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Chippewa Veterinary Clinic How would you like to earn between $120 and $240/hour right now? It’s easy and it’s guaranteed! Just fill out the survey below regarding our Dairy Herd Newsletter... it should take about one and a half to three minutes. When you return the survey (just hand it to one of us the next time we’re at your dairy) you will receive credit for two pregnancy checks…. That’s a whopping $6.00 value for three minutes (or less) of work... Over $120 bucks an hour!!! Thanks for helping us with this! Regarding the Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Dairy Herd Newsletter Regarding the subject matter (Please mark one): I’d really like more newsletters on (Please mark all that apply): Please write down any specific topics that you would like more information on: Chippewa Veterinary Clinic For those of you utilizing DHIA, you may have seen the new Udder Health Summary pages. When you first look at the colored charts and graphs, it looks pretty confusing. When you go through it step by step, however, I think you'll find that it can be a much more useful tool in helping you assess your herd's overall udder health. It is also easier to make individual cow decisions related to mastitis and milk quality. The original goal of the new Udder Health Management Summary (UHMS) was to create a new set of reports that maximize the use of monthly Somatic Cell Count (SCC) data. Too many times we pay for this information and we don't use it. The new UHMS describes the month to month changes in SCC and creates individual cow reports to facilitate individual cow decisions. It also utilizes data that was missing in previous reports due to CAR (Condition Affecting Record) coding. The first page of the report shows a large chart labeled "Risk Group Analysis" (see below). By studying this chart you will be able to answer the question, "Why did my SCC change this month?". This entire chart is based on the premise that you believe that a SCC >200,000 indicates infection in the udder (mastitis). As long as you believe that (and you should), you can see that the chart breaks your herd prevalence of mastitis into three main risk groups: 1) FRESH cows and heifers 5 to 40 days in milk (DIM) with a SCC >200,000 at First Test, 2) Lactating animals >40 DIM with SCC >200,000 at current test that were <200,000 at the previous test (these are the NEW infections) and 3) Lactating animals that were >200,000 at previous test and are >200,000 at current test (these are the CHRONIC infections). CHRONICS (pink) By looking at where your mastitis cows fall into one of these three categories, you get a better understanding of where the problem lies and therefore, a better understanding of how to fix it. The cow lists make it easier to make decisions about individual animals within the herd. List A gives all the chronic cows… those with the last two tests >200,000. These are the cows that make up the pink area in the above graph. List B is the Dry Period Failure to Cure List. This list identifies cows that dried off at >200,000 (at last test in the previous lactation) and also freshened with a SCC >200,000 on their first test of the current lactation. This list helps you evaluate your dry cow program and determine if any changes need to be made in their environment or treatment. List C is your Dry Cow List. List D is the Fresh Cow Infection List… those cows 5 to 40 DIM with first test >200,000. Cows from the D List make up the "Fresh Cows with Mastitis" shown in dark blue on the Risk Group Analysis Chart on page 1. List E is the Lactating Cow New Infection List for cows >40 DIM. This group of cows makes up your New Infections and is shown in light blue on the Risk Group Analysis Chart on page 1. List F provides you with the Response to New Infection List which tells you what happened to last month's first time new infections. This is particularly helpful because it lets you know exactly how well your treatment protocol is working. List G gives the CAR code (Condition Affecting Record) cows and the Milk Withheld Indicator. With the new system, CAR coded cows are included in data analysis which ends up giving you more accurate and reliable information upon which to base your udder health decisions. The colored graphs further help you get a clearer picture of trends in your herd's milk quality. They allow you to assess which lactation groups are having problems and when during the course of the lactation the problems tend to develop. All this information can be used to make better decisions concerning udder health. Finally, there are benchmarks that give you an idea of how you are doing in comparison to the best (80th percentile) and the worst (20th percentile) herds in the industry. This helps you have an idea of where you stand and what reasonable goals might be achieved. If you'd like to go through any of your DHIA Udder Health Summary information with one of us, please give a call. We'd be glad to try to help sort through all the new charts and graphs and help make your Udder Health decision making a little easier. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Everyone knows that the most stressful time in a cow's life is the first two weeks after calving. Once she's through this period and she's eating well, chances are she's on her way to a productive lactation. We're always looking for ways to get cows off to better starts. We balance pre-fresh rations, we monitor post-fresh cows daily and we drench and pill and inject until we're blue in the face. Despite our best efforts, we still have cycles where we see way more fresh cow health challenges than we want to. While there is no silver bullet, no one single answer that will assure minimal fresh cow health issues, it sure looks like adequate bunk space for the pre-fresh cows is about as close to the silver bullet as we've seen in a long time. Dr. Ken Nordland and Dr. Gary Oetzel at the University of Wisconsin have shown that in a pre-fresh pen with 24 inch headlocks, you get a 1.6 pound drop in daily milk yield during the upcoming lactation for every 10% increase in headlock occupancy above 80%. In other words, if your pre-fresh pen with 24" headlocks is stocked at 150% (9 cows for every 6 locks) you would expect to see an 11 pound milk loss per cow per day in the “lower ranked” or more timid cows that will shy away from the bunk. That means a 3,300 lb loss for a 305-day lactation. The good news is that we don't have to go ripping out 24" headlocks and trying to retro-fit everything. The magic number seems to be 30" of bunk space per cow.... regardless of how many headlocks are in place. In order to determine how many cows you can have in the pen, just divide the total available bunk space by 30" (2.5 feet). If your pre-fresh pen has 100' of bunk space, then 100' divided by 2.5' per cow says you can only house 40 cows in that pen without causing decreased feed intake and health problems. That 100' contains 50 twenty-four inch headlocks, but that many cows in the pen will cause problems. Ideally, your post-fresh cows will be housed such that they get 30" of bunk space as well. Once they are up and running and they leave the post-fresh group, 24" seems to work out fine. It's not hard to see why things work out well in small herds of cows in tie stall and stanchion barns where each cow has about 48" of bunk space. We are able to hand feed these pre and post-fresh animals and watch their intakes and outputs closely. Another suggestion from Nordland and Oetzel is to avoid pen moves 3 to 9 days before calving. Dry Matter Intake declines for about three days after a pen move and transition cows seem to be the ones most affected. Their data shows that cows moved during this critical window are twice as likely to get a DA and three times as likely to be removed from the herd in early lactation. Once again, oh for the good old days when we didn't have to worry about pen moves and bunk space. For those dairymen working with small herds in tie stall or stanchion barns, it's nice to know that there are still a lot of good sound reasons for continuing to do so. Who knows, the way things cycle, some day the “experts” may be recommending we go back to 60 cow tie-stall barns. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic For those of you who attended the Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting on December 5th, you may recall Dr. Van Dyke discussing the various modifications to both the Ov-Synch and the Pre-Synch Programs. The basis of all of the modifications has been to try to improve the overall success (ie. Pregnancy rate) of our breeding programs. As Dr. Van Dyke mentioned, the best conception rate is obtained when Ov-Synch is initiated on the 5th through the 12th day of the cow's cycle, even if she didn't show any outward signs of heat. All the APre-Synch® programs are aimed at getting cows set up so that they are at that stage of the cycle when we start them on Ov-Synch. The early trials showed that by giving prostaglandin (Lutalyse) at 26 and again at 12 days prior to the start of Ov-Synch, we accomplished that goal. Because that meant an Ainconvenient® 12 day interval between the second prostaglandin and the start of Ov-Synch, we assumed that we could make life easier by changing it to two 14 day intervals. (Lutalyse on day 28 and 14 prior to Ov-Synch). As it turns out, this did have a negative effect on pregnancy rates. The 14 day/12 day Pre-Synch yielded better results than the 14 day/14 day program. The most recent Pre-Synch Program requires a shorter window of time and utilizes a single injection of Lutalyse followed in 48 hours by a single injection of GnRH. Ov-Synch is then started 6 days later. This does mean that if you like to start your Ov-Synch cows on Tuesdays, you need to pre-synch them the week before on Monday (Lutalyse) and Wednesday (GnRH). It gets confusing, but it does result in a Pre-Synch program that takes only 8 days instead of 26 days. Another interesting point of discussion is the timing of breeding and GnRH injection. Initially, the timed AI was done at 72 hours after the Lutalyse injection and GnRH was given about 12 to 16 hours prior to breeding. The difficulty came in catching the cows twice to give the shot and to get her inseminated. We tried doing both at 72 hours and then found that we had better success by moving both up closer to the 60 hour mark. Today, most people are setting up Ov-Synch so that GnRH is given on day 1, Lutalyse is given on day 8, and then the GnRH injection and the AI breeding are done together at about 60 hours after the Lutalyse injection. If your Ov-Synch is started with shots given on Tuesday mornings, then your AI's will be done on Thursday afternoons. CIDR implants continue to prove to be beneficial, especially in non-cycling and cystic cows. In most cases the CIDR implant is simply added to the Ov-Synch program so that GnRH is given when the CIDR goes in. Lutalyse can be given 6 days later and the CIDR pulled 24 hours after the Lutalyse injection, followed by timed AI 48 hours after CIDR removal. An injection of GnRH at the time of service assures proper timing of ovulation. If you have any questions about any of these breeding protocols, or how you might be able to improve your reproductive success, please give us a call. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Did you ever wonder why that cow that got a shot of Lutalyse eight days ago is now in a good standing heat? Ever been frustrated by the fact that you went through all the trouble and expense to give the GnRH and Lutalyse shots to set up cows with Ov-Synch and then had a lousy herd check where only two cows were found pregnant? Dairy reproduction is a challenge, but like any challenge, the better we understand what’s going on, the more likely we will achieve the success we’re working towards. December 5th will be a great opportunity for all of us to hear from a reproduction specialist, so that we can learn more about what goes on reproductively in our cows and why sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. Dr. Tom Van Dyke will be presenting a program entitled “It’s About Time” and will discuss the various modifications to the original Ov-Synch program and why we use them. Dr. Van Dyke joined Merial’s Veterinary Professional Services after 30 years of farm animal veterinary practice in and around Washington County, Virginia. Within his veterinary practice he specialized in herd health and production medicine. Coinciding with his veterinary business, he also owned two dairy operations and a beef cow-calf herd. With Merial he continues his quest to help farmers achieve success through healthier and more productive livestock. From his nationwide travels with Merial, Dr. Van Dyke continues to observe and assimilate successful farming practices all over the country. He also still practices part time back home when the schedule allows. Once again this year we will be hosting the Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting at Shrek’s (Formerly The Country Villa) in Tilden. The meeting will start at 11:30am, again on Wednesday, December 5th. Please give us a call at 723-3655 and let us know how many from your operation will be able to attend. We look forward to another interesting and educational program! Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Embalm Your Hairy Heel Warts Lameness and foot problems continue to be a major health concern especially with all the recent rain-induced, mud-filled yards. Footbaths are becoming more and more popular as a relatively cheap and convenient way to prevent foot diseases in dairy cows. Copper sulfate has always been the “gold standard” for footbaths in this area. It works pretty well on heel warts, heel cracks and foot rot. Occasionally other chemicals are used, such as zinc sulfate, tetracycline and lincocin. Cost is always a deciding factor when selecting which bath to utilize as these other products tend to be even more expensive than copper sulfate. The current recommendation is to use a 3% solution of copper sulfate which amounts to 10 pounds in 40 gallons of water. At today’s price of $60.00 for a 50 lb bag, that 40 gallon bath will cost you $12.00. Another alternative is to use formaldehyde. Formaldehyde works very well on hairy heel warts and foot rot. It is, however, a respiratory and contact irritant and should be handled with extreme care. Wear a protective breathing mask, protective eye wear and gloves if you decide to use formaldehyde in your footbath. Formaldehyde is eventually inactivated in soil, water and air, so it is actually more environmentally friendly than copper sulfate. Two gallons in 40 gallons of water will result in a 2% solution which is strong enough to kill most anything growing on a cow’s foot. Most footbaths need to be changed after every 250 cow passages. This really depends on how clean the feet are as they enter the bath. A pre-wash bath with straight water can help any footbath solution stay clean and effective for more animals. A 37% Formaldehyde solution can be purchased in 55 gallon drums from Wausau Chemical (telephone # 715-842-2285) for $280.15 plus tax. They deliver free of charge to the Chippewa Valley area every other week. At this price, it costs about $10.70 per 40 gallon footbath as compared to the $12.00 cost for a 40 gallon copper sulfate bath. If you are having a lot of foot health problems, you might want to start out by running all the cows through the bath every day, Monday through Friday, for one to two weeks. This can be followed by using the bath on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a week and then dropping down to a maintenance schedule of running the bath twice weekly. In most cases, you will notice a dramatic improvement in foot health in less than two weeks. 15th Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting Once again, we will be hosting our annual dairy client appreciation dinner meeting at Shrek’s (formerly The Country Villa) in Tilden. The date is set for Wednesday, December 5th, so mark your calendars. More details will appear in next month’s newsletter. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Drug Withholding Times It has been over ten years since we last printed a list of FDA-Approved Drugs for use in dairy cattle. Some of the drugs that we had back then are no longer available and some new ones have come on the market. The following is a list of FARAD (Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank). If you ever have a question regarding the proper use of, or milk or meat withholding times for any drugs you are using on dairy animals, please give us a call. You can also call FARAD at 1-888-873-2723.
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Ketosis and Reproduction We have thought all along that any stress at or around freshening will make things difficult later on when we try to get cows pregnant. The developing follicles take 60 to 90 days to mature and stress at the onset of growth can render follicles sterile. In a recent research study reported in the Journal of Dairy Science, 796 Holstein cows were monitored post calving for ketosis using serum BHBA levels, classifying them as non-ketotic, subclinically ketotic (having ketosis but not showing symptoms) or clinically ketotic (having ketosis and showing symptoms of ketosis). These same animals were followed to track their reproductive performance on first services. When all the data was tabulated, it turned out that an animal that is subclinically ketotic in the first or second week of the lactation has a probability of getting pregnant on first service that is 20% lower than those animals not becoming subclinically ketotic. Cows that were found to be clinically ketotic in either the first or second week post calving were 50% less likely to settle on their first service. This just puts concrete numbers on something we suspected all along.... minimizing post calving stress, decreased DMI, and ketosis will help cows get headed toward a better lactation and a better chance of breeding back. Johnes Disease Update If you are looking for the very latest and most complete information on Johnes Disease, one of the best places to go is the Johnes Education Initiative’s website which is www.johnesdisease.org. There is information here about everything from the disease itself and the economic impact it has on the dairy industry, to the individual state programs that are set up to control the disease. Uncertainty about the level of federal funding for Johnes programs resulted in initial cuts in state cooperative agreements. This impacted state Johnes program plans and activities in early 2007. When Congress finalized the budget, much of the funding was restored. This is a positive for the current program year, however, details are still being worked out with individual state programs. If you have questions regarding the Wisconsin Johnes Control Program and possible funding available for herd risk assessments, testing, and vaccinating, give us a call. Fall Vaccination Reminder For those of you that vaccinate your whole herd in the Spring and Fall with the killed combination vaccines, September is an ideal time to get the job done. Having the vaccination done at least two weeks before the stress of changing weather conditions will maximize the protection you get out of whatever vaccine you use. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Ketosis and Reproduction We have thought all along that any stress at or around freshening will make things difficult later on when we try to get cows pregnant. The developing follicles take 60 to 90 days to mature and stress at the onset of growth can render follicles sterile. In a recent research study reported in the Journal of Dairy Science, 796 Holstein cows were monitored post calving for ketosis using serum BHBA levels, classifying them as non-ketotic, subclinically ketotic (having ketosis but not showing symptoms) or clinically ketotic (having ketosis and showing symptoms of ketosis). These same animals were followed to track their reproductive performance on first services. When all the data was tabulated, it turned out that an animal that is subclinically ketotic in the first or second week of the lactation has a probability of getting pregnant on first service that is 20% lower than those animals not becoming subclinically ketotic. Cows that were found to be clinically ketotic in either the first or second week post calving were 50% less likely to settle on their first service. This just puts concrete numbers on something we suspected all along.... minimizing post calving stress, decreased DMI, and ketosis will help cows get headed toward a better lactation and a better chance of breeding back. Johnes Disease Update If you are looking for the very latest and most complete information on Johnes Disease, one of the best places to go is the Johnes Education Initiative’s website which is www.johnesdisease.org There is information here about everything from the disease itself and the economic impact it has on the dairy industry, to the individual state programs that are set up to control the disease. Uncertainty about the level of federal funding for Johnes programs resulted in initial cuts in state cooperative agreements. This impacted state Johnes program plans and activities in early 2007. When Congress finalized the budget, much of the funding was restored. This is a positive for the current program year, however, details are still being worked out with individual state programs. If you have questions regarding the Wisconsin Johnes Control Program and possible funding available for herd risk assessments, testing, and vaccinating, give us a call. Fall Vaccination Reminder For those of you that vaccinate your whole herd in the Spring and Fall with the killed combination vaccines, September is an ideal time to get the job done. Having the vaccination done at least two weeks before the stress of changing weather conditions will maximize the protection you get out of whatever vaccine you use. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Moving Ahead They say that if you don’t set goals for yourself, you never get ahead. In the dairy business, we all have general goals for our operations: we’d like to be more profitable, we’d like a little more time off, we’d like to be able to make improvements on our farms that will make things go more smoothly and keep the cows healthier. Many times we have to work towards specific, short-term benchmarks in order to be able to achieve these more generalized long-term goals. Below are a number of dairy operation benchmarks that were taken from real working farms right here in the mid-west. They aren’t numbers dreamed up at an academic institution..... they are actual averages of the 50 top producing Holstein herds here in the upper mid-west. While nobody is going to point a finger and tell you that this is what you should be doing, it is nice to see what is being done by other producers in our area. By using some of these numbers as guidelines, you might find an area of your operation that is providing you with opportunities for improvement. If your numbers are in the neighborhood of those listed, pat yourself on the back... you’re doing a good job! Culling Turnover Rate is the number of cows removed from the herd (sold or died) in the last year divided by the average number of cows in the herd last year. An overall Turnover Rate of 30% is good, but to best gauge fresh cow health, it is helpful to look at Early Lactation Turnover Rate. The goal is to have less than 6% leave in the first 60 Days in Milk. Also, the percent of heifers culled or lost at less than 4 months of age should be 4% or less. Fresh Cow Health
Milk Production
Repro
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Heifers, Mastitis and Fly Control Traditionally, heifers have been the cleanest group of animals in the milking herd, when it comes to mastitis. Over the last ten years, though, the incidence of mastitis in first lactation heifers has increased by over 50%. Of those animals infected, 30% of them show Staph. aureus as the major pathogen causing infection. In the past, research has shown a link between the use of waste milk and increased mastitis in young stock. With the rising use of milk replacers we expected to see a decrease in mastitis in these animals. When this didn’t happen, researchers started looking for other modes of transmission of bacteria. Recent research shows that the horn fly is a major vector of the Staph. aureus organism in livestock. Heifers can be bitten on the udder as early as one month of age and carry the Staph. aureus organism through to calving. Prevention is the key to limiting the spread of these contagious bacteria in your herd. Fly control is the number one way to do this. Fly tags alone are not sufficient. There is data to show an increasing level of resistance of flies to both the organophosphate and pyrethrum tags. Additionally, tags do little to prevent flies from attacking udders. Pour-on insecticides offer the best solution to this problem and in addition to reducing the fly population, they provide prevention against worms and eradication of lice. Multiple summer applications of a pour-on beginning in April is the key to reducing mastitis in heifers. This is the time that flies are just beginning to be active , though you will not see large numbers of them. All heifers, including wet calves need to be treated. Treatment needs to be repeated in June and August in order to provide maximum results. Rotation of pour-on insecticides needs to be done every other year to reduce fly resistance. If you are currently having a problem with mastitis in your first lactation animals, cultures need to be done to isolate the causative organism. Research done by Dr. Steve Nickerson from Virginia Tech has shown that you can achieve cure rates exceeding 90% for Staph. aureus if you treat heifers with a lactating cow product 6 to 8 weeks prior to calving. There was no difference in cure rates between the various products used. Cure rates for these animals if treated during lactation are 50% or less. Staph. aureus is a major mastitis pathogen in the dairy industry. It is highly contagious, difficult or impossible to cure and causes great economic losses due to lost milk and increased somatic cell counts. Prevention of this disease in first lactation animals is the best way to control its spread and reduce its economic impact. From S. Puffenbarger, Virginia Extension/ Dairy Pipeline March 2004 Chippewa Veterinary Clinic New Veterinarian Joining the Chippewa Vet Clinic We are very happy to announce that we have a new veterinarian joining us in June. Dr. Kristy Landhoff grew up on a dairy farm near Athens, Wisconsin and has recently graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Madison. She is looking forward to joining a mixed-animal practice, and has a special interest in dairy cattle work. Soon, she and her husband Carl (also form the Athens area) will be moving to Chippewa Falls and we’d like to extend them both a warm welcome. Tidbits from a Calf Seminar at Dairy Focus 2007 I recently had the opportunity to attend the Dairy Focus 2007 meeting held in the Dells. Dr. Dave Ellefson presented some interesting new information on calves and vaccination protocols for keeping them healthy. While there were a number important points that he brought up, I’ll jot down a few of the things that you may or may not have heard about.
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Fresh Cow Problems and the Cow’s Immune System The metabolic problems of fresh cows that we face on a daily basis has a major impact on the cow’s immune system and its ability to function properly. Interestingly, the changes in the immune system are taking place at least one to two weeks prior to calving. Dr. Jesse Goff says that metabolic diseases of the dairy cow are strongly associated with decreased fertility and have a tremendous effect on the immune system. We have known for a long time that milk fever (hypocalcemia) causes significant stress on fresh cows and often results in secondary problems such as mastitis, metritis and DA’s. What we didn’t know until recently was that the low blood calcium directly affects the immune system. Dr. Goff’s research has shown that the immune system’s first line of defense, the neutrophil (one of a number of specific types of White Blood Cells) can’t kill bacteria nearly as well in a low calcium environment as it can when calcium levels are normal. In addition, milk fever cows are experiencing a major “stress” which causes the release of their own cortisol...a highly immunosuppressant chemical. The immune system is also directly affected by the level of blood sugar (glucose) in the dairy cow. The neutrophil needs glucose to do its job killing invading bacteria. When a cow is ketotic, she is breaking down body fat to help maintain the level of blood glucose. When the liver can’t keep up with the breakdown of body fat, ketones flood into the bloodstream. The immune system can’t utilize ketones and therefore, it too is starving for glucose and cannot fight infection as it could when glucose was readily available. Finally, antioxidants such as vitamin E and selenium are important for the immune system to be able to perform properly. Research has shown that injecting 3,000 U of Vitamin E one week prior to expected calving date can cut the incidence of RP’s in half. In herds that are on a transition diet that is providing 2,000 U of Vitamin E/day, you may not see such a dramatic improvement. It is important to note that in the past we have often recommended giving the injection of Vitamin E at the time of calving. Research shows that you will get a much better response if you can move that injection to a week prior to expected calving date. Obviously, a sound, well-balanced transition ration is important. Keeping intakes up during those few days just prior to and after calving is one of the most critical components of the entire transition management program. It is becoming clear that the actual change from pre-fresh to post-fresh diet isn’t as critical as the need to keep intakes at a maximum during that transition. Lots of high quality hay and dry grain seem to be more palatable during this time than fermented silages. Simply providing plenty of clean water to cows during the transition period has also been shown to improve immune system function. The bottom line is that a healthy immune system means less mastitis, less metritis and subsequently better reproductive success as we try to get these animals bred back three months after calving. Anything we can do to assist the cow’s immune function will end up paying dividends later on when we’re working with fertility challenges. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Feeding to Minimize Heat Stress It’s hard to imagine that we should be talking about heat stress in early April, but last year the heat hit in May right around Memorial Day weekend and milk production took a real hit. Heat stress in cows can occur once the Temperature-Humidity Index reaches 72 which takes place when the temperature is 75 degrees F and the relative humidity is 65% or higher. Any increase in temperature or humidity above these numbers just adds to the overall stress dairy cattle are dealing with. Decreased milk production was originally thought to be simply due to decreased intakes during hot weather. As it turns out, decreased intakes only account for about half of the drop in production. As a cow undergoes heat stress, she naturally utilizes more blood glucose than fat for normal body tissue functions. This is because burning glucose generates less metabolic heat. It is sort of a self-protection mechanism to minimize body heat production. When this happens there is less blood glucose available to the mammary gland and therefore less milk is produced. Lower intakes and lower blood glucose available means milk production takes a hit. Nutritionally, there are a number of dietary changes that can be made to minimize the effects of heat stress. Feeding an ionophore like monensin will help increase the production of propionate in the rumen. Propionate is converted by the liver into glucose which results in more being available to the mammary gland. Actually, BST also helps to channel more glucose to the udder, thus helping to increase milk production. Obviously, the best alternative is to keep cows as cool as possible so they don’t shift blood glucose away from milk production in the first place. Providing plenty of water and feeding during the cooler times of the day will also help maintain feed intakes. Feeding highly palatable, highly digestible fiber is also very important. More metabolic heat is generated by the digestion of fiber than concentrates, but feeding highly digestible fiber is a good compromise and avoids the likelihood of acidosis associated with increased concentrate feeding. Feeding sodium bicarbonate or potassium carbonate also helps. Heat stressed cows breathe faster and blow off more carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is used to create bicarbonate which is a buffer. Less bicarbonate available increases the likelihood of acidosis. The nice thing about adding potassium carbonate is that it not only provides the carbonate buffer, it also provides more potassium, which dairy cows need more of during hot weather. Finally, feeding probiotics (yeast culture additives) also helps during hot weather by stabilizing rumen digestion and helping the rumen to utilize nutrients more efficiently. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic March Madness It would be nice to think that the coldest days of winter are behind us. That may be true, but unfortunately, March is always the hardest month of the year on dairy cattle. The cold, raw, changing weather is much more stressful on them than the steady cold, dry days in January and February. Cattle’s immune systems seem to be at their weakest in March after having gone through the cold winter months. Stored feeds are likely to be of lower quality now than when first put up, especially when considering vitamin content. All these factors contribute to a month when we always see a dramatic increase in health problems. Respiratory problems are especially common in young stock where warm days make for wet bedding and inadequate ventilation can allow moisture and bacteria to build up to levels that overwhelm heifers’ immune systems’ defenses. Increased incidence of mastitis is also frequently seen because of the stresses brought on by changes in the environment. Keeping stalls clean and dry to minimize environmental mastitis needs to have a high priority during the changing season. Post-dipping to prevent the spread of contagious mastitis is also extremely important. We often get asked about post-dipping in cold weather. Frozen and/or chapped teat ends are much more likely to allow mastitis-causing bacteria to enter the quarter. The usual recommendation is to continue with the good germicidal, skin-conditioning teat dip you use year round. Unless it is bitterly cold with wind chills below minus 20, staying with the dip the cows are used to is probably your best bet. When it does get real cold as it did over the past few weeks, it often helps to dab or wick the drop of dip off the teat end with a cloth towel. This takes very little time and has proven to help prevent freezing or chapping of teat ends. Do not wipe the teat dry as this will remove too much of the dip. Using barrier dips is not recommended in the very cold weather as these usually take up to 20 minutes to dry and can contribute to teat end chapping. The “winter formulation” dips containing emollients or powders do work well as long as they contain an effective germicide. These dips are usually very expensive and should only be used during extremely cold conditions. Some folks use salves on teat ends once they are chapped. This can help soften the “hyperkeratosis” at the sphincter and help with the healing process. The across the board use of salves instead of dips is not recommended because they tend to attract dirt, bedding and manure. Even if the salve contains a germicide, if enough debris is adhered to the salved teat end, infection into the gland is likely. A final option during cold weather is to discontinue post-dipping altogether. This is really not an option. The likelihood of un-dipped teats developing either contagious or environmental mastitis is very high. The effects of not dipping may not show up immediately, but over the months ahead, increases in both clinical and sub-clinical mastitis are almost guaranteed. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Ongoing Lepto hardjo-bovis Debate In June of 2003, we did a newsletter on a new twist on an old disease: the discovery of Lepto hardjo-bovis and its effect on conception rates, early embryonic deaths and abortions. At that time we tested a number of herds for Lepto hardjo-bovis and found none to be positive in our practice area. Since that time there has been an ongoing marketing presence of the Lepto hardjo-bovis vaccines. Currently, two companies are producing vaccines: Pfizer makes Spirovac (L. hardjo-bovis only) and Novartis makes Vira Shield which is a killed combination vaccine containing BVD, IBR, PI3, BRSV, as well as the old Lepto serotypes and the new hardjo-bovis serotype. Some herds have tried using the hardjo-bovis vaccines with the hope of improving conception rates, and decreasing early embryonic deaths and abortions. Although the results are not being statistically or scientifically monitored, the general consensus from some dairy producers has been that it may be helping with the herd’s reproductive success. If you decide to give vaccinating for Lepto hardjo-bovis a try, remember that, like with any vaccine, when you give the initial dose, it must be boostered in three to four weeks in order to achieve protective levels of antibodies. A yearly booster is then necessary to continue protection. It will take a minimum of six to eight weeks form the time of the initial vaccination until any significant protection is acquired. Therefore, it would be unlikely to see any change in reproductive performance for at least three to six months from the initiation of the vaccination program. It is always important to be able to measure the results of any management changes made on a dairy. Good record keeping of pregnancy rates, and the incidence of early embryonic deaths and abortions, both before and after starting the Lepto hardjo-bovis vaccination program is essential to determine if the new practice is paying a return on your investment. A trial was recently done on a 2600 cow dairy in New York that was confirmed to have Lepto hardjo-bovis positive animals. Researchers enrolled 1200 of the herd’s cows in the study. Half were used as controls (given no vaccine) and half were vaccinated with a Lepto hardjo-bovis vaccine and then given a booster 28 days later. Reproductive data was collected and analyzed. First-service conception rates were 27% for the unvaccinated group and 36% for the vaccinates. The time for 50% of the animals to become pregnant was 105 days in the control group and 90 days in the vaccinates. Pregnancy rates were calculated to be 19% for the controls and 21% for the vaccinated animals. There were 56 abortions in the control group and 58 abortions in the vaccinated group. The overall conclusion was that in an infected herd, vaccinating with Lepto hardjo-bovis can result in significant improvement in reproductive performance without changing the visible proportion of abortions. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter Update on Johne’s Disease Management Cost Reimbursement The Division of Animal Health has changed how dairy producers will be reimbursed for Johne’s disease management costs. The new reimbursement program has two steps: 1) you must first APPLY for eligibility for reimbursement and then 2) you have to submit your invoices from us for reimbursement. In a nutshell, if you want to get paid back for any Johne’s work, including the annual risk assessment, blood testing AND vaccinating, you must fill out an application on or before February 28, 2007. The state will then notify you of the dollar amount you will be eligible for during 2007. Then as you have Johne’s work done throughout the year, you will need to submit a copy of our invoices to the Division of Animal Health and they will send a check directly to you. It may seem a little confusing, but this is the way it is going to be for now, so if you want to get money back for Johne’s vaccinating, blood testing or risk assessments, this is the only way you’ll get it. More details are listed below: Step 1: Applying for eligibility. Deadline is February 28, 2007. To be eligible for 2007 reimbursement costs: the producer must have an active Johne’s disease Risk Assessment and Heard Management Plan (RAMP) performed on their herd between January 1, 2006 and February 28, 2007. Herd owners must submit the Johne’s disease Management Costs Reimbursement-Eligibility Request Form (we have them at the clinic) on or before February 28, 2007. Step 2: Submitting Invoices and Tax ID information (W-9 Form). Deadline for submission of invoices and W-9 form is February 1, 2008. Reimbursement will be up to 100% of the eligible RAMP renewal costs (not to exceed $100) and reimbursement will be up to 75% of other eligible Johne’s disease management costs listed, per invoice.
Completed Tax ID (W-9) form, if not already on file, needs to be submitted with itemized veterinary clinic invoices. Reimbursements will be paid directly to the producer as invoices are submitted for eligible expenses incurred until the herd’s allocation has been depleted or the funding period expires. If you have any question, please call us at the clinic. The most important things to remember are that if you want any reimbursement, you must have had your Johne’s Risk Assessment renewed sometime between January 1, 2006 and February 28, 2007, and you need to call us for an application form that you fill out and send in by February 28, 2007. Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter 14th Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting Once again this year we have a great program lined up for our Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting. Dr. Scott Jones of the Regional Animal Health Laboratory in Barron will be with us. Dr. Jones is a 1978 graduate of the veterinary college at Michigan State University. He joined the lab in Barron in 1984. We rely heavily on Dr. Jones and his co-worker, Dr. Mark Carlson for help with mastitis cultures, blood testing, fecal analysis and calf autopsies. Over the years they have been instrumental in helping us make definitive diagnoses so that treatment and prevention can be effectively initiated. His topic will be: “Calfhood Diseases” with a special emphasis on Salmonella and Clostridial challenges. The program will begin at 11:30am on December 6th and will be held, as always, at what is now called “Shrek’s” (formerly The Mason Jar and before that The Country Villa in Tilden). Mark your calendar! Please call the clinic at 723-3655 and let us know how many from your operation will be able to attend. Milk Production and the Success of Treating Ovarian Cysts: A study was done recently and written up in the September 2006 issue of Theriogenology (Vol.66, No.5, pp.1243-1248) to determine the relationship between milk production on the day of diagnosis of ovarian cysts and the response to treatment with the Ov-Synch protocol. The results may surprise you.. In the study which was done on 260 cows with ovarian cysts, researchers measured: 1)milk production, 2) parity, 3) DIM and 4) body condition score at the time the cysts were diagnosed. The animals were then treated with GnRH, followed by PGF2a (Lutalyse) on day 7, another GnRH on day 9 and were timed inseminated 16 to 20 hours later. Pregnancy diagnosis was made by rectal exam between 42 and 49 days post insemination. Using the median value for milk production on the day of diagnosis, cows were classified as high producers (above the median) and low producers (below the median). After analyzing the data, it was determined that there was no correlation between either DIM or body condition score with the success of treatment. However, it was found that first calf heifers had a statistically better chance of getting pregnant following treatment than second or greater lactation animals. Most interesting was the finding that the high producing animals had a much better pregnancy rate than the low producers when treated for cysts with Ov-Synch. In fact the pregnancy rate for the low producers was 6% as compared to 16% for the high producers. This is the first study to have shown that high milk production on the day of diagnosis of ovarian cysts can be used as an indicator of the success of treatment. DIM and body condition score cannot be used as indicators of treatment success, even though we have often done so in the past.Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter New Products for Calves and Heifers Draxxin EPIC Calf Scour Formula So far, we have been impressed with how this formula has been helping to get scouring calves up and running faster than those given just antibiotics and electrolytes. The cost is $1.00 per treatment which should be given twice daily for 2 to 3 days. It comes in a bucket containing 50 doses. Our 14th Annual Dairy Client appreciation Dinner Meeting has been set for Wednesday, December 6 at 11:30 am. We will be at the same place as always... at the Villa in Tilden.... only the name has been changed.... the food is still excellent!
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter Clostridial Diseases in Calves The family of Clostridial organisms causes a multitude of diseases in cattle. Some of these diseases, such as Tetanus, Blackleg and Malignant Edema, are seen only sporadically. Others, caused by Clostridium perfringens, are seen quite frequently in calves in this area. Clostridial organisms are considered normal flora in the G.I. tracts of cattle and only become a problem with dietary stress, changes in management, parasitism, or other unusual circumstances that allow favorable growth and toxin production. Once this occurs, calves can often die so quickly that they don’t even show signs of illness.... they may die before developing diarrhea, depression, abdominal pain and bloating. Because the toxins produced by these organisms are so potent, treatment is usually unsuccessful. Prevention is a much more effective means of control. Since Clostridial organisms are always out there, waiting for a chance to “get a foot in the door”, we need to be aware of the risk factors that make it easier for Clostridia to multiply and cause disease. The most important ones are:
Therefore, good hygiene and sanitation practices along with strict attention to consistent feeding practices will go a long way in preventing Clostridial disease. Oral medications should be used only when necessary to treat specific disease processes and not without a standardized protocol based on a proven diagnosis of the disease being treated. Vaccination can be very effective, but keep in mind that young calves do not develop protective levels of immunity for at least 2 to 4 weeks after vaccination. Boosters need to be given 3 to 6 weeks after the initial vaccination. Dry cow vaccination (at dry off and again 3 weeks later) coupled with adequate colostrum feeding (four quarts in the first four hours) is the best way to prevent Clostridial diseases in very young calves. Daily Herd Newsletter Fall Newsletter This summer season we have had an increase in tick related diseases as well as several new strains of leptospirosis. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease which means that it can be spread to humans. First of all ticks usually are a seasonal problem, but this remains variable due to local weather conditions and changing environmental habitats. In the Chippewa Valley the peak activity level for ticks is in the spring and fall seasons, but we have seen some ticks on animals all summer. Ticks produce disease by consumption of blood, injection of salivary proteins and transmission of infectious agents. The two diseases spread by ticks in our area are lyme disease and erlichiosis. Lyme disease is the more common of the two and causes fever and joint pain primarily, but we are seeing more cases that have affected the kidneys. Sometimes there is just a minor infection and other times it may cause a kidney crisis. Erlichiosis also will cause a fever and will usually affect the blood cells. This may cause bleeding from the skin, rectum or kidneys. Chronic stages may have signs that cause arthritis and will affect the liver. Leptospirosis (Lepto) is a disease that is passed from the infected species through the urine of horses, dogs, raccoons, skunks, and opossums. This transmission will occur in rural and urban areas where infected wild animal hosts frequent. Dogs will become infected by eating infected tissues or drinking contaminated water. The clinical signs of the disease in dogs are fever, muscle pain, and kidney & liver pain. Lepto can be an acute infection or chronic carrier infection lasting a lifetime. Our vaccine has protected dogs from the 2 types that have always been present. Now there are 2 new strains causing disease and we recommend vaccinating with the 4 way lepto vaccine. If your dog is exposed to any of the areas these animals are present we recommend vaccinating with the new lepto vaccine. For Erlichiosis and Lyme disease the first recommendation is to prevent the ticks from attaching to the skin by applying Frontline or Advantix monthly. All dogs should be vaccinated for Lyme disease, but there is no vaccine for Erlichiosis. Both diseases can be treated with antibiotics after they are diagnosed positive. If you have any questions call our office @723-3655 Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter Job Opportunity at the Vet Clinic We are looking for a part-time receptionist to work noon to five, Mondays through Fridays and every fourth Saturday morning. Good computer and receptionist skills are required. If anyone is interested, please send a resume to Dr. Mayberry at the clinic’s address. Nitrate Poisoning With this summer’s drought, we have been asked more frequently about the possibility of nitrate poisoning. Plants tend to accumulate more nitrates when they are stressed, especially if that stress occurs when the plants are young. Extremely dry, or cool and wet growing conditions may prevent plants from converting nitrate to true protein, thus causing an accumulation of nitrate. This is particularly true in corn silage, sorghum, sudangrass and sorghum-sudan crosses. Heavy or excessive nitrogen fertilization may aggravate the problem, especially if phosphorus and potassium needs are not met. Some weeds, including pigweed and lambsquarters, may accumulate nitrates. Nitrate levels generally decrease somewhat during ensiling, as dangerous nitrogen oxide gas is formed. However, nitrate levels may increase in hay if it undergoes heating and molding in the bale. Under normal conditions hays and haylages may contain higher levels of nitrate than corn silage. Risk of nitrate poisoning may be reduced by the following:
Nitrate toxicity may result when animals suddenly consume large amounts of forage containing 2 to 3% or more nitrate ion on a dry matter basis. Even forages with lower levels may adversely affect reproduction or become toxic if animals are nutritionally stressed or metabolically abnormal and suddenly eat a large amount of such forage. Cattle may develop blue mucus membranes from lack of oxygen in the blood. Labored or difficult breathing may be observed. Animals may go down and die very suddenly. Subacute or chronic nitrate poisoning may result in more of the usual reproductive problems, including abortions. Milk production and appetite generally are not affected. Reproductive problems may be prevented if feeds are gradually introduced and the nitrate level in the total ration dry matter is kept below 0.4%. Because of differences in rate of dry matter intake, grazed forage is about 50% less toxic than stored forages. If in doubt about the possibility of a forage containing potentially toxic levels of nitrates, have the forage tested. In most cases, even high nitrate forages can be worked into a ration without causing health problems in your herd.
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Correct Levels of Copper in Footbaths What can we do to minimize copper build-up in our soils and still effectively prevent hairy heel warts? There are a number of recommendations:
Avoid Hot Weather Acidosis During the hot, humid days of summer, we all see a drop in dry matter intakes and consequently a drop in milk production. Minimizing intake decreases will help maintain healthy rumen digestion and minimize the chance of developing a herd problem with acidosis. When the microbes in the rumen ferment feeds they produce acids. These acids are buffered primarily by the bicarbonate in the saliva that is produced when cows chew long forage fiber. Cows tend to reduce forage intakes when it’s hot and consequently they produce less buffer. If acid builds up in the rumen, the rumen bacteria don’t grow as well. Those bacteria that ferment fiber are particularly affected by changes in acid levels in the rumen. Dry matter intake declines, fiber digestibility is reduced, rumen microbial protein production is limited and then milk production suffers. Cows actually become acidotic when too much acid is being absorbed from the rumen. Acidic blood cannot carry as much oxygen as normal blood. The cow’s feet, being at the farthest points of the cow’s body, receive the least oxygen. This causes the cow’s feet to swell. Pressure between the hoof wall and bone inside results in pain, hemorrhages and ulcers associated with laminitis. High-producing cows experience subclinical acidosis... they milk reasonably well and they don’t appear to be lame, but their blood is more acidic than it should be. Just like the rumen microbes, the cells of the cow’s body don’t work as well in an acidic environment. Acids alter enzyme activity and the structure of certain molecules in the body. Metabolic acidosis is more likely to occur when a cow is heat stressed because potassium is lost via the sweat. Loss of potassium increases blood acidity. Researchers have raised milk production by increasing the dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) to 30 to 35 meq/100 grams dry matter in the rations of milking cows. This helps to reduce blood acidity. This usually requires that dietary potassium be raised to 1.6 to 1.8 percent, using potassium carbonate to supply some of the potassium. Added dietary buffer usually is raised to 0.75 pound per cow per day. Chloride levels should be controlled (0.3 to 0.35%). Maintain a potassium:magnesium ratio of 4:1. In one study on a commercial dairy in Florida, DCAD was raised from 19 to 25 meq/100 grams dry matter and milk production rose from 86.5 to 89.5 pounds. Keeping cows cool and comfortable, providing plenty of fresh water at all times (water intake goes up over 50% in hot weather) and making small adjustments in the ration will all help avoid the summer slump in production and fat test, and help to avoid an acidosis problem that can have long-term consequences.
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic EXCEDE’ing Your Expectations Two weeks ago a new drug, EXCEDE, received approval by the FDA for use in lactating dairy cattle. Its approval has brought about some important changes of which we all need to be aware. First of all, Excede contains the exact same antibiotic (ceftiofur) that is found in both Naxcel and Excenel. Each of these three drugs contains ceftiofur in different chemical forms with different carriers. Naxcel was first on the market, but required mixing and refrigeration. Later, Excenel was introduced which eliminated the need to mix the powder and liquid. Now Excede is available which has its own unique advantages. One injection of Excede gives an effective blood level of ceftiofur for seven full days. Excede must, however, be given in a unique injection site: it must be given under the skin in the fat pad at the base of the ear. The recommended technique for giving the injection is to 1) tie the cow’s head off to one side with a halter, 2) pull the ear closest to you forward towards her nose and 3) inject in the soft fatty area at the base of the ear in front of where your halter rope is positioned. Use a 16g by 1" needle and aim the needle toward the opposite eye. The dose is 1.5cc per 100 lbs. body weight or 22cc for a 1500 lb. cow to be given just one time for an effective blood level that lasts 7 days. Once you’ve tried this method of injection you’ll see that it is not difficult, although it does require that you catch the head with a halter and tie it off safely to one side. There is another very important change that has come about because of the approval of Excede. Pre-slaughter withdrawal times on all ceftiofur products have changed. Because Excede provides an effective blood level of ceftiofur for seven days, it is obviously absorbed very slowly from the injection site. When the USDA tests the kidneys during antibiotic residue surveillance at the slaughter house, it is not possible to determine which ceftiofur product (Naxcel, Excenel or Excede) was administered to the animal, since the active ingredient is the same. Because Excede lingers in the injection site much longer than either Naxcel or Excenel, the acceptable kidney tolerance level had to be decreased (from 8.0 to 0.4 ppm) to assure that no residue would be left in the injection site once the kidney test was below the tolerance level. What this means is that now there is a pre-slaughter withdrawal increase on all the other ceftiofur products. Effective immediately, Naxcel has a pre-slaughter withdrawal period of 4 days. Excenel has a pre-slaughter withdrawal period of 3 days. Excede’s pre-slaughter withdrawal period is 13 days. Please take notice of these new slaughter withdrawal times as they are already being enforced. Also please note that there is still a zero hour milk withhold on all ceftiofur products. Milk does not have to be discarded at all when Naxcel, Excenel or Excede are administered. If you have any questions about this new product or about the changes in pre-slaughter withdrawal times, please call us at 723-3655, or you can always call the Pfizer Product Support Group at 1-800-366-5288.
Bovine Virus Diarrhea One would think that after all these years of dealing with Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD) that we would at least have it under control, if not eradicated. The virus was first isolated over 50 years ago and there are countless vaccines available on the market. However the latest numbers are telling us that we are far from controlling this disease. In the U.S. alone, reproductive costs are estimated at between $376 million and $1.5 billion annually. Costs to feedlot sales are figured at $360 million. These numbers are only referring to “low” virulence strains.... those that cause disease, but less often death. The “high” virulence strains with high mortality rates are even more costly. So why haven’t we got a better handle on the control of this disease? The reason for the most part has to do with two unique characteristics of the BVD virus. First, there really isn’t just one BVD virus... there are two main “genotypes” that you have heard about.... Type 1 and Type 2. However, within these two main subgroups there are literally thousands of variations. As BVD replicates, it has the capability to change slightly. With time, these minor changes accumulate and the structure of the virus diverges to something very different from the original. The reason this is important is because the virus in the vaccines we use to help animals produce antibodies against disease, may be quite different from a “new” strain of BVD that has developed. If the virus is different enough that the immune system doesn’t even recognize it as BVD, then our vaccination won’t give us enough protection to prevent disease. The second reason that we haven’t been able to eradicate BVD is because of Persistently Infected (PI) animals. If a cow becomes infected with the BVD virus during the first trimester of pregnancy a number of things might happen, none of which are good. The infection may cause early embryonic death, abortions, fetal mummification or the birth of deformed calves. Worse yet, the fetus may become infected with the virus before its immune system is functional and therefore, allow the virus to live and reproduce in every tissue in it’s body. These calves are the “Typhoid Mary’s” of the bovine world.... they are usually “poor-doers” but unfortunately they can live and even make it into the milking herd. These PI animals are literally spewing millions of BVD viruses into their environment every day, exposing the entire herd to infection. A herd with a PI animal simply cannot be vaccinated enough to produce adequate immunity to ward off this type of viral onslaught. The three main measures of BVD control are testing (especially to find PI animals), isolating and vaccinating. There are a number of surveillance testing procedures that can be done that include pooling samples to minimize cost. Blood samples or ear notch samples can be used to find PI animals. Testing new animals as soon as they are brought into the herd (including bulls) and isolating them as well as possible is an important part of eliminating the possibility of bringing in a PI animal. PI testing can also be done on bulk tank milk and is sensitive enough to detect a single PI animal out of bulk tank milk from up to 400 cows. Obviously, the catch in this case is that in running the PI test on bulk tank milk you are only testing the milking animals. It will not eliminate the possibility of there being a PI bull, or PI heifers that are yet to calve. Vaccinating helps maintain good protection in a herd where there are no PI’s present. The current recommendation is to vaccinate all animals with a modified-live vaccine at 5 months of age and then again three to four weeks later. These heifers should be boostered one month prior to breeding and then again at one month prior to calving. All milking animals should be vaccinated again with a modified-live product at 30 days in milk and again at dry off. Animals having a difficult time getting bred back and that are found to be open at 180 days in milk (or more) should receive a booster again at the time she is diagnosed “not pregnant”. This vaccination schedule is a guideline or a skeleton around which you can tailor your own protocol. Every dairy operation is a little different and you may want to modify things depending on your herd’s situation and logistics. The bottom line is that everyone should feel confident that there are no PI animals in their herd. If that is the case, then a sound vaccination program will be effective in minimizing the economic losses associated with BVD.
Strategies for $11.00 Milk Unfortunately, this newsletter was originally written back in March of 2001.....back when gas was at about $1.85 a gallon and we thought if it ever hit $2.00 a gallon we’d all quit driving our cars. Here we are, five years later facing poor milk prices once again.... only this time we’re doing it with $3.00 a gallon gasoline staring us in the face....somehow, it just doesn’t seem right. The points that were brought up by Dr. Hutchens back in March of 2001 still hold true today... hopefully there may be a few ideas that may help during the next few months of low milk prices. At a recent meeting, Dr. Michael Hutjens presented a program on ways to help squeeze out a profit at $11.00 milk. Obviously, we would all like to see a better milk price, but, unfortunately, we have no (or very little) control over that. What we can do is look for ways that will help our bottom line. Reviewing all aspects of our operations that impact profit and production is important. The following is a list of eleven points that might be areas where you could improve profit margins. 1. Control feed costs. For every 25 cents savings in feed cost per one hundred pounds of milk produced, an additional $50 more income per cow per year can be expected (with a 20,000 rolling herd average). Be careful!! If milk yield drops more than two pounds while saving 25 cents, a loss will occur. 2. Increase milk components. For each increase of 0.1 percentage point in milk protein test, add nine cents per cow per day or $27 per cow per year (60 pounds of milk per cow). For each 0.2 percentage point increase in milk fat test, add 15 cents per cow per day or $45 per cow per year (at 60 pounds of milk). 3. Increase peak milk yield. One pound of higher peak milk can result in 200 pounds more milk in the lactation. This added milk can increase income $18 annually per cow. Feed costs were charged for the added nutrients (six cents per pound of dry matter). 4. Lower somatic cell count. Decreasing herd average one linear somatic cell count can increase profits $86 per cow per year based on higher milk yield. Added income can be achieved if additional quality premiums are received. 5. Lower age at first calving. Decreasing the average age of heifers at calving by one month reduces added forage costs by $30 per heifer (26 pounds of forage dry matter per day at four cents per pound of forage dry matter). 6. Optimize the size of heifers at first calving. Add 600 pounds more milk for each 100 pounds of stature (true growth) up to 1250 pounds for large breed heifers after calving (do not include the weight of the unborn calf, fluids or membranes). 7. Lower culling rates. Reducing cow culling rates by one percent point can add $900 of income in a 100 cow herd. This value was based on a replacement heifer worth $1300 and cull cows sold for beef valued at $400. If you can increase cow longevity and sell surplus heifers, it is money in your pocket short term (loss of genetically superior animals). 8. Decrease average days in milk. Minnesota workers indicate reducing herd average days in milk by one day can increase herd production by $8 per cow per year. 9. Sire identification. Improving sire identification in the herd by one percent can increase herd production by 80 cents per cow per year based on Minnesota guidelines. 10. Sire selection. Using genetically superior sire index by one unit of PTA$ or Net Merit dollars is worth one dollar per cow per year using Minnesota data. 11. Implementing BST. At today’s milk price ($11.00 per cwt) a potential 35 cent increase per treated cow per day can be achieved based on 10 pounds milk increase and added costs of 75 cents per day (including the cost of BST, added feed and labor).
Evaluating these guidelines in an 80 cow herd averaging 20,000 pounds of milk (large breed herd) results in the economic values listed below. Obviously, you won’t be able to capitalize on every point. However, opportunities may exist in your herd. POTENTIAL additional income using the guidelines in a herd of 80 cows with a 20,000 rolling herd average: Feed cost saving (25 cents per day) $4000 Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Clinical Mastitis Incidence in Wisconsin Dairy Herds
The table below comes from work done by Nigel Cook and Rebecca Mentick at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine and was printed in the 2006 National Mastitis Proceedings. It gives a very interesting picture of where we are when it comes to trying to control mastitis in our Wisconsin herds. A few definitions will help make more sense of the numbers in each column. Mean: the mean is the “middle” or mid-point number. It is a little different than saying “average”. When it says that the “mean” herd size was 653, it is saying that half of the herds were bigger than this and half of the herds were smaller. % Herd Affected: per cent of the cows in the herd suffering at least one case of mastitis for one year. Quarter Cases per 100 cows: number of quarter cases with at least 7 days between cases per number of cows in the herd. Cow Cases per 100 cows: number of cow cases with one or more quarters affected with at least 7 days between cases per number of cows in the herd. Treatment Failure Rate: proportion of the quarters retreated after a 7 day interval. The table shows that of the 32 herds whose records were tabulated, the mid-point (mean) SCC was 296,000, which is about average for the entire State of Wisconsin . For every 100 cows, 32.2 suffered at least one clinical case of mastitis during the year. For every 100 cows, 64.4 quarters had a flare up of clinical mastitis during the course of the year. For every 100 cows, 48.7 cows had at least one quarter flare up with clinical mastitis during the year. Treatment failure rate shows that of all the cases treated, 16.3 % will end up being re-treated after a seven day interval. However, treatment failure varied from 1.4 to 40.9 %..... sounds like things were working well on one place and not much better than 50% on the other. Two other interesting pieces of information came out of this study. First, there was no relationship between the herd Bulk Tank Somatic Cell Count (BTSCC) and the clinical case rate.... a fact that would surprise most of us. Secondly, there was no significant relationship between clinical case rate and herd size... mastitis obviously hits cows in small as well as large herds. I think this table just serves to remind us of how important mastitis control is, and how, despite our best efforts, we all continue to struggle with the problem. Below is a list of goals relating to clinical mastitis. Numbers on your farm may vary, but this at least gives you a starting point when trying to determine how bad or how good your mastitis control program is working. Goals for Clinical Mastitis on a Dairy Farm NEW Clinical Cases Treated / Month (10 or less each month in a 500 cow herd)
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Dairy Herd Newsletter March 1, 2006
Heifer Mastitis Mastitis in fresh heifers can result in a dramatic decrease in lifetime milk production. It can, however, be effectively prevented, therefore increasing her productivity and profitability. Heifers are at risk of being exposed to mastitis-causing pathogens from early on in life. Individual calf hutches, clean dry bedding and good fly control all significantly decrease exposure at an early age. The highest risk period for heifers to be exposed is after puberty, when the mammary gland starts to develop and produce secretions which can support bacterial growth. The bad news is that these infections, picked up even before breeding, can persist for long periods of time, causing increased somatic cell counts, impairing mammary development and decreasing life-time milk production. Treating heifers for mastitis before they calve can be a very cost effective cure, if you are experiencing clinical mastitis in your recently fresh heifers. In the past, the recommendation has been to treat heifers with commercial dry tubes 6 to 8 weeks prior to calving. This has proven to be very difficult and almost never done. Recently, the use of lactating tubes at 14 days prior to calving has been shown to be equally effective and much more likely to get done. Heifers can be treated when they are brought into the barn for vaccinations or lead feeding prior to calving. The advantage of treating 2 weeks before due date is that only one treatment with one commercial lactating tube per quarter is very effective in eliminating mastitis at or after calving. It is absolutely essential to do a thorough job disinfecting the teat end before infusing the antibiotic into the quarters, since there will be no milking out of these treated quarters for two weeks. All commercial lactating cow tubes seem to work equally well in clearing heifer mastitis when treating prior to calving. Remember to test every fresh animal's milk for antibiotic residues after the sixth milking. Free Help Available at National Mastitis Council The National Mastitis Council is a not-for-profit professional organization devoted to reducing mastitis and enhancing milk quality. The NMC promotes research and provides information to the dairy industry relative to udder health, milking management and milk quality. You can find a ton of great information about mastitis and milk quality at www.nmconline.org . It's all free for the reading and all of the information is based on independent research... the NMC has nothing to sell. Check it out!
Chippewa Veterinary Clinic Dairy Herd Newsletter February 1, 2006 Last month, Mike Hutjens, Extension Dairy Specialist from the University of Illinois gave an interesting presentation at an AgStar-sponsored meeting in Menomonie. His primary point was “how do we know if what we're doing on the dairy is working the way it's supposed to be working?”. If we try something new like a new feed additive or a new breeding program, how do we know if we are really helping our bottom line? Sometimes changes result in obvious increases in milk production that are fairly easy to measure, but more often than not, the effect of the changes we make may be difficult to quantify. There are some measuring sticks, however, that have been established that help us look at where we are as compared to other dairies across the country. These “yardsticks” aren't necessarily the “gold standard”, but they do give us an idea of what an attainable goal might be and where we may want to look for ways to improve our operation. In last month's newsletter, we listed the “Metabolic Disorder” goals talked about by Dr. Goff at our meeting in December. They are: Overall Cost Per Single Case* Milk Fever <1% $334 Ketosis <2% 145 DA's <3% 340 RP's <5% 285 *Overall cost includes medicine costs, lost production and cull/death loss Another measuring stick is “the number of cows culled before they reach 60 Days in Milk”. Ideally, we should be culling less than 8% of the entire herd when they are less than 60 DIM. Cull rates above 8% indicate a high rate of fresh cow problems that are hurting the dairy's profitability. We also know that there is a direct correlation between dry matter intake at the time of calving and dry matter intake 30 days after freshening. The better cows are eating at and around calving, the better they will be eating a month later and that is what ultimately determines milk production. Ideally, we want mature cows to be consuming 30 pounds of pre-fresh ration (dry matter) a day and close-up heifers should be eating 25 pounds of dry matter. This number drops dramatically right around calving, but the goal is, obviously, to keep them eating as much as possible. A full rumen improves efficiency of fermentation, and prevents milk fever, displaced abomasums and ketosis. Reproductive measuring sticks can help us evaluate just how well our breeding program is working. Pregnancy Rate is the measurement most dairies look at when trying to evaluate how well we're getting cows bred back. Remember that Pregnancy Rate is equal to Heat Detection Rate times Conception Rate. The national average for Pregnancy Rate on dairies in this country is 13 to 15%. Another helpful benchmark is First Cycle Pregnancy Rate. This looks at how well we are getting cows bred at first service. First Cycle Pregnancy Rates of 30% are very good. The key in all cases is to know how to measure the results of what we're doing, so that we can really evaluate how things are going and what effect new changes in management have on our bottom line.
January 1, 2006 Pre-Fresh Diet Recommendations At the Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting we had December 7th, Dr. Jesse Goff presented a lot of good information about preventing fresh cow problems. I have a complete copy of his presentation for any of you who would like one.... just give me a call and I’ll get you one. The most important points are summarized below and contain recommendations that you might want to share with your nutritionist, to confirm that your rations are where you want them to be. Dr. Goff stressed the importance of hypocalcemia (low blood calcium) which is the subclinical form of “milk fever”. Over 50% of fresh cows go through a period of low blood calcium right after they freshen, despite it never reaching the point of clinical milk fever. This hypocalcemia does cause problems, however, and mastitis, ketosis, RP’s and DA’s have been directly linked to low blood calcium. Preventing hypocalcemia in fresh cows can be accomplished by balancing the pre-fresh rations to meet the following mineral levels. These levels should be fed for three weeks prior to calving:
Phosphorus .30 to .37 % Magnesium .40 % Sulfur .22 to .40 % Calcium .85 to 1.0 % Sodium .1 to .15 % Potassium As close to 1.0 % as possible Chloride %K - 0.5 (If K=1.3, then Cl = 1.3 - .5 = 0.8)
Goals for fresh cow problems are:
Milk Fever < 1 % Ketosis < 2 % DA < 3 % RP < 5 %
Knowing the number of cows culled before they reach 60 Days In Milk is another good way of measuring fresh cow health in your herd. A reasonable goal is to have less than 8 percent of freshenings leave the herd before they reach 60 DIM. Numbers greater than 8 % indicate an opportunity to improve fresh cow management and increase your herd’s profitability.
Vaccination Protocols How we keep our herds protected with vaccines against disease has made dramatic changes over the past twenty years. There was a day when the whole herd would typically get a killed combination pneumonia vaccine in the fall and a 5-way Lepto shot in the spring. That would pretty much cover it for the herd... calves and heifers usually were left completely out of the picture. In a sense, the goal was to prevent herd outbreaks of “shipping fever” in the winter months and lepto abortion during the summer when pastured cattle had more exposure to deer and standing water. With the development of new vaccines and the improvement of old ones, our thinking has changed . Modified live vaccines provide more broad spectrum and more long-lasting protection than the old “killed” vaccines. Bovi-Shield, (a modified-live vaccine) can now be safely given to pregnant animals as long as they were vaccinated prior to becoming pregnant. New vaccines like J5 and ScourGuard protect against E. coli mastitis and calf scours, respectively, and their effectiveness is dependent upon when, during the course of the lactation cycle, a cow receives the vaccine. Thus vaccination protocols have evolved away from the seasonal “whole herd” approach and are now geared toward weekly or bi-weekly vaccinating of individuals or small groups based on stage of lactation. A typical lactation protocol may begin with a J5 booster at 7 to 14 days in milk. At 30 days in milk, a “clean-out” Lutalyse and a dose of Bovi-Shield is given. The reason behind the 30 day Bovi-Shield is to protect the upcoming pregnancy against abortion due especially to BVD or IBR. At two weeks prior to dry off, a second Bovi-Shield is given. The purpose of this dose is really to boost maternal antibodies in the colostrum to give the upcoming calf better protection once he/she is born. At dry off J5 and ScourGuard are often given. This dose of J5 initiates the buildup of antibodies against E. coli mastitis which typically occurs in the first sixty days of the lactation. The ScourGuard begins the buildup of colostral antibodies that will protect the newborn calf. A mid-dry period booster with both the J5 and the ScourGuard is recommended to achieve maximum protection. This dose is the most difficult to get into cows simply because of where they are typically housed during the dry period. It is important, however, because it has been shown that maximum protection is achieved by giving ScourGuard at six and three weeks prior to calving... variations on the timing of these shots will still work, but anything earlier or later than this will result in something less than maximum protection. A key point to remember is that none of these vaccinations directly provide the newborn calf with any immune protection.... all of the protection to the calf comes through the colostrum only! Calves need to get 4 quarts of colostrum within the first 2 hours of life! This vaccination protocol is summarized on the back. If you have any questions, give us a call. Vaccination Protocol Adult Dairy Cattle 7-14 Days in Milk J5 30-36 Days in Milk Bovi-Shield Lutalyse 2 weeks prior to Dry Off Bovi-Shield At Dry Off J5 ScourGuard Mid-Dry Period J5 ScourGuard Springing heifers should receive the same vaccinations the cows get at dry off and mid-dry period. Ideally, these vaccinations are given at 6 and 3 weeks prior to expected date of calving. NOTE: pregnant heifers can only receive the BovaShield if they were vaccinated (with Bovi-Shield) prior to becoming pregnant.
Successful 12th Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting We had a record turnout for Mike Perry at our 12th Annual Dairy Meeting. We served 125 folks and judging by the laughter and the number of books he sold afterwards, Mike was very well received. Everyone won a door prize again this year, thanks to all the generous donations by our sponsors. Rumensin For Use in Lactating Dairy Cattle Receives U.S. FDA Approval The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Rumensin for use in lactating dairy cattle. Rumensin is the only FDA-approved feed ingredient for lactating and dry cows that increases milk production efficiency by economically delivering more milk per pound of feed while maintaining the natural wholesomeness of milk. Rumensin improves the milk production efficiency of lactating dairy cattle, resulting in more milk per pound of feed. Trial results approved by the FDA showed that cows fed Rumensin were 2 to 4 percent more efficient. Cows in early lactation produced more milk on the same feed, and cows in mid to late lactation produced the same milk on less feed, all for just pennies per day. Rumensin is included in the diet and given during all stages of lactation and the dry period. It is included in minute amounts (300 mg/day) , similar to quantities of ingredients like vitamins and minerals. On October 28, 2004 the US FDA approved Rumensin for lactating dairy cattle after thoroughly reviewing the data to ensure that it meets the stringent efficacy, human food safety, animal safety and environmental safety standards. Four Aspects of Better Milk Quality The following four management practices really make a difference when working toward better milk quality and lower Somatic Cell Counts (SCC): * Fore Stripping to stimulate milk let down and examine milk. * Clipped or singed udders to improve udder hygiene. * Use of gloves during milking to reduce bacterial transfer. * Keeping good mastitis records. These four practices are what we see making a big difference between herds with high SCC’s and herds with low SCC’s. Other things like milker training, written protocols and single-use teat towels certainly play a role in lowering SCC’s, but the big four listed above are really the key areas to concentrate on when attacking a milk quality problem. Once you start implementing the above four practices, you will see a definite drop in SCC and also a decrease in the number of clinical cases of mastitis.
DECEMBER 2004 12th Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting Our 12th Annual Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting will be held at The Country Villa in downtown Tilden and the date is set for 11:30am, Wednesday, December 8th. This year we thought we would break from tradition slightly.... no lectures on calf scours or mastitis.... no discussion of the newest drugs on the market or the latest developments in Mad Cow Disease. This year it’s pure entertainment. We are really fortunate to have Mike Perry, of New Auburn, coming to share some of his stories with us. Mike, as you probably remember, has written a number of books, most notably: Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. Mike is well known in the area and most recently spoke at Farm Technology Days. His program is one you won’t want to miss. Please call the clinic by December 6th to let us know how many from your operation will be able to attend. TB Slowly Resurfacing A decade ago, U.S. animal health authorities thought they may be close to winning the battle against bovine tuberculosis (TB). During the last few years, however, the old nemesis has made a comeback in some parts of the country. TB-infected herds have been detected in four states. To guard against reintroduction, other states have rules requiring out-of-state animals to be tested prior to entry, particularly since the resurgence of TB in Texas, California, New Mexico and Michigan. Prevalence is still low, but the risk is there, says Robert Meyer, National TB epidemiologist for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The take-home message for producers is to avoid complacency. Know what federal and state TB testing, if any, is required prior to intrastate or interstate movement of cattle, and know the source of any cattle brought into your herd. Average Pregnancy Rates In the August newsletter we talked about pregnancy rates and how we can use them to evaluate how well we’re doing with our reproduction management. To review: pregnancy rate (PR) is the number of cows that become pregnant in a given time frame (usually 21 days) out of the total number that are eligible to become pregnant in that given period of time. It is calculated by multiplying your heat detection rate by your conception rate in a 21 day period. If you catch 50% of your eligible cows in heat and half of the ones you breed end up settling, your pregnancy rate is 50% x 50% = 25%. That doesn’t sound too difficult to achieve, but believe it or not, the average pregnancy rate for DHI herds is 14%. Herds in the top 10% average a PR of 20% and the very best herds only average 24%. Obviously, working hard at getting cows bred back in a timely manner is a good goal for all of us. We wish for you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!!
NOVEMBER 2004 12th Annual Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner Meeting As has been the case for the past 12 years, when October arrives we begin working on the details of the Dairy Client Appreciation Dinner. The meeting will again be at The Country Villa in downtown Tilden and the date is set for Wednesday, December 8th. This year we thought we would break from tradition slightly.... no lectures on calf scours or mastitis.... no discussion of the newest drugs on the market or the latest developments in Mad Cow Disease. This year it’s pure entertainment. We are really fortunate to have Mike Perry, of New Auburn, coming to share some of his stories with us. Mike, as you probably remember, has written a number of books, most notably: Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. Mike is well known in the area and most recently spoke at Farm Technology Days. His program is one you won’t want to miss. New Calcium Boluses We have recently discovered a new product that you might be interested in having in your medicine cabinet. Bovikalc boluses are calcium boluses that are given to prevent milk fever. They work exactly like the oral calcium drenches. The advantage to these boluses is that there is no chance of cows aspirating the calcium liquid into their lungs which can result in severe aspiration pneumonia. The disadvantage is that these boluses are patented in Denmark and they are larger than will fit in a normal balling gun. Fortunately, the guns that are used to administer these boluses are relatively cheap ($7.50). We have been using these boluses on a trial basis for a couple months now and have found them to be very helpful, especially in preventing relapses of milk fever. The cost per bolus is very similar to the cost of a bottle of the oral calcium drench. The dose is just one bolus at freshening and another 12 hours later, if signs indicate the possibility of low blood calcium. Mastitis Culturing We have always said that the best way to take care of mastitis is to know exactly what “bugs” you are up against and therefore, which antibiotics will most likely result in a cure. Fort Dodge Animal Health, a company that makes many of the mastitis tubes that are commonly used, such as Cefa-Lak, and Dry-Clox, is trying to get a better handle on just which organisms are most common in this region and which antibiotics are most effective against those organisms. Fort Dodge has a program whereby they will help defray the costs of doing milk cultures for herds in this area. The only stipulation is that they need a minimum of four samples quarterly for one year (minimum of 16 samples). If mastitis problems continue to plague your herd (and there aren’t many herds that don’t struggle with this problem) this might be a way for you to get some culturing done that would end up costing you very little. If you are interested, just give us a call. October 2004 I recently had the opportunity to attend the Midwest Dairy Veterinarian Symposium in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It was a very worthwhile meeting with a strong emphasis on managing the transition period from dry cow to lactating cow and how to minimize the problems we often see in fresh cows and heifers. There were many good “take home messages” that I jotted down. Some may have very little application for your operation, however, many of the points listed below are practical tips that might be worth reviewing. - How much Dry Matter cows and heifers are eating on the day BEFORE calving directly correlates to how much they will be eating at 21 DIM, thus the care of every animal during the two weeks surrounding her calving date is critical. - When adding up all the costs, including medications, milk loss, secondary DA’s and death loss, the cost of a single case of metritis is $325- $350. When using Excenel for metritis, you really need the 2cc/100 lbs. body weight to get effective blood levels. In heifers, 3 days of Excenel is enough, whereas in cows you may need to go 4 to 5 days. - There is a lot more immunosuppression using dexamethasone than using Predef. - Routine drenching of all fresh animals is not necessarily warranted unless there’s a real problem with the transition management. Just drench the fat fresh cows with prop glycol. A transition pen should not be stocked over 85-90% (cows/stall). Bunk space is also critical for these “wide” cows. - There is a direct correlation between periparturient disease and how long it takes to get that animal bred back. This effect is even more pronounced in heifers. - For cleaning out a uterus, 2 injections of prostaglandins does more good than any type of infusion. - One important number to be aware of is the percent of total culls that leave the herd in the first 60 days of lactation. Typically, it is about 30%. - There is no advantage to giving Naxcel IV... adequate blood levels are reached almost immediately via IM or Sub Q. - For BRD (respiratory disease) only, (not metritis) Excenel given every other day maintains an effective blood level. There is never an advantage to giving Naxcel or Excenel more than once a day. - A 120% stocking rate in lactating cow pens is ok and will not result in an increase in number of stall evictions (by boss cows) or alley layers. Overstocking the prefresh pen will adversely affect the springing heifers, but not the adult cows. - When trying to maximize DMI, having fresh feed available immediately after milking is much more important than the number of times the feed is pushed up during the day. - Eight day treatment using Pirsue will result in an 83% cure rate of Staph aureus and a 95% cure rate of all subclinical mastitis. It will get 100% of environmental streps. A 5 day treatment protocol is no better than the 2 day protocol. - 42 to 57% of heifers in late gestation have IMI (intramammary infection), most of which is coag negative staph. One time treatment of these heifers is much more effective at 14 days prior to calving than at the day of calving. Can do it at the same time they’re getting their feet trimmed, while in a chute. Any lactating treatment (commercial tubes) will be effective. - Recommended J5 vaccination protocol is at dry off, mid-dry period, two weeks post calving and at 120- 150 DIM. Cows’ immune systems for bacterial immunity is poor and lasts only about 4 months. - For young calves, to prevent Salmonella, Pasteurella, and E. coli vaccinate with 3cc of J5 Sub Q at 3 and 10 days of age. Calves must be in good body condition and have had adequate colostral transfer (TP>5.5) for this to work. - Frequent milking in early lactation. If you’re going to do it, star |