AnimailWelcome!

YOUR ANIMAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

September

Welcome to the September Animail from Tauranga Vets. Mother Nature has been relatively kind over winter with farmers enjoying plenty of sunshine and just enough rain to keep the grass growing. All the same, many of you will be looking forward to some warmer weather

now that spring is finally here. There’s no let up from the long days on the farm, however, with many dairy farmers still calving the tail end of their herds while at the same time gearing up for the start of mating. On that note, we have some timely advice on how to get your non-cycling cows back in-calf as soon as possible. We outline a special calf disbudding special and for our sheep and livestock farmers we have some advice on raising orphan lambs and reviving newborns.

The calf disbudding season is upon us. This can be a frustrating and time

consuming job. Often they are left too late, the horns become big and the task becomes much harder. Many calves are also done in a rush without pain relief. Although this has been done for many years, this method has been researched and shown to have detrimental growth effects in the days following the procedure. Providing pain relief has been shown to cause less reduction in weight gain in the following few days. Pain relief can be provided in different ways including nerve desensitization around the horn buds with local anaesthetic and systemic long lasting pain-relief in the form of injection using products like Metacam®.

This season we are offering a disbudding special. Multiple visits are allowed so that calves can be done in batches (as they reach the optimal time for disbudding at 2 to 6 weeks of age) without incurring a fee for each visit.

Our protocol for disbudding is to anaesthatise each calf, instill local anaesthetic around the horn bud and remove the bud with gas cautery. A Metacam® injection can be given (this is optional) to each calf to provide long lasting pain relief. The data shows that weight gain is greater in the Metacam® treatment groups compared to no treatment in the first 3 days following the procedure.

Another option is to add local anaesthetic to your RVM’s. This will require a vet visit to demonstrate the proper administrative technique. Local anaesthetic can then be dispensed for calf disbudding. Clients taking this approach describe the calf disbudding procedure as being significantly easier due to eliminated pain.

Calf Disbudding

For further discussion or to book in a disbudding appointment for your

calves, please phone the clinic to talk to the support staff or Large Animal vets.

Anoestrus (aka Non-cycler)

management

For more information visit www.bopvets.co.nz | Tauranga 07 578 4044 | Te Puna 07 552 4015 | Katikati 07 549 0215 | Papamoa 07 572 2334

Following the recent announcement of a nationwide end to planned (routine) inductions from 2015, many farms will

have a refreshed focus on mating management this spring. Proactive measures to ensure cows are as well prepared for mating as possible will be particularly important, especially for cows that are more likely to conceive later in the mating period.

At least five weeks (35 days) before your planned start of mating, all cows should be tail painted. Late calvers should also be painted (even if they have been calved less than 3 weeks). The five week time frame should allow adequate time to observe two cycles in most cows, otherwise it’s possible that cows that would have cycled in the first week or two of mating naturally will be treated as non-cyclers.

Ideally, no more than 15% of the herd should be in the non-cycler group at the start of mating including late calvers. With 85% of the cows already cycling plus approximately half of the animals in the non-cycler group likely to cycle in the first 3 weeks of mating, the industry goal of at least a 90% 3 week submission rate is achievable.

Ten days before the mating start date is the best time to count the number of non-cyclers. Mating non-cycler cows in the first week of mating will give them the best chance to conceive early in the mating period. Proactive use of non-cycler programmes provides the best return on your investment by starting the CIDR non-cycler programme 10 days prior to mating. There is less economic sense to leave non-cycler treatment until the 3rd week of mating plus the effect of non-cycler treatment on your 6 week in-calf rate is most pronounced when early treatments are used.

Feel free to talk to one of our large animal vets for more information on getting your herd ready for mating

and treating non-cycling cows.

Take a moment to visit the Tauranga Vets Facebook page,www.facebook.com/taurangavets, and Like what you see.

We love your feedback and are alwayshappy to answer your animal health questions.

Tauranga Vets

www.bopvets.co.nz

Rearing lambs is a great experience and the commitment and hard work you put in for 6 to 8 weeks can be very rewarding.

Regardless of whether it is a lamb taken from its mum for Ag Day or a lamb that is a triplet and not getting a fair feed or a lamb that’s mother has died or been rejected, there are a few important things that we can do to assist with survival.

Feeding after 2 to 4 days

• Gradually change to a good quality commercial powdered milk formulation. Anlamb is sold at our branches, in 2 or 5 kilo bags.

• Feedsshouldbesmallandfrequentwhenthe lamb is very young or very small, and warmed to body temperature.

• Alwaysmixpowderedmilkuptodirections.Followtheinstructionsonthebagsofpowdered milk to be sure you are giving the correct amount of milk at appropriate intervals. Gradually increase the volume of milk each feed and decrease the frequency until the lamb is about six weeks old, when it should be getting about 400-600 ml twice a day.

Reviving newborn lambs

Lambs born during cold wet weather can often use up all their energy stores just trying to get warm and they can

quickly become too weak to get up and feed off their mother. Lambs younger than 4 or 5 hours old usually have sufficient energy reserves and will recover once warmed. However lambs older than this require an injection of dextrose to give them the energy they need to survive.There are two methods of injecting the dextrose - directly into the abdomen, or under the skin.

The intra-abdominal method works best and is quick and easy to do. A 20% solution of dextrose (10ml per kg - 40ml) is injected directly into the lamb’s abdomen using a syringe and short vaccinating needle at a site just in front of the navel. The solution should be warmed first if possible but will still work if not.

The alternative is to inject a solution of 5% Dextrose-saline under the skin (not the same as 20% Dextrose). Inject 30ml per kg under the skin over the ribs and massage.

Followinginjection,thelambshouldbewarmedup and given a cover. Sometimes they can go back with mum, but others will become orphans and require feeding.

Saving Lambs

Abomasal Bloat

Raising orphan lambs

Warmth and hygiene

• Young animals need warmth and shelter away from draughts.

• Ensurethattheyarehousedwheretheyareprotected from wind and rain. Young lambs can die very quickly from pneumonia.

• Whenhand-rearinglambs,itisimportanttokeep all bottles and teats scrupulously clean to prevent infections that can cause diarrhoea.

• Dilutedbleachcanbeusedasadisinfectant,but rinse the utensils well between feeds.

Castration and tail-docking

• It is recommended that all lambs are tail-docked and male lambs castrated, unless reared for breeding purposes.

• Thiscanbedonefrom1weekofage,provided the lamb is in good health.

• Whencastrating,makesuretherubberringis above both testicles.

• Whendockingtails,alwaysleaveenoughtail for the lamb to wag (ie apply the ring below the hairless V on the underside of the tail) and cover the vulva and anus area.

Offer hay and pasture early

• Offer the lamb good quality pasture and good quality hay from 2 to 3 weeks of age so its digestive system develops normally.

• Lambpellets/mealcanbeofferedfromabout a week of age but make sure it has a good supply of drinking water at all times.

• Takecarewhenpetlambshaveaccesstothe garden. Many have died accidentally as the result of nibbling on poisonous plants, such as rhododendron.

Vaccinations

• An Ultravac 5n1 vaccination should be given between 1 to 4 weeks of age, such as at docking. This should be followed up 4 to 6 weeks later with a second vaccination.

• Ultravac5n1willprotectlambsfrom:pulpykidney disease, tetanus, black leg, black disease and malignant oedema and is often vital to the survival of young lambs.

If your lamb develops diarrhoea

• STOP all milk feeds• Feedanon-antibioticsupporttreatmentof

electrolytes eg Vytrate or Kryptade for up to 24 hours

• Slowlyintroducemilkbackintothediet,ideally one feed electrolytes, one feed milk for the following 24 hours, then back onto full milk feeds

• Iftheproblempersists,callthevet.Younglambs can dehydrate very quickly.

Please call any of our clinics should you have any questions or need any advice. One of our fully trained vet nurses or vets will be happy to help

We can supply the materials required for you to do this on farm or you can

bring hypodermic lambs to one of the clinics for immediate attention.

This is a condition where excess gas accumulates in the abomasum (stomach) of bottle fed lambs, causing the abdomen to swell and cause considerable discomfort to the

lamb and in some cases can be fatal. It is caused by bacteria in the stomach rapidly fermenting the milk in the stomach.

Mild cases may resolve on their own, but more serious cases do require treatment.Home remedies that can be tried include baking soda (dissolve as much as possible in 10ml of water and give by mouth) or a dose of cooking oil.

If the lamb is distressed though your vets can deflate the abdomen using a needle and this will give immediate relief.

Antibiotics should be given orally and the lamb fed on electrolytes for the next 24 hours, followed by a “yoghurtised” milk mixture - 1 tablespoon of natural acidophilus yoghurt per 100ml milk.

As always prevention is better than cure. If you are rearing a number of lambs, feeding a “yoghurtised” milk replacer will prevent this

problem. Contact us for the recipe.

The first 4 days feeding

• Colostrummilkisbeneficialforthefirst2to4days of life.

• Thelambshouldreceiveatleast200mlofcolostrum in the first 12 hours of life and the earlier the better. After this, the ability of the intestines to absorb antibodies from the colostrum decreases.

• Thelambwillrequiresmallfrequentfeedsof good quality colostrum - at least 4 or 5 feeds a day. This should be warmed to body temperature for at least four days.

• Ifcolostrumfromtheeweisnotavailable,dried colostrum powder can be purchased from the vet clinic.

• Colostrumhelpskeepthelambwarmbecause it is rich in high energy lactose.

• Itcontainsproteinantibodiesthatworktohelp protect lambs from infections that can cause diarrhoea and pneumonia.

• Itiseasytodigestandhelpsthelambgrowstrong. It can work wonders, particularly on weak, newborn lambs.

• Itaidsinthemovementofmeconium(thefaeces in the rectum of the newborn lamb)

We hope you enjoyed this Tauranga, Te Puna, Katikati and Papamoa Village Vets newsletter.

We’re available to talk to you on the phone too. So don’t hesitate to contact us anytime Tauranga 07 578 4044 | Te Puna 07 552 4015 | Katikati 07 549 0215 | Papamoa 07 572 2334