Animal Health Calendar – Reminders

Use local anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory pain relief when disbudding calves of any age

The only method of disbudding of calves that is legally permissible in Ireland is disbudding by thermal cauterization of animals up to 28 days old. It is illegal to disbud or dehorn calves over 14 days old without using a local anaesthetic. Tirlán’s recommendation, and international best practice, is that local anaesthetic and an anti-inflammatory (NSAID) pain killer, obtained from your local vet, should be administered to all calves undergoing disbudding. Caustic dehorning paste must not be used.

When using a calf crate, make sure the calf is well restrained, without causing distress or hampering the calf’s breathing. If a calf crate is not available, have a second person restrain the calf throughout the disbudding procedure. Watch: Tirlán Vet, Joris Somers, demonstrate best practice calf disbudding https://youtu.be/U8d5ar7G7cQ

ANIMAL HEALTH CALENDAR – REMINDERS:

Parasite control

Use this year’s Herd Disease Screening results and dosing history to determine if dry cows need treatment for stomach worms and whether to use a clear wormer or white drench. Remember to include additional lice treatments if using white drenches for stomach worm treatment.

Liver Fluke

Use the Herd Disease Screening data to determine the herd’s exposure to liver fluke and the need for fluke dosing. Plan the necessary fluke control during winter housing.

Dry cows

Maintain dry cow Body Condition Score at 3 – 3.25 and supplement with quality dry cow mineral to avoid difficult calvings and reduce the risk of retained cleanings, milk fever and ketosis after calving. For cows in the right body condition, the tail head ligament is still visible, but the pin bones are not angular and are covered with a good pinch of fat. The hook ligament is well covered and barely discernable. Hook bones are smooth to rounded, the spine is smooth and the last 2 ribs are just about visible.

Lameness

Use regular footbathing during the winter to keep on top of infectious causes of lameness such as Mortellaro and foul-inthe-foot.

Milk Recording

Start thinking about the milk recording plan for 2023. To implement Selective Dry Cow Therapy, ideally 6 milk recordings throughout the year will be required to have accurate individual cow data at the end of lactation. The first milk recording should take place within 60 days from the start of calving to have insight into dry cow mastitis management. The last milk recording should take place no more than 30 days prior to drying off to avoid unknowingly drying off a high cell count cow without an antibiotic tube.

DECEMBER SEASONALITY PAYMENT

2022 Seasonality Premium Payment on this year’s seasonality bonus payment consists of 4.0 cpl for eligible milk in December 2022, 4.0 cpl for eligible milk supplied in January and 3.0 cpl for eligible milk supplied in February 2023 (all figures are inclusive of VAT). Eligibility for the 2022 Seasonality Scheme is open to Creamery Milk Suppliers for all milk supplied. Additionally, then Autumn Calving Scheme and/or Liquid Milk suppliers are also eligible for Seasonality premium payment on volumes which are not already subject to premium payments. To receive seasonal payment premium, milk supplied needs to achieve the following criteria: • ≥4.35% lactose; • Average SCC < 350,000 cells/ml; • Average TBC < 50,000 cfu/ml (results

used for month-end calculation for the payment period); • Milk collections with a TBC result greater than 1,000,000 cfu/ml, no

Seasonality premium will be paid on these collection volumes.

Please liaise with your local Milk Supply Manager for individual queries or advice on how to ensure you achieve the seasonality payment.

PRE-CALVING VACCINATIONS FOR SPRING CALVING COWS

ANTIBIOTICS

A vital tool in reducing the dependency on antibiotics to control diseases in Irish dairy herds is the increased uptake of vaccines to prevent diseases in the first place. However, fitting more vaccines into the calendar between all the other important dates, chores and events on farm may seem like an impossible task. The winter time, especially in spring-calving herds, may very well be the ideal time to plan some of these vaccines, both from a labour and animal health point of view. Most vaccination schedules are now based on 12 month booster intervals, so it doesn’t really matter what time of the year the vaccine is given to offer year-round animal health benefits. For those vaccines that require a 6 month booster interval, this can still be scheduled as one of the winter vaccines, without getting in the way of the important early weeks of the spring breeding season. There is no harm in vaccinating cows early to, for example, bring the traditional annual booster from March or April forward into December or January.

Vaccinating cows in late lactation or during the dry period will find these cows in better condition, with lower stress levels and a more balanced metabolic and mineral status compared to cows in the first 2 – 3 months after calving. This aids in achieving an optimal immune response to vaccines, resulting in better animal health outcomes and improved colostrum quality.

Which vaccines can be used as part of a winter vaccination programme?

In general, any vaccine which has a 12 month proven duration of immunity can be given as the annual booster during the winter months. Vaccines against Lepto, BVD, IBR, Salmonella, Lungworm and Clostridial disease all qualify for this approach. For some of these vaccines, giving the cows’ booster during the later stages of pregnancy can contribute to improved calf health by either lowering the infectious load in the calves’ environment (in the case of the Salmonella vaccine) or by boosting the level of protective immunoglobulins in the colostrum fed to the calf (in the case of the Clostridial disease vaccines). Giving cows an annual booster against Clostridial disease 8 to 2 weeks before calving can provide protection for the calf against certain causes of bloat and tetanus for up to 12 weeks of age, if colostrum management is optimal. Another example of a cow vaccine designed to prevent disease in calves is the scour vaccine. The scour vaccine (Bovillis Rotavec Corona) is specifically designed to boost colostrum quality to protect the calf against the early onset of scour during the first two weeks after calving. For this to be successful, the vaccine needs to be given to pregnant animals 12 to 3 weeks before calving and colostrum needs to be fed to calves in adequate volume (at least 3 litres) quickly after birth (within 2 hours) with continued feeding of small amounts of colostrum or transition milk over the next 7 days offering continued protection. Take a moment this time of year to review your herd’s vaccination plan and identify any diseases that may be more efficiently controlled by vaccinating the entire herd this winter.

This is a high risk time for accidental antibiotic contamination.

• Keeping antibiotics out of dairy products is vital. That’s why all loads are screened on arrival at factory sites, and individual supplier testing also occurs at the laboratory. • A positive load will delay a driver, and the supplier involved will incur significant cost. There will also be a follow up visit from DAFM as all positive occurrences are required to be reported to DAFM. • Always mark cows before treating them.

You avoid forgetting to mark them this way. • Use whiteboard and plenty of marking spray or tape to ensure everyone is aware of which cows are out of the tank.

• Use products exactly in line with the treatment instructions. And follow the withdrawal period guidelines. • Ensure the cows being dried off are immediately removed from the milking herd when treated with dry cow antibiotics and sealers. • Watch that you use the correct lactating cow treatments and dry cow treatments.

Be careful not to give the wrong type of type to cows. • Record all animal treatments in your animal remedies records.

• Use an antibiotic test kit to check any cows you are unsure of. These are available from your Milk Supply Manager or direct from TirlanFarmLife.