Basic HTML Version
13
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
CAL F LOSSES
True assessment
of
losses
Dr Mee explained that there was often a
mis-match of opinions between vets and
farmers on which are the most important
health issues and the scale of a health issue.
He presented results from a survey that
demonstrated how perceptions could vary:
vets considered not feeding enough colostrum
and not controlling Johne's disease through
colostrum management, to be twice as
important as did farmers. The vets also
believed cases of diarrhoea in calves to
be 50% more important than the farmers
thought. Conversely, lameness and ringworm
were more than double a concern for farmers
than vets.
Dr Mee suggested that lameness was a very
visible problem which farmers saw every day.
However, when it came to calf losses, it was
easy for farmers to have a farm 'blindness'
and underestimate the extent of the problem.
XLVets' Richard Matthews agrees that losses
are often under-estimated on farms.
‘No one likes to think about dead calves,’
says Richard. ‘But until there is a systematic
recording of such health “events”, then it is
harder to be sure what is happening on the
farm, and impossible to truly measure the
extent of the issue.
‘So no matter, how “uncomfortable” it might
be, accurate recording is fundamental. These
records will form the basis of discussions
with the farm vet on troubleshooting and
performance monitoring e.g. weighing heifers
or using weight-bands to check growth rates
are on track.
The reasons for calf losses change as the
animals get older, explained Dr Mee.
Ireland has a national scheme which
records information on births and deaths of
all calves. According to this database, in
the first month of life, enteric (gut) diseases
account for over 40% of mortalities, e.g.
coccidiosis, diarrhoea and septicaemia.
In calves from one month old and up to a
year in age, respiratory infections are the
main cause of death and account for about
a third of cases.
Dr Mee also drew attention to the
proportion of deaths for which the cause
was not diagnosed. These increased as
calves got older: around 8% of losses were
undiagnosed in calves of less than one
month old. And this figure rises to 18% in
heifers over a year old.
Richard Matthews agrees that as well as
recording calf deaths, it is also important
to record the reasons for it, and for this a
postmortem may sometimes be necessary.
Richard explains: ‘Sometimes it can be
quite obvious why a calf has died. For
example, it may have been scouring for a
week. So the cause of death is scour. But,
what was the cause of the scour
?
‘Diarrhoea in young calves can be due
to one or more of the following: viruses -
rotavirus and coronavirus; cryptosporidiosis
- caused by a protozoa; and E.coli - a
bacterium common in the environment,
which can affect calves in the first few
days of life.
‘Once one calf is scouring, then the
causative organism is multiplying rapidly
and can infect the other calves in the
group. This may then compromise their
performance, or similarly, cause
their death.
‘So it is best to talk to your vet about
calf losses so that preventative action
can be taken. Postmortems are not
always necessary as there are some
good calf-side tests which can be used
to identify the reasons behind scour quite
quickly. But be aware that samples are
best taken when scour first starts, if the
causative agent is to be found.’
Richard adds: ‘Even with remedial drug
treatment, it's difficult to get animals to
regain their full potential once they have
been affected. So, whether it is scours in
young calves, or respiratory diseases in
older calves, prevention is always better
than cure.’
Reasons for calf losses