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AUTUMN 2014 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
12
CAL F PNEUMONI A
Vikki sets off a smoke bomb
to treat them with antibiotics and would still
lose some calves to pneumonia. He was
reluctant to pay to vaccinate, concerned that
the costs would outweigh the benefits.
Around this time, Huw changed his vet, and
began working with Carmarthen-based XLVets
practice - ProStock Vets. He was persuaded
to get some veterinary help and advice on
resolving the problem, and vet Vikki Wyse
visited the farm to assess the situation.
Housing improvements
To test the ventilation in the new shed, Vikki
let off some smoke bombs to determine the
direction of the natural airflow.
From this, the recommendation was made to
put the pens for the new arrivals into the left
hand side of the shed as the air movement
was from left to right. This meant that the
youngest animals were not getting the air
from the older ones, and this would help
reduce disease challenge.
Outside the shed, the ground rises at one
end, and hinders the flow of air inside the
building. So to help improve ventilation,
some of the side panels were replaced with
space boarding, and a fan was installed to
facilitate air flow.
‘I’ve also encouraged Huw to keep the whole
shed door fully open as much as possible,’
adds Vikki.
The nature of this beef system is that animals
are bought at markets and therefore come
from different sources, and are of an unknown
health status.
Vikki explains: ‘We also don’t know whether
they received sufficient colostrum after birth,
and it’s unlikely that they have been given any
vaccinations. On top of this, they will have
encountered other animals at the market,
and so there’s plenty of opportunity for any
diseases to be spread. Plus there’s the added
stress of the transport - to and from the
market - which will further challenge their
immune system.’
She advised Huw to source calves direct
from farms where possible - this would reduce
stress, and the health status and quality could
be known. Huw has been doing this, and
now has a small number of farms that he
buys from, in addition to his weekly visit to
Cardigan market.
Older calves in right hand side of shed
Open door of calf shed helps ventilation
Younger calves in left hand side of shed
Vaccination strategy
There are a variety of viral and bacterial
pathogens that can cause respiratory disease,
and often more than one can be present on
a farm (see Figure 1 on next page).
There are also a variety of vaccines that
protect against the major viral pathogens -
BRSV (Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus), IBR,
and PI3 (Bovine Para-influenza 3), as well as
the primary bacteria: Mannheimia haemolytica
(formerly Pasteurella haemolytica), Pasteurella
multocida and Histophilus somni (formerly
Haemophilus somni).
Vikki explains: ‘So where pneumonia is an
ongoing problem, it’s important to find out
which pathogens are the cause, so that an
appropriate vaccine can be selected.
‘On farms where this is a stable population
of cattle, e.g. suckler herds, then the older
cattle can be tested to determine which
pathogens they have been exposed to, and
then an appropriate vaccine selected to treat
the next generation of stock.
‘However that approach isn’t applicable for
Huw due to the multiple sources that calves
come from.’
So when it came to vaccine choice, Vikki
made her recommendation based on when
the animals needed to have protection.
Vikki explains: ‘Some vaccines require calves
to be at least three months old. But Huw’s
calves were experiencing pneumonia from
a very young age.’
Young calves are reared in small batches