South West Newsletter - April 2015

National Strengths Local Service

Spring is in the air!

westpoint veterinary group

Spring is in the air and hopefully every field will soon be clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves. Roll on the sunshine and new beginnings, leaping lambs and cavorting calves!

We are delighted to announce that the Westpoint team has been growing steadily over the winter. Belated congratulations to Lesley on the birth of her little boy William who was born on 10th October weighing 6lbs 6oz and Fiona whose son Jack was born on 30th November weighing 7lbs 0.5oz. Both are enjoying maternity leave (a little too much!) but we look forward to welcoming them back to work in the summer.

Within the South West team we are also delighted to welcome aboard vet Emma Holmes who joined us in January. A few words from Emma…

“I graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, Edinburgh in 2001. My Devonian roots and the pull of home brought me south, venturing across the Tamar to my first job in Bodmin. This was a mixed practice, but very quickly I realised my love was with farm work, and in particular dairy and beef cattle. My main interests are cattle health and productivity, fertility, and young stock management. More recently I have also become increasingly interested in bull fertility. Alas after 13 years of practice, and 11 months of maternity leave, it was time to spread my wings. Outside of work I spend my time entertaining my lively baby daughter and walking my increasingly geriatric Collie all

The key take-home messages were that vaccination on its own is not enough, keeping more disease out is key (biosecurity) and knowing your herd status is the first place to start. As one keen attendee said, “It’s

We recently held a successful BVD meeting at Trethorne Golf Club. It was enjoyed by all who attended, and most have said that they will change the way they approach the disease on the back of the meeting.

Emma

over the county. I can also be found helping out on my other half’s beef and sheep farm in Wadebridge. He farms 100 pedigree South Devon cattle and approximately 100 mainly Texel sheep. He successfully shows his cattle at the Royal Cornwall and other local shows every year, with his chief ‘muck shoveller’ by his side. If there is any more time in the day for some down time, I enjoy cycling, swimming, horse

riding and Zumba. A good book is a rare luxury!”

Emma is based at the St. Columb practice and looks forward to meeting you all over the coming months.

all about education really”.

The question is - Do you know what your herd status is? And remember “I’m vaccinating” isn’t an answer! If you would like to discuss BVD or biosecurity in more detail please speak to your local vet.

Roadshow

AI Training CourseHost Farm: With kind permission of Mark Button, Polshea Farm, St Tudy, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 3PA

AI Trainer: Rachel Risdon

Dates: 14th, 17th & 24th April

With a focus on practical hands-on tuition, you will gain a thorough understanding of the cow’s anatomy and managing the A.I process.

To book your place please email events@westpoint.co.uk. Places are limited and will be given on a first come first served basis.

Calving is in full swing and a busy time of year for all of us. Planning the calving season from the start of the breeding season to make it as stress free as possible is really beneficial. The best producers remain ready for problems to protect the investment of the forthcoming calf crop.

Having a very well defined breeding season allows a great advantage at calving time in that it will define the beginning and end of the calving season. From a health, production and management point of view, the shorter the period (60-90 days) the better.

When the calving season kicks in, be prepared and have everything you need to assist with a calving. This should include a head rope, lubricant, arm length plastic gloves, calving ropes, bucket, water, a torch if it’s dark, a calving aid and your vet’s telephone number on your mobile phone! It may also be useful to have a colostrum supplement, clean jug and oesophageal feeder or bottle. It is really very important to know what the normal calving process and the visual signs associated with each is.

Stage 1... Stage 1 is the presentation of the water bag and the breaking of the bag, releasing fluid to lubricate the birth canal. This stage will normally take between 2 to 6 hours, heifers taking longer than cows. Stage 2... Stage 2 is presentation of the calf, with normal presentation resulting in the appearance of two feet and a nose. In a normal presentation the soles of the feet are pointing down. Hooves pointing up indicates a backwards presentation. Stage 2 is complete when the calf hits the ground and can take a few minutes to an hour. In the normal birthing process there should be progress evident every 15 to 20 minutes. When heifers experience difficult calvings, the number of abdominal contractions often decreases significantly after 2 hours of intense labour. This is a clear sign of fatigue and should be taken into account when determining the appropriate time for intervention in first-calf heifers.

Stage 3...Stage 3 is the expulsion of the foetal membranes, which should occur within 6 hours after the calf is born.

A Brief Walk Through Calving Jon Mouncey BVetMed DBR MRCVS

Calving is in full swing and a busy time of year for all of us. Planning the calving season from the start of the breeding season to make it as stress free as possible is really beneficial. The best producers remain ready for problems to protect the investment of the forthcoming calf crop.

Stage 3 - The expulsion of the foetal membranes

If assistance is needed we need to ensure that we are clean, careful and well lubricated before inserting our hand in the birth canal. Lubricant should be applied liberally to all surfaces of the birth canal and calf. An investigation into reasons why the cow or heifer has not calved alone should now be made. By far the most common type of dystocia in domesticated dairy cattle is oversized calves.

Stage 2 - In a normal presentation the soles of the feet are pointing down

The two primary determinants of calf oversize are, in order of importance, calf birth weight and maternal pelvic size; with these two factors accounting for 50% and 5-10% of the variance in calving difficulties, respectively. Malpresented calves have a 2 times higher risk of calving difficulties and a 5 times higher risk of still birth.

Monitoring your calf crop throughout their development up to weaning is critical within any cattle enterprise. Diarrhoea or “scours” can have a significant impact on the growth period up to weaning, and can cause severe problems including weak and dead calves. Scours can be easily treated when detected early in the disease process. There are now a number of rapid calfside tests that can be done on farm to assist in diagnoses related to scours and remember oral rehydration therapy is extremely effective and has revolutionised survival rates of calves with scour. It is also important to remember that those calves, which are recumbent and unable to stand, will require veterinary intervention and intravenous fluid therapy.

Apply the calving ropes to each of the legs with the first loop placed above the pastern joint and then half hitched between the hoof and the pastern joint; this minimises the chance of injury to the calf during traction. It is useful to “walk” the calf through the birth canal by pulling on one leg and then the other, or by ensuring one leg is slightly in front of the other when pulling. When the calf’s stomach crosses the internal edge of the pelvis the umbilical cord will likely rupture or break, removing the calf’s ability to receive oxygen from the placenta. This is critical if the calf is coming backwards, as with the calf’s head still within the birth canal fluid will be drawn into the lungs as the calf attempts to take its first breaths. Timing is critical in this instance. Immediately after delivery of the calf, it is important to examine the cow or heifer to determine the presence of a second calf in case of multiple births (twin or triplet). Early intervention has the potential to prevent stillbirth, but also has the potential for dam injury due to lack of soft tissue dilation.

Producers should understand their limitations in assisting in the delivery and not attempt assistance when unsure. Calving aids should only be used to assist the cow when she is straining and should only require one hand on the jack handle.

After calving make sure the calf nurses soon after birth. A calf should drink 10% of its body weight within the first 6 hours of life. This can be a challenge if the cow has had a difficult or protracted calving, is down post calving or has had a caesarean section. This colostrum feed is essential to the calf’s survival. In these instances the cow should be hand milked for her colostrum, or a commercially available colostrum substitute should be used. If the calf is weak it should be dried and provided with a heat source. Usually a vigorous calf will need no assistance if the cow cleans the calf and nurses it quickly. A good sign to watch for is that the calf can sit with its head up within 10 minutes of being born.

Calving backwards with both hind feet present

Abnormal calf birthing positions most commonly present as calving backwards with both hind feet present, front leg back and full breech (legs forward), in that order.

If you are interested in a practical calving workshop as a refresher or for new members of staff at calving time, please contact Layla Rae in our Knowledge Transfer department on 01306 628086 or Layla.rae@farmiq.co.uk.

Top Tips for Calving!

Back legs - Joints bend alternative directions

Front legs - Joints bend the same direction

The hock and the elbow of the calf feel the same inside the cow. The front leg has two bendable joints, the fetlock and knee, before the elbow, both bend in the same direction.

Determining front from rear is easy if you take the time and count to two.

The rear leg only has the fetlock that bends before the hock, both bending in opposite directions.

Westpoint - LauncestonTrethorne Business Park,

Kennards House, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 8QE

Tel: 01566 86985

www.westpointfarmvets.co.uk

Westpoint - CamborneUnit 3A Race Court,

Treswithian Downs, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 0PU Tel: 01209 710108

Westpoint - St ColumbTrevornick Business Park,

Winnard’s Perch, St Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6DH Tel: 01637 889231

Westpoint - OkehamptonMedicine Collection Service

Please address post to admin team at Launceston

Tel: 01566 86985

Grazing Dairy Cows Peter Aitken BVSc MACVSc MRCVS

Grazing of livestock is both a science and an art; there are a number of factors to consider when grazing livestock on pasture including available pasture mass, what sort is available, the quality of the pasture, access to the pasture and many more. At the end of the day we are trying to maximise the returns from what is essentially the cheapest feed source available!

To maximise returns from pasture we need to make sure that we are harvesting the maximum amount of the best quality (highest nutritive value) pasture that we can, an animal is cheaper to run than a tractor, especially with current diesel prices! This is achieved by making sure that pastures are capable of meeting the needs of the animal and that we know exactly (or as closely as possible) what we are likely to be feeding in terms of dry matter (DM) and energy (megajoules MJ).

It is therefore necessary to know how fast the grass is growing, i.e. how many kilograms (kg) of DM are growing per day per hectare; and also to know what area we have to graze and what our feed wedge is looking like, i.e. what covers (kgDM/Ha) are they going to go in at, what will they come out at (depending on pasture type this will vary but going in at around 2500kgDM/ha and coming out at 1500kgDM/ha is a good target for cows – shorter for sheep). Knowing these figures for the farm will enable us to determine approximate intakes and allow us to budget accordingly for any feed deficits that may occur over the grazing period or what we can do about any surpluses that may be available (to ensile or not to ensile…).

Knowing what you have available to you and how it can be used are key elements to feeding pasture, it’s not just as simple as putting the cows out and having a break from mucking out and bedding up while the weathers warm. Rising plate meters or sward sticks are a good place to start to enable you to get a handle on what is available in terms of kgDM/ha. It is then important to consider how you use that pasture; improper grazing could see some of that pasture wasted or alternatively could see it over grazed and then fail to recover as fast as it could have if you had taken the cows off that patch a few days earlier. Over grazing and removal of root reserve can significantly delay regrowth and therefore future grazing time/quality, whilst under grazing can see pastures heading and a loss of quality through senescence.

Getting grazing right takes time to get a handle on the pasture (its growth rates, heading dates etc.) together with the management of the land that is to be used for grazing to ensure we control what the animals have access to and therefore how it is grazed. This in turn demands a good knowledge of the farm and its potential. It may also require some infrastructure, in the forms of fences, either permanent or temporary, to allow you to graze it to its potential. If you think about potential returns, if grazed grass costs us 10p/kgDM then lifting harvest from the national average of 7T/ha to 10T/ha off 100ha equates to around £30,000 worth of feed, worth a thought?

As you can tell, grazing is not just the easy option; it takes a lot of thought and planning. Done right though it can save you money and provide an excellent source of relatively cheap feed!