have a look at the XLVets stand – they usually have some interesting material, and Rob will be there at times during the day, so go and ask him some testing questions.

Sheep Health and Welfare Conference - November 21, 2012

Delivering innovation with practical application for the farm at Worcester Warriors, Sixways Stadium, Worcester.This one day conference is designed to bring together farmers, industry advisers and researchers to explore the future of sheep health and welfare and the current options available.  For further details email: shwconference@nationalsheep.org.uk  

Newsflash -Visit Charges

We have decided to revamp and simplify our visit charges. Our cheapest journey band charge will now apply to many more of you, and even people who live further away will benefit from a reduction in visit charges eg. a visit to Treharris is now £31.20 plus vat.  Please ring in and speak to one of the office staff if you want to clarify what your new visit charge is.

Call for anecdotes

If you read last month’s newsletter, you will notice that several of Jane’s recent misadventures were related. I am trying to redress the balance, so if any of you have any little stories about the vets that you would like to share (especially about Rob) please share them with me (jane.anscombe000@googlemail.com). All information will be held in complete confidence - until publication in the newsletter. I look forwards to hearing from you.