ANIMAL MANAGEMENT
Maximising The Beef Weaning Period With warm weather and late summer rains, autumn provides great opportunities for growth in your newly weaned calves. These favourable conditions can also cause animal health challenges, including growth suppression and the death of your valuable young stock. With good management however, these losses can be prevented.
Converge® is an ideal choice for beef
Good pasture growth in autumn offers
A good preventative drenching
ideal conditions for the survival of
program, using effective, combination
gastrointestinal parasites on pasture,
oral drenches every 4 weeks through
creating a considerable build-up of
the autumn, prevents the build-up
infective larvae challenging your beef
of infective larvae on your pasture,
weaners and depressing growth. These
reducing parasite challenge and the
losses are often underrated and by the
associated losses in beef cattle. Used
time you see the clinical signs - such
in conjunction with refugia, good
as scouring - a parasite burden may
quality pasture, cross-grazing and
have already caused considerable
drench checks, maintaining an effective
reductions in growth rates.
parasite management plan on-farm
There are two main parasite species
farm can be implemented. Talk to your
we are concerned about in young
animal health advisor about putting a
cattle in New Zealand. Cooperia
good preventative program for parasite
sp. particularly in young stock, with
control in place at the start of autumn.
significant burdens on pasture building
Protection against clostridial disease is
up in the autumn depressing appetite
also an important consideration for your
and growth. Cooperia sp. resistant to
beef weaners this autumn. Clostridial
the ML or “mectin” family of drenches
spores are found almost everywhere.
are widespread with levamisole the only
Some exist as spores in soil for
active that has retained good efficacy
decades; others survive for a whole
against this species.1 Don’t forget about
lifetime in otherwise healthy stock,
Ostertagia sp. which are the most
cropping up in an animals muscles, gut
harmful worms in cattle of all ages.
or liver. Clostridial diseases in cattle
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weaners as it contains both levamisole and abamectin. For extra protection from resistance we have Alliance®. A triple combination that contains oxfendazole on top of levamisole and abamectin. If resistance is a concern, the use of a triple combination drench is an excellent choice. Both drenches can also be used in your sheep keeping things simple and reducing wastage.
include malignant oedema, tetanus, pulpy kidney, black disease and blood poisoning. Often the first you will see of these diseases is the sudden death of the biggest calves, with risk factors including unvaccinated/improperly vaccinated animals, wounds and injury, liver damage and fast-growing animals on good quality feed. Prevention by vaccination is your only option. Multine® 5-in-1, developed, manufactured, tested and proven in New Zealand is an excellent choice. Full protection with Multine® requires an initial sensitizer and then a booster 4-6 weeks later, with full immunity developing after the booster dose. To maximise the success of your beef weaning period, make sure you have a good animal health plan in place, to help ensure that weaning goes as smoothly as possible, therefore ensuring that the stock are well set up for good growth and optimal health. For further information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store. Article Supplied by MSD Animal Health CVM No: A10119, A10249, A000934, A8214 ®Registered trademark. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Phone: 0800 800 543. www.coopersonline.co.nz NZ-ALL-201100001 1. TS Waghorn et al (2006). Prevalence of anthelmintic resistance o 62 beef cattle farms in the North Island of New Zealaund. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 54(6), 278-282
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