Newsletter
May 2019
In this edition... • • • •
Case of the month Dairy Talk - Genomics Q&A Upcoming Events & Training Courses VetTech Tails - TBAS Update www.llmfarmvets.co.uk 1
Contents •
People’s Pages.........................................................................................4
•
News.........................................................................................................5
•
Upcoming Events and Training Courses...................................................6
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Classifieds.................................................................................................7
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Case of the Month.....................................................................................8
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Beef Bulletin - Parasitic Gastroenteritis.....................................................9
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Dairy Talk - Genomics Q&A.......................................................................10
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Ewes News - 3 major things to consider when thinking about weaning....12
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VetTech Tails - TBAS Update....................................................................14
Whitchurch...........01948 663000 Eccleshall.............01785 472211 Wrexham..............01978 280580 Pharmacy.............01948 302424 Accounts..............01948 663059 LLM Vet Team Den Leonard 07970 267494 Bill May 07968 318493 Simon King 07973 271754 Tom Wright 07590 183804 Dan Stevenson 07894 586233 Mike Christie 07775 561820 Sarah Gibbs 07711 593783 Hannah Batty 07841 919227 Rob Hall 07889 408092 Claire Whittle 07841 775695 Tom Jackson 07837 291097 2
Tom Downes 07703 189224
Raquel Teixeira 07889 599810 Peter Neilson 07889 595908
Lancashire Vets Ian Cure 07590 225284 Rob Howe 07590 225283 Matt Hylands 07584 684919 Alun Beckett 07850 326432 Roland Millar 07894 406225 Matt Haslam 07502 994708
Derbyshire Vets Andrew Henderson 07841 675549 Katie Fitzgerald 07765 644909
Lancashire...........01772 866014 Clitheroe...............01200 545456 Bakewell...............01629 691692
VetTech Team
UKET Team
Natalie Parker 07841 775697
UKET Office 01948 663124
Emily Hallett 07845 817070
Spike Newman 07921 374036
Rachel Cooper 07834 547832
Stan Matthews 07971 118909
Bertie Martin 07711 593780
TB Team
Steph Cowgill 07505 443231
Janka Zaleska 07894 586231
Joe Wheeler 07849 835379
Alberto Alaman 07720 737872
Jo Brown 07841 501655
Des Leonard 07811 342289
Vikki Stockdale 07730 765543
Cristina San-Agustin 07850 326433 Simion Tiberiu Piticariu 07720 740881 Emilio Martinez 07907 410983 Megan Thorpe 07714 770328 Lilli Fox 07889 580432
Welcome to the May edition of your newsletter! Welcome to the May newsletter, it’s been a busy time across the three LLM practices. Here in Lancashire, March signalled the start of lambing and it’s been all hands on deck assisting our sheep clients during this crucial part of the year. However the job has been made easier by the brilliant weather we’ve had recently and the lambs in the fields look to be growing really well.
office team in early May.
Planning for the Lancs 10 year anniversary party is going well. It sounds like its going to be a really good event, make sure you put the 6th of July in your diaries!
And another “Case of the Month” for you from Pete, our new vet in Whitchurch. He had an interesting post mortem case which when investigated was caused by mesenteric vessel rupture. This condition doesn’t have any concrete solutions, but you can find out more in his article on page 8.
We’ve also had a few staff changes up here. Katie Harrison has left to start a new career in nutrition, we wish her well. Hannah Drew has started within our office team and we look forward to welcoming June Edmondson to the
In dairy talk this month we do a Q&A session with Mike on genomic testing what is it? Is it worth it? How? Do I go on about it? Hannah gives us this month’s “Ewe’s News” on weaning lambs. A crucial area to get right to maintain growth weights.
Hope you enjoy it and i’ll see you on farm soon! Alun
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People Pages INTRODUCING...
annah
Dominique & H
Dominique Hollins Dominique joins our support team in Lancs, mainly based at Clitheroe. She joined the practice in January and comes from a farm vet practice where she worked for over 8 years, so is very familiar with all the wonderful things that go on in a livestock practice! Dominique doesn’t come from a farming background, but working in practice she does have a soft spot for goats watch that space. Originally Dominique studied art and photography at college and set design in London (We will be intrigued to get Dominique’s thoughts on the Lucky Cow!) She lives nearby with her partner and two year old son, and is a big music lover. Sundays are made for walking, lunch and a pint at the pub - nothing better!
Hannah Drew Hannah is our newest member of the Lancashire support team based mainly in Preston. Hannah moved to Lancashire from Cambridgeshire (200 Miles) in March 2018 to live with her partner whose parents farm beef and sheep in Lowgill. She had previously worked in a large animal and equine practice but hadn’t seen a dairy cow until she moved up north! She has gained experience lambing and milking sheep and also working for a cattle AI company. When she’s not working at LLM she enjoys spending time being passenger in a tractor or helping out on the farm. She also enjoys watching rugby, supporting Northampton Saints and is a keen member of Vale o Lune young farmers. One day she hopes to have a few sheep of her own.
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Tom Downes We’re sad to say that Tom Downes will be leaving the Whitchurch practice in June. Some of you may be aware that Tom is from Aberystwyth and he’s taken the opportunity to move back to help run his dad’s vet practice. It’s an exciting opportunity for Tom and we would like to wish him the best of luck!
News BVD Zero Award Finalist Who knew we have a BVD champion in our midst?! Raquel kept this one very under wraps. Last year, Raquel was a finalist in the BVD Zero Award which is run each year by Boehringer. The award is essentially to raise awareness of BVD cases throughout Europe and to encourage farms to ascertain their disease status. Raquel submitted a case from one of her clients in the Galicia region of Spain. A few facts about the farm: • • •
•
herd fertility. The strategy following this was to detect and remove all PI’s from the herd and vaccinate using a live vaccine. The farm was disease free for years and was vaccinating, so it’s a really good reminder of the importance of biosecurity and closing vaccination loopholes. If you want more information please get in touch.
600 head herd with 280 milking Closed herd for 20 years Very good biosecurity - each worker has their own locker and on farm PPE BVD vaccination since 2010 (inactivated BVD) and serology testing
Investigation started when there was an increase in the incidence of spontaneous abortion and embryonic loss. There was also a slight increase in the number of open days and serves to conception - indicating a decline in
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! e m i T w o h S It’s
And before you know it, it’s that time of year again! Come and join us at the shows:
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Staffordshire Show 29th & 30th May
Great Eccleston Show 13th & 14th July
Garstang Show 3rd August
Derbyshire Show 23rd June
Nantwich Show 31st July
UK Dairy Day 11th September
Newport Show 13th July
Oswestry Show 3rd August
Hodder Valley 14th September
Just to confuse you all, we want to make sure that everyone's aware we have two anniversaries this year! LLM Whitchurch are celebrating 20 years and LLM Lancs are celebrating 10 years - two different parties but a whole lot of fun! •
Lancs 10 year party - Saturday 6th July
•
Whitchurch 20 year party - Saturday 20th July
#PartyPlanningCentral
Training Courses Training Course
Date
Time
Location
Artificial Insemination
15th - 17th May 11th - 13th Sep
10:30am 3:00pm
LLM Whitchurch, SY13 4AQ
MilkSure Training
Tuesday 4th June
11:00am 2:00pm
LLM Whitchurch, SY13 4AQ
We have decided to put on a group training session for the first half of the Milk Sure training programme, to help you spread the cost of the training. The course cost is £80 and includes lunch. However please note, to complete the training you need to register with MilkSure and complete the second half on farm. This is not included in the cost. Whitchurch - please call 01948 663000 to book onto the above courses 6
Classifieds For Sale
Simmental Bulls For Sale
15 calf hutches in very good condition. Collection from the Newport area. Please call 07740 512137 for more information.
BVD, IBR and Lepto Vaccinated and Johne’s accredited. Good temperament and easy calving.
Herdsperson Herdsperson position available near Newport, Shropshire. Please call Martin for more information - 07971 815389 Big Bale Silage For Sale DM 29.3%, D-value 67, Protein 17%. Collection from Norbury, Whitchurch Contact 07815 636958.
Please call 07714 089001 or 07907 410983 Full or part time help wanted On 200+ dairy farm & followers, experience preferred. Duties include milking, feeding & general stock assistance. North Shropshire - Whitchurch / Ellesmere. Tel: 07812 373482 Email: roger.edwards9@icloud.com Dairy Calf Rearer Wanted Friendly Family Run Farm, Lancashire Training not required but attention to detail is a must For more details contact Eileen: 07851 781448
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Case of the month
Mesenteric vessel rupture Claire is happily revelling in her new status as “Teat Pea Queenâ€? following the last case of the month we had in March. This time we have a new case from our newest team member Pete. Unfortunately, in some investigations, a solution is not available... I was called to post mortem a cow that had milk drop the night before and appeared unwell but had now been found dead the next morning. She was blown up on her side having been moved to a more suitable location for a post mortem. First incision made‌ WHOOSH. So much blood came pouring out of the hole! I continued making the hole bigger and more and more blood came out. Large blood clots were present throughout the abdomen. Bleeding out into the abdomen is a rare cause of death in cattle and there are a number of causes including abomasal ulcers, vessel rupture, ruptured uterine arteries and a selection of other more uncommon causes. In this case, the abomasum was normal and no abnormalities were identifiable. The blood vessels supplying the guts are the mesenteric vessels; in this case the vessels which had ruptured seemed to be next to the third stomach, the omasum. 8
The cause of the vessel ruptures is unknown; the only paper that exists is an American study of Holsteins from 2007, which identified a weakness in the blood vessel wall. It seems to be genetic in nature, with cases of it being related to certain lines of cattle but not always, often presenting in single cases in single farms only. The APHA have published a letter which suggests that it is getting more common, but the reason is still unknown.
Strangely in this case, there have been four or five different well conditioned, Scandinavian cross cows that have died of this condition. The underlying cause in this case is likely genetic but it is very hard to prove. This is because there is unfortunately no test for the genes and there is no treatment as cows lose a tremendous amount of blood in very little time and the clinical signs associated with it are vague.
on farm, we can also meet the carcase at a knacker yard. A legal note – any sudden, unexplained deaths in cattle should be reported to APHA as an Anthrax enquiry may be required.
A strange case and a frustrating one as no treatment or prevention are possible for animals with this condition at this current time! Despite the unfortunate outcome in this case, a post mortem for animals that have died can be invaluable for learning about disease - congenital or otherwise that may be present on your farm. If you do not want a post mortem
Beef Bulletin
Assess performance regularly to monitor Parasitic Gastroenteritis Young stock that have been housed over the winter following their first or second grazing season may still be at risk from Parasitic Gastroenteritis (PGE).
diarrhoea, with appetite and body weight loss. Numbers affected are usually low, but mortality can be high. Hopefully a control strategy is in place (if not, give us a call and we can assess the risk!)
It’s not been a cold winter, so again the larvae won’t have been killed off and still presents a risk this spring.
It’s always important to monitor performance through weight gain and diagnostics to ensure the control plan is working. If you’re at all concerned, please give us a call.
The disease presents as intermittent
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Dairy Talk
Genomic Testing Q&A
Genomic testing has been used by AI companies for years to accelerate the genetic progress of bulls, but it is now being used for females. The benefits of genomic testing in a dairy herd are being increasingly explored in the industry. We asked Mike Christie, “Mr Genetics”, some questions:
In short, testing?
what
is
genomic
Genomic testing is simply the process of identifying the genetic potential of an animal and their offspring. It is well established in helping identify the traits of sires for selection, and it is now increasingly being used in commercial dairy herds on heifers. Obviously, like humans, each animal has a unique set of genes. Depending on your chosen breeding traits and strategy, some animals will be better suited to increasing your herd genetic merit more quickly than others.
How can it benefit a herd? With the genomic testing results, you can identify the top animals to breed from based on your desired traits. Rearing a heifer replacement isn’t cheap; I think the figure is currently around an average of £1800, so genomic testing also gives the opportunity for you to become a bit more ruthless with your breeding strategy. 10
Identify those top heifers, 1st and 2nd lactation cows for replacements and utilise the lower ranked animals for beef or sale if they don’t align with your strategy. Furthermore, sexed semen can be targeted more efficiently, thus giving an immediate saving on sexed semen costs and breeding more lower ranking heifers to beef. This can help towards cash flow whilst boosting genetics in the herd.
Can any dairy herd carry out genomic testing? If milk recording, all herds should have access to the AHDB Herd Genetic Report, however, as suggested you have to wait until after first calving to establish her genetic merit. With alternative genomic testing, such as Clarifide which has come over from the US, samples are taken from young stock and checked against a number of index’s. Currently, you must be one of six breeds (Holstein, British Friesian, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, Jersey and Ayrshire) and at approximately 87.5% purebred in order to get reliable results.
What age can heifers be tested from? The benefit of the Clarifide test and other tests from semen companies is that testing can be carried out as early as needed. We would probably recommended it’s carried out well before serving so that you can utilise
the results for maximum effect - but many do carry it out after weaning, to avoid any loss.
What figures do you get back and are they reliable? The results are 60-65% accurate. This is pretty good compared to simply using parent averages which is around 25%. The actual figures reported on include: •
Production - milk, fat and protein
•
Fertility
•
Lifespan, maintenance, temperament, ease of milk
•
TB Advantage
•
Locomotion and Condition Score
•
Milk Protein Components
•
Genetic recessives (e.g. haplotypes)
•
Verifying correct parentage (up to 10% of parentage is incorrect)
•
PLI
Why are vets being involved in breeding strategy? Genetics and breeding strategy is a large aspect of herd health and genomics is a very scientific area in which many vets can help advise on, especially in relation to breeding outcomes that might affect herd performance. That said, everything works better when used in a team approach on farm and breeding advisors, if you have one, play a huge part in this. Hopefully this gave you a very brief overview of genomic testing. It’s quite a meaty subject so if you have more questions about genomic testing, please let us know or ask your vet. Our Clarifide trained vets are Mike, Rob Hall and Roland.
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Ewes News
Three major things to consider when thinking about weaning Weaning will be on the horizon for many flocks now. There are several factors that can affect the success of weaning so it’s obviously a crucial period for lamb and ewe health. The ultimate aim is to wean without affecting growth rates – simple? When to wean? There is no fixed answer for this question, as it is influenced by many factors such as ewe body condition score (BCS), feed availability and lamb growth rates. Continually assessing the ewe BCS and lamb growth rates can give a good indication of the ewes’ milk supply and group health status. A sensible time to start thinking about weaning is eight weeks after the midpoint of lambing. At this point, you should consider these three things:
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Assess the body condition of ewes
This is to judge how they are coping with the increasing demand that growing lambs put on their energy reserves. If ewes are looking a bit on the lean side two months after the midpoint of lambing it may be prudent to wean earlier, thus giving the ewes sufficient time to regain the required condition for tupping. It is generally accepted that it can take seven to eight weeks for a ewe to gain one body condition ‘score’ on unrestricted grazing, and ewes that
are tupped at the correct BCS tend to have more lambs during the following lambing season.
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Weigh the lambs to assess their growth rates.
In the first eight weeks of a lamb’s life the target growth rate should be greater than 250g/day. There are several factors which could have a negative impact on this growth rate including a parasitic burden and poor levels of milk production or forage quality. If you have a high percentage of lambs not reaching this target growth rate then further investigation is definitely warranted. We can examine faecal samples at our in-house lab to check for work eggs or coccidiosis. Weaning should be triggered once lamb growth rates are less than 200g/day and lambs should be moved onto better forage.
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Have a plan to reduce stress
Ideally weaned lambs should be moved onto a pasture type that they are familiar with. It is also beneficial for this land to be out of sight and sound of the ewes. Because of the immaturity of the digestive system at
birth, it can take up to three weeks for the rumen to transition onto a new feed type, and evidence shows that lambs perform better on feed that they have experienced with their mothers. Weaning is a stressful time for any animal, and therefore any management tasks such as vaccination or worming should be performed a few weeks before or after weaning. The stress caused at weaning can impede the immune response, particularly to
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vaccines, thus increasing the lamb’s susceptibility to disease. So all of these factors need to be considered when planning your flock’s weaning strategy. Speak to any of the sheep team to discuss what monitoring programmes may be helpful in planning for this period and to talk about how we can reduce the impact of other diseases or stresses on ewes and lambs at this time.
Be aware of Blowfly Strike
Now that the warmer weather has arrived we are well on our way into the blowfly season. Our quick fire guide will set you up ready to beat the flies:
tative preven a f o n QP pplicatio ith your vet/S a – n io t Preven oduct (check w product). e pr l a t effectiv topic s o m e for th
ends ty back ir d e c u d s • Re burden trol worm n o C • sheep pt of lame t n e s, prom tm a (fly trap astures less n • Tre o ti la ing p popu ck, graz nage fly • Ma sal of dead sto dispo ies). ble to fl ! favoura prompt
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– must
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area effected re ti the n e t to kill t p the produc • Cli os te a m ri r p fo appro SQP n t/ a e v ly h p it • Ap ots (check w magg ct) r vet to e produ k to you er a e p effectiv s d cov f an ain relie ments to p e r ir e u q id s n any re • Co ere are al infections. ri see if th te c a ary b second
Cause its egg – The green s bo dirty b in decompos ttle fly lays ack en in g matt ds and open w er, on ounds Econo . m sugge ics – figures st that fr o m 201 Blowfl the sh 5 ys eep in dustry trike costs £2.2m /year. Early s igns – irritatio at the tail h n, n discom ead, rubbin ibbling g fort in lame a , further nimals Severe . s fleece igns – disco , fleec lo ured/d e loss, amp sic death. k animals,
tails TBAS Update Joe Wheeler from our VetTech team is one of our trained TBAS advisors. Hopefully you will have heard of the funded service available to farmers in the high risk and edge areas. Joe’s been doing visits since the end of last year and gives us an update. We have been doing TBAS visits for several months now and each visit has been really positive with several outcomes for improvements that could be made to help reduce their chance of getting TB. This makes our visits a lot more rewarding knowing that the farm is fully involved in improving their defences. A key question often discussed is the value in post movement testing of cattle. If cattle are grazed on a relief block and they are pre movement tested, why should we post movement test? TBAS was set up to help minimise the risk and therefore the damage caused
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by TB. As seen in certain areas, more testing can lead to finding more TB (the move to six month testing). Some may find this a negative, but as a collective, the sooner we find infected animals the sooner they are removed and a healthier herd exists. The advantage of post movement testing animals, and isolating them until they are clear reduces the risks of any false negatives being missed. We have had some really great advisory visits, but there is room for more uptake. This service is fully funded for you, so it would be great to see more of our clients taking it up. We have also got access to four wildlife cameras that we can set up and hire out if you are interested in identifying wildlife entering feed areas etc. Please give Nat or Joe a call for more information: Natalie Parker - 07841 775697 Joe Wheeler - 07849 835379
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Midlands Whitchurch Old Woodhouses, Broughall, Whitchurch, SY13 4AQ 01948 663000 Eccleshall Unit 19A Raleigh Hall Ind Est, Eccleshall, Staffordshire, ST21 6JL 01785 472211 North Wales Wrexham Unit 24, The Bridgeway Centre, Wrexham Ind Est, LL13 9QS 01978 280580 Lancashire Preston 136 Whittingham Lane, Broughton, Preston, PR3 5DD 01772 866014 Clitheroe Unit 2 Deanfield Court, Link 59 Business Park, Clitheroe, BB7 1QS 01200 545456 Derbyshire Bakewell Riverside Business Park, Buxton Road, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1GS 01629 691692
www.lambertleonardmay.co.uk info@llmvets.co.uk To unsubscribe from our newsletter, please email info@llmvets.co.uk