ISSUE 60 Summer/Autumn 2017
Livestock www.paragonvet.com
NEWS
Inside this issue: Staff News Paragon Flock Club Fly Control Lungworm Case of the month ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY
Summer/Autumn2017
Staff news Shona Mouncey We are delighted to welcome Shona Mouncey to the Paragon Farm Team. Shona will be joining us in August and will be working out of both Newbiggin and Dalston as one of the farm vet team. Shona is an experienced vet who has been working in the South East in farm animal practice for the past 8 years and is re-locating back up North, originally being from the South West of Scotland.
LDA Audit As part of our ethos on providing clinical excellence and the best client care we are undertaking an audit of all the LDA’s we perform. This audit will look at all aspects of the different procedures for correcting LDA’s and will run for a 12 month period. When a vet corrects an LDA they will be completing a questionnaire on the procedure. We will be contacting you after 30 days and 12 months to see how the cow has got on to assess longer term success. We anticipate that this audit will provide us with useful information to use on farm and appreciate your help with this. Any questions please discuss the LDA audit with any of the farm
Dalston Show Saturday 12th August 2017 We are looking forward to another great day this year at Dalston Show. Please come and join the farm team at the Paragon stand for some refreshments!
LIVESTOCK NEWS
Summer/Autumn2017
Paragon Flock Health Club Paragon will be more involved in the future of sheep farming in our area. We are in a period of great uncertainty in the sheep world due to leaving the EU, subsidies ending and pressures to reduce antibiotic usage. We are putting together a sheep club, where we can work as a team to help improve the efficiency and productivity of your sheep enterprise. We know that some farms are achieving great performance figures e.g. scanning percentage, low barren rates, ewe cull rates, lameness rates, lamb growth rates, reduction in wormer usage, mineral and trace element balance. The question is CAN WE DO BETTER? The aim of the club is to bring together farmers from the local area to discuss topical issues, disease prevention, nutrition and much more. As a member of the club you will enjoy the benefit of 4 meetings a year, regular sheep specific newsletters discounted tests and investigations. We hope to encourage data collection on farm to allow you to monitor any improvements made and compare yourselves to similar enterprises in the area to analyse performance. We feel this offers good value for money and hope that when using the above services it will provide both us and yourself with useful information about your farm. This information will allow us both to make informed choices about the flock health planning on your farm What will the Flock Health Club include? £15 per month subscription For this you will receive the following: - 4 meetings a year - 2 evening meetings including a meal and topical discussions - 1 on Farm meeting – practical workshop - Free trip to Scotsheep or Northsheep, including bus and entry - 2 free post mortems per year (value £60) - 3 free worm egg counts (value £30) - Free annual flock health review which you can be used to comply with farm assurance inspection (value £100) - Regular sheep specific newsletter/emails – information on current or new products - Free visit for trace element sampling and possible support with laboratory fees - 15% off all tup semen testing on centre (@NB)
LIVESTOCK NEWS
Summer/Autumn2017
Fly Control With the warm weather comes the unwanted presence of flies such as midges, headfly and blowfly. While many of us are aware of the nuisance of flies and midges buzzing around our face or the nastier occasional bite, flies have been shown to have a direct impact on production. Whether directly disrupting grazing and reducing milk yields and growth rates or by spreading disease such as Infectious Bovine Keratoconjuctivits ('New Forest Eye') and, the hot topics at present, Bluetongue and Schmallenberg. The primary risk period runs from May until September but can be as early as April and as late as October depending on conditions. As with most things, a successful fly control programme requires action on multiple fronts - the animal and the environment. Basic steps such as moving dung heaps away from animals and ensuring yards and sheds are clean, mucked out and with good drainage can make a big difference to fly numbers and are the fundamentals of any fly control policy. Probably the most widely used method of control is treating the animal. Early treatment at the start of the season gets the best results. Most of these products are based on compounds known as synthetic pyrethroids and come as pour-on and spot-on formulations or impregnated in ear tags. We have been able to negotiate a competitive price for both Spotinor and Butox Swish. Please see details below.
Spotinor from 59p per cow (2.5L pack) 4-8 weeks coverage
Butox Swish from 73p per cow (12L value pack) 8-10 weeks coverage
If you would like to find out more about fly control in general please do not hesitate to speak to one of the vets who would be happy to help. LIVESTOCK NEWS
Summer/Autumn2017
Lungworm – a coughing problem? Lungworm is becoming more frequent once again. Historically, lungworm problems have been most commonly associated with youngstock, but a greater proportion of cases are now being reported in adult animals. This alarming escalation in disease outbreaks is apparently due to a combination of reduced exposure with set stocked youngstock pastures, the use of longacting wormers in calves, reduction in vaccine use and changes in weather patterns. A recently published study looking at the costs of severe lungworm infection in two Dutch dairy herds showed that both farms lost over £130 per cow to their disease outbreaks. On both units over 80% of these costs were down to lost production – through a combination of depressed milk yield and cattle deaths. UK evidence suggests a cost of £1.50 - £3 per head per day in lost production and up to 20 days to recover. A spell of mild, wet weather can create a sudden, dramatic increase in lungworm populations, which can be very harmful, even fatal, to any stock that have little or no immunity. Even low-medium infestations will have an effect on health and production. In youngstock we have seen outbreaks of husk with open mouth breathing, severe coughing & deaths the resulting consequences. In adult animals, the cilincal signs tend to be more subtle. Milk drop, unexplained high temperatures, and mild coughing in grazed cows are the main signs. At this time of year the main control for lungworm is through the use of targeted anthelmintics. In youngstock we can test faecal samples for lungworm larvae to check prevalence. In adult dairy cows a bulk milk sample can be tested for exposure to lungworm. Eprecis is the latest generation of nil milk withdrawal wormers. We have been able to negotiate a competitive price for Bimectin Pour On and both Eprecis Pour On & Injectable. If you require any further information then speak to your vet or call the practice and have a chat.
LIVESTOCK NEWS
Summer/Autumn2017
Case of the Month By Charlotte Pennington At the end of May I was called to see Meg, a well bred pedigree Holstein calf (and also a favourite on the farm!). She had recently been turned out and on the daily stock check was noticed to be very lame. On closer inspection, there was a swelling on her right hind leg from the level of her claws up to the hock. On the inside of her leg there was a very large laceration. The wound was badly infected (oozing lots of pus!) and also very deep (into the tendons and almost to the bone). Due to the severity of the wound, unfortunately I didn’t have much hope for Meg’s prognosis.......However, after a discussion about the limited options it was decided to give her a chance: Initial treatment involved: - Extensively debriding and cleaning the wound - Intravenous antibiotics and painkillers - Applying a wet poultice bandage to draw the infection out - Placing Meg into a clean, well bedded pen First 2 Weeks Post Injury: For the next 2 weeks Meg remained on an intensive treatment plan. This included follow up antibiotics/painkillers as well as re dressing and cleaning the wound religiously every 2 days. (as long as the pus continued to come out we kept on going!) 2 weeks post injury Review After 2 weeks I was both surprised and pleased with the improvement… - The swelling had halved in size and was now contained to the fetlock. - The wound had finally stopped producing pus and was healing over with a healthy layer of granulation tissue ( see picture). Meg was also now starting use her leg much more effectively.
LIVESTOCK NEWS
Summer/Autumn2017 2-5weeks Post Injury Given the remarkable progress, I didn’t want to stop treatment entirely for risk of a relapse of the infection. Over the next 3 of weeks antibiotic therapy was reduced. The wound was left open to drain and was still cleaned daily. Manukha honey was also applied to encourage healing. End Result: I’m pleased to report that Meg has made a full recovery! The picture below was taken mid July. Other than a small scar, she is back to normal and now able to return to the field with the rest of the heifers. This amazing result was achieved due to the patience and dedication of all involved in Meg’s treatment and care. It is always nice when a case with a very poor initial prognosis surprises everyone with a happy outcome!
Meg now – see the close up picture of the scar.
Sheep abortion vaccines We are currently trying to secure supplies of Toxovax and Cevac Chlamydia abortion vaccine for the upcoming breeding season. Once again there are supply issues with Enzootic vaccine and we are trying to get our supplies secured so if you can give us an estimation of numbers of doses that you will require then we can get orders in.
Call the practice to order or if you have any further queries contact Philip Wilkinson on 07734388892 LIVESTOCK NEWS
Mastering Medicines Wednesday 9th August This October the new Red Tractor standards will be updated and one of the recommended areas is that all farms have one member of staff who has recently attended a medicines course to demonstrate the safe use and disposal of medicines. We will be running a series of Farmskills courses priced at ÂŁ50 per person that will fulfill the recommendations and attendees will all receive certificates of competence. "Mastering Medicines" Wednesday 9th August 10.30 - 2pm at the Dalston surgery. Places can also be reserved for the next course date on Tuesday 12th September. Places are limited so please reserve a place with Emily at Dalston.
Mastitis Meeting Thursday 14th September We are having an evening meeting open to all of our dairy clients in conjunction with Boehringer Ingelheim on mastitis. Please put the date in your diary! Further details of venue and topics to be discussed will be sent out to you all nearer the time!
Borderway Agri-Expo Friday 3rd November We will be at the event again this year so please come along and visit our stand for a catch up and refreshments!
Contact us: Paragon Veterinary Group
Townhead Veterinary Centre
Carlisle House, Townhead Road Dalston, Carlisle, CA5 7JF Tel: (01228) 710208 vets@paragonvet.com
Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: (01768) 483789 townhead@paragonvet.com