Farm First Newsletter November 2012-11-03

£250-300/head Penalty from Pneumonia in Heifer Calves

Dairy heifer replacements are the future of your herds’ success yet unfortunately they are often low on the agenda on busy dairy farms. Data from Alex Bach a dairy researcher in Spain indicates heifer growth and health in early life has a huge impact on the productivity and longevity of animals. In his work Alex has looked at the impact of age at first calving and compared this to milk yield. He has shown if we calve heifers at a younger age they will produce more milk. His work also reveals that the higher the growth rate of calves between days 10 and 65 of age the higher the milk yield in the first 305 days in milk.

Milk recording data sourced from an XL Vet member practice confirms this work. The graph below shows that heifers that calve between 23 and 25 months produce more milk in their combined 1^st and 2^nd lactation. Heifers that calve at the optimal age are also more likely to calve again, milk for longer and be more profitable.

Some work from Northern Ireland provides some reasons as to why animals may produce less milk. Heifer calves treated for a respiratory infection pre-weaning have been found to produce 4% less milk in their first lactation, and up to 8% less in the second, compared with uninfected animals in the same herd. This combined loss  has been calculated to be £247 per head .For pre-weaning protection of dairy heifer calves and minimisation of the consequent losses due to respiratory disease we recommend essential measures to protect calf health including a feed of at least three litres of good quality colostrum within the first six hours from birth, clean and dry bedding, and well-ventilated (but not draughty at calf level), well-drained housing. In addition vaccinations are available to provide additional protection against pneumonia. Please contact us for advice on vaccination of your calves or to arrange for a practical assessment of your housing.

Abortion Questionaires – chance to win £100

A 3rd year vet student at Nottingham University is doing a research project into what prompts farmers to investigate abortions and why they don’t investigate more. We are going to put a few paper copies at reception and it only take 5-10mins to fill in. You must be a beef or dairy farmer who has had pregnant cows on the farm in the last 6 months, but you DO NOT have to have had any abortions
You will get entered into a PRIZE DRAW FOR £100 WORTH OF FARM EQUIPMENT
We would like to know what puts people off investigating, so please participate if you can .

Direct Calls to Vets Mobiles

Please note that if you want to talk to a vet about an animal that may require a visit, that it is safer to ring the office than a vet’s mobile phone. We are always happy to take calls on our mobiles if we can, but if we are at meetings or on days off, they may be switched off, or we may be out of signal and not pick up the message for several hours. We would hate a potentially urgent call to get missed in this way.

Farming Connect

If you have already used up your 5 days of subsidised advice from Farming Connect do not despair – you can now get a further 3 days of mentoring. If you are yet to take advantage of this, there is still plenty of time to get an 80% subsidy on a Whole Farm Plan. These plans can be used for us to investigate and advise on problems such as pneumonia, footrot, mastitis, cattle and sheep lameness, fertility and parasite control. If you have a problem which you would like to get to the bottom of, please speak to one of the vets to see if we could use this source of funding to help you.

TB Tests

Due to changes in the AHVLA computer system, we are now unable to print out TB tests if there have been any reactors or inconclusive reactors. In such cases you now need to contact AHVLA for copies of your test sheets. Also try to book your tests in so that there are several clear days between completion of the test and selling the animals. This will allow time for the test to be added on to the computer system, and for the vet to sign it. Sometimes the system is down and we cannot work as quickly as we would like.

MeetingsJane will be speaking on “Calf Health from Birth to Weaning ” at a Farming Connect meeting at Raglan Golf Club on15th November at 7.30pm.

Newsflash Ubro Red is now back in stock. Please ring us to place your order.