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CASE STUDY
The water troughs and feeders are outside of
the pens and accessible for cleaning. Inside the
bays, there is hard standing in front of the feed
barrier, and a straw-bedded area at the rear
into which cattle can be shut. The handling
system is designed to enable bulls to be run
from their pens into the crush and/or lorry and
always be on the inside of the barriers whilst
people stay on the outside.
Ewart adds: ’With this system we can pick out
a single animal if needed. We also always
insist that there are at least two people around
when anyone goes into one of the pens.’
A small suckler herd has been expanded by
James Grant and now numbers 80 Angus x
Friesian cows. Ewart explains: ’The herd makes
use of some of the smaller grazing areas on the
ranges. Cows are calved down in spring, but
the pasture is too poor for over-wintering a
growing calf. So they are weaned in early
October and will now be brought into the new
shed and finished the same as the dairy
calves.’
Ewart adds: ’TB isn’t going to go away for the
foreseeable future. The new buildings have
been carefully thought out and they have
helped make the business stable for the future
in what is an unstable climate.’
Being selective with
dry cow therapy
The policy of taking a selective approach to the
use of dry cow antibiotics may be new to some
dairy farms but it was adopted at Rookery Farm
and Shrewton Farm over 18 months ago. Jo
explains: ’Back then there had been a lot of talk
about this. Both herds had low bulk tank cell
counts, and we wanted to stay ahead of the
game. So we introduced the practice, before it
became mandatory.’
The criteria for only administering a teat sealant
to a cow at drying off are: 1) no mastitis in the
lactation; 2) a cell count of less than 200,000
cells/ml; 3) and milk passing the California
Milk Test.
This approach meant 40% of cows received
only a teat sealant, and in the first 12 months,
the dry cow tube bill was cut by one third.
Jo adds: ’Last summer there were a small
number of clinical cases of mastitis spread by
flies. So this year, all cows will be given a dry
cow antibiotic over this period. It’s still being
selective, and still being responsible in the use
of antibiotics.’
Disease issues
Jo explains: ’Our practice is currently offering
some free testing services to assess the BVD and
IBR status of herds.
‘The Grants’ dairy herds are vaccinated against
BVD, and a bulk tank test has shown there is
no disease circulating in the herd. Youngstock
were having annual blood tests to check for PI
animals but this has now been superseded by
Tag and Test ear tags.’
The herd is also vaccinated for IBR and
leptospirosis, and youngstock are vaccinated
against the clostridial disease Blackleg.
However, the TB situation has been hampering
plans to eradicate Johne’s disease from the
herds. A control plan is in place; quarterly milk
testing is used to identify Johne’s positive
animals, which are then added to a cull list.
Ewart explains: ’In addition to voluntary culling,
we lose a lot of cows through the TB tests. We
can’t really afford to lose any more animals
from the herd.’
Jo adds: ’The Johne’s-positive cows will
eventually be culled out for other reasons.
Meantime they are identified with a red ear
tag and managed differently; they will be bred
only to beef bulls and calves will be snatched
at birth and fed milk from other dams.’
Next focus
With disease control strategies in place, Jo is
now helping the Grants to tighten the calving
interval by treating empty cows sooner. Due to
the poor grazing, heifers have been calving
down at three years of age, so another aim is
to reduce the age at first calving.
SUMMER 2016 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
10
New calf rearing practices
Another new idea brought onto the farm
has been a change in the calf rearing
protocol. Calves are fed on their dam’s
milk for the first four days, and then
reared outside in electric-fenced areas
of paddock. Milk replacer is brought to
them there.
Outdoor calf rearing
Red water fever
Cattle that are turned out onto the ranges, are
at risk of the tick-borne disease Babesia (red
water fever). Clinical signs include bright red
urine (hence the name), lethargy and jaundice.
Blood samples can appear watery, and the culprit
parasite can be seen under the microscope.
Jo explains: ’As a practice, we see a lot of ticks
and Babesia cases. Hence we keep a blood
transfusion kit ready for emergency situations.
’This year we have seen cases as early as
February. Animals born into a population where
ticks exist will become immune to it. However,
rather unusually, there have been three clinical
cases at Shrewton Farm recently.
’There is just one medicine which can be used
to both prevent and treat the disease. When
used preventatively at the lower dose, cover
only lasts a short while. As it has a long
withdrawal period, it’s important to be correct
in the diagnosis! We tend to recommend it only
for treating known clinical cases, and as an
adjunct to blood transfusions.’
Dairy handling facilities
Inside handling facilities
Tag and Test ear tags are used to check for
BVD PI animals