Potential animal health issues, tasks to consider and reminders for this month include…
Dairy – June 2026
Autumn calving herds:
Winter mating is upon us, and the cows should be at or near peak milk production.
It has been a good start to the winter if you don’t like the cold and mud, but grass growth is slow and now isn’t the time to cut corners with the winter milking cow’s nutrition as this can impact fertility.
Dry off the spring calving cows and/or pregnancy check suspected empty spring calving cows. Get rid of the freeloaders if feed is tight. Treat non-cycling cows early for best impact.
Autumn-born calves are going outside which can bring a few problems if it’s cold (and/or wet). Clean up the disbudding and complete the vaccination programs. Keep an eye on growth rates and investigate and rectify poor growth rates and/or scouring/sick calves early. Beware of weaning calves too quickly, too early, or too light and treat with trace elements at weaning to minimise any post-weaning disease.
Actions:
Milking cows:
- Non-cycling cows: Do you know which cows are not showing visible (or detectable) signs of cycling? An intervention synchrony program that uses a progesterone insert (e.g. a CIDR®) is a good way of giving these cows a mating chance when they may not otherwise get the opportunity to do so. It’s a waste and an opportunity cost letting non-cycling cows (or heifers) go through the mating period unmated. If the reproduction spend is limited focus on the valuable heifers and cows (2 and 3-year-olds, and high producing cows less than 8 years old). Animals that respond better to a non-cycling cow synchrony program are Jersey and cross breed, positive energy balance, good body condition, non-visible heat, early calving or disease free cows compared to Friesian, negative energy balance, poor body condition, true non-cycling, later calving or diseased (endometritis, metritis, mastitis, lame etc.) cows. From a milk production perspective, it’s more economical to treat non-cycling cows as early as possible with the fixed time artificial insemination timing occurring within the first few days of the mating period. Check out ‘Dairy cow reproduction’.
15-month-old autumn mating heifers:
- Heifer synchrony programs: Synchronising heifers with a fixed timed artificial insemination CIDR® synchrony program is becoming more popular to: minimise bobby calves; to get replacement heifers; to maximise genetic gains; to minimise bull numbers; and to calve the bulk of the heifers early giving them more time to cycle before their next mating period (first calving heifers normally take 7 to 10 days longer to start cycling than mature cows). We have been implementing a modified program for a couple of years now (more prostanglandin injections) and in well grown heifers (and in properly timed interventions within the program) we expect 60% + to hold to the AI event. Talk to your vet regarding this program if you’re interested. Check out ‘Research breakthrough in dairy heifer reproduction’.
- Drenching: If not already completed, drenching heifers for a parasite clean out prior to the bulls going out or on the first day of a heifer synchrony program may be required. This age group animal generally only needs a single active drench product containing a ‘mectin’, like Eprisure™, to clean out any Ostertagia worms.
Calves (on milk and weaned):
- Disbudding: June is a good time to clean up the last of the disbudding. Check any of the calves that were not disbudded, from the first groups of calves disbudded, as these may have been deemed polled at the time (no horn buds) but since developed horn buds that need removing. Check out ‘Calf disbudding’
- Clostridial vaccination: Calves should get 2 injections of a clostridial vaccine (Multine® 5-in-1 or Covexin 10) 4 – 6 weeks apart starting from 2 – 4 weeks of age. High value calves or calves going onto a winter forage crop – consider using Covexin® 10 over Multine® 5-in-1 for protection against a greater number of clostridial diseases. Check out “Calf vaccination and mineral treatment”
- Leptospiral vaccination: Calves should get 2 injections of, ideally Lepto 4-Way®, 4 to 6 weeks apart. Calves deemed at high risk of exposure (see next for further explanation) to leptospiral bacteria can be vaccinated from as young as 4 weeks of age. However, they must still receive a second dose 4 to 6 weeks after the first injection AND another at 6 months of age. Otherwise, start the vaccination program at 12 weeks of age. Check out ‘Lepto 4-way’
- Leptospirosis high-risk situations: Calves are at the highest risk of acquiring leptospirosis from about 4 to 7 weeks of age when maternally derived antibodies wear off (that’s if the mother has been vaccinated for that particular strain of leptospiral bacteria). High-risk situations include: grazing paddocks that hold water when wet, grazing paddocks that get periodically flooded, grazing paddocks that get contaminated with draining surface water and effluent (leptospiral bacteria can survive in damp soil and water for up to 6 months), grazing by water ways – especially slow moving water accessible to other mammalian species, grazing off-farm (e.g. contract calf rearing), exposure to rodent and possum urine, mixing with unvaccinated stock, and those born to unvaccinated mothers.
- Cold calves: It’s getting cold at night now so still be mindful of putting small or young calves outside without at least a contingency plan. Cold calves grow slower (or can even lose weight) and are more at risk of developing scouring and pneumonia diseases. Young calves (including weaned calves) should have shelter and enough feed to combat cold conditions especially wet, windy and cold conditions. Provide calf sheds, shelter belts, calf covers, extra meal and/or extra milk solids – the investment is worth it. For calves older than 3 weeks old, feed an extra 100 grams of milk powder or 600 to 700 ml of whole milk per day when the temperature drops below 100C to provide the extra energy to keep warm and to fight disease while maintaining some growth. We can order in some calf covers if required.
- Trace element supplementation at weaning: We recommend supplementing all calves with a product like MULTIMIN® Evolution at weaning (we recommend MULTIMIN® Evolution because it has the highest trace element profile of any other injectable trace element product in NZ) to boost immune function at a highly vulnerable and highly stressful time. Or supplement with a long-acting injectable selenium product like Selovin™ LA and a copper bolus product like Coppergain™. Check out “Looking after dairy weaners”
- Drenching at weaning: If there is a history or diagnosis of coccidiosis on farm or calves are ‘weaned’ off meal too quickly a product like Turbo® Initial is a good starting choice for the first post-weaning drench (it provides broad worm parasite coverage as well as helping to protect against coccidiosis). Otherwise, choose an oral combination drench product (that doesn’t contain the drench active abamectin) like Turbo® Advance.
Monitoring:
Milk production:
- Drops in milk production: Monitor daily milk production throughout the mating period. A big drop in production on any given day over mating can mean a big drop in conception rates to those cows mated around 12 days previously (12 days, give or take a few days, after a mating event is when a developing embryo implants to the side of the uterus to continue the pregnancy). Underfeeding, under estimating allocations, higher than expected wastage, poor weather, increased time off feed (e.g. increased time in the yards), using milking cows to control residuals can all affect intakes and daily milk production and most of these can be managed such that cows don’t go hungry during the mating period. Hungry cows 12 days after a big AI day (think fixed time AI after a CIDR® non-cycling cow program) can result in high early embryonic losses (which is seen as a poor conception rate on the big AI day when analysing mating results) that can be costly.
Calves:
- Poor growth rates and/or scouring calves: There are multiple reasons why calves aren’t growing well. First, look at their nutrition. Smaller breed calves (Jerseys, Wagyu) should be getting at least the equivalent of 750g of milk solids per day and the larger breeds 900+g of milk solids per day (as well as meal). More if they’re cold (see previous paragraph). Calves weaned too early or too light or too quickly can have rumen adaptation problems where they can’t handle solid feed or animals weaned onto poor quality feed could also be a problem. Dairy heifer replacement calves should be twice their birth weight around 7 weeks old. If not, there could be some inefficiencies in the system that might need investigating. We can help. For any poorly growing and scouring calves – get their faeces checked (get a diagnosis) by us as soon as the problem is noticed. Young calves inside could have rotavirus and/or cryptosporidium, and older calves outside could have also coccidia, yersinia and/or roundworm parasites. All require different treatment and management strategies. Scouring calves means inflammation and all should get an anti-inflammatory like Metacam® 20 as a base treatment even before a diagnosis is found.
Spring calving herds:
A lot of cows have been dried off with some late calving cows moved off farm for winter grazing. Rising 2-year-old heifers are getting or have been teat sealed and they are returning home and getting prepared for their first calving and for joining the herd and the younger heifers are off farm a month into May-to-May contracts. Animals may go onto a crop so watch out for excessive plant nitrates. Springer paddocks are getting shut up, some farm maintenance is occurring, and there will be some much-needed holidays occurring also. The end of June will also mark a period of pre-calving calf-scour preventative and mineral treatments as well as the first of the springer cows drafted out readying for calving.
Actions:
Paperwork and pre-calving discussions:
- Now is the time to clean up all the Restricted Veterinary Medicine requirements as well as the Fonterra Animal Well Being Plans ready for next season. It is also a good time to discuss springer management, transition macro-mineral supplementation, pre-calving calf scour preventative vaccines and trace element mineral supplementation injections.
Pregnant cow and heifer treatments:
- Calf scour preventative vaccinations: How well the following vaccines work depends on the health of the heifer/cow and the quality of the colostrum provided, the amount of colostrum ingested and the timing, relative to birth, the colostrum is given. These vaccines reduce the shedding in the faeces, and the severity and incidence of scours caused by the targeted pathogens.
- Bovilis® Cryptium vaccine booster injection: If you don’t yet know about this vaccine check out last month’s newsletter. A booster injection is required 4 to 5 weeks after the initial sensitiser injection and is to be administered at least 3 weeks out from calving (it can be given at the same time as the Rotavec® Corona or Scourguard® 4KC vaccines).
- Scourguard® 4KC vaccination: A vaccine covering Rotavirus (G6 & G10), Coronavirus & E.coli. Previously unvaccinated heifers or cows should receive 2 doses at least 3 weeks apart with the 2nd dose given 2 to 12 weeks prior to calving. An annual booster injection is required the following year to those animals that were either vaccinated with Scourguard® 4KC or Rotavec® Corona vaccines, 12 to 2 weeks prior to calving. Animals booster vaccinated 2 to 4 weeks prior to the start of calving will cover calves born in the 1st 8 to 10 weeks of calving.
- Rotavec® Corona vaccination: A vaccine covering Rotavirus (G6 & G10), Coronavirus & E.coli. Only 1 injection is required to all cows and heifers annually, 12 to 3 weeks prior to the start of calving.
- Trace element supplementation: A MULTIMIN® (or MULTIMIN® Evolution) injection 2 to 4 weeks prior to the start of calving helps reduce the incidence of clinical mastitis and somatic cell count (subclinical mastitis) across the herd and is useful as part of a herd mastitis management program and can be given at the same time as the calf scour vaccines. Trace minerals help boost immunity and improve the effectiveness of cattle vaccines when used as part of a vaccine protocol.
| Farm focus – the transition period: Transition (springer) period – 3 weeks prior to calving to 3 weeks after calving: For any calving cow or heifer (and for farm productivity and profitability) this is an important time as it is critical to the ongoing health and productivity of both cow and calf and it influences the seasons animal health, reproduction, production, and profitability metrics. Management and monitoring are critical. All cows need magnesium from somewhere prior to calving (magnesium oxide/Causmag, magnesium sulphate and magnesium chloride are the main magnesium sources) and all cows and heifers are low in calcium when they calve and need calcium asap (lime flour and calcium drenches or boluses are the main calcium sources). Pre-calving springer period – a guide: 14 to 21 days for healthy cows of body condition score of 4.5 to 6.0 producing less than 600 kgMS/cow/year.21 to 30 days for higher producing cows (> 600 kgMS/cow/year) and for problem cows: over fat cows, carry over cows, twins, submissive cows, very thin cows, liver disease, cows that have had facial eczema in the past, cows that have been eating fodder beet prior to going into the transition mob etc. A springer period less than 10 days is too short. Where does your historical milk fever rate sit? If your historical milk fever rate sits below 2% during the spring transition and calving period (and the cows are eating around 2.5 to 3% of their body weight in a balanced feed during that time), the system at a glance would appear to be working. Historical milk fever rates that are above this though, are likely to dampen productivity, reproductive and animal health performance that will affect your seasons profitability. Any reduction of milk fever is beneficial considering those milk fever cases you see are only the tip of the iceberg to a larger subclinical group of animals. We can help you reduce milk fever rates. |
Monitoring:
Post-drying off mastitis:
- Keep checking animals after drying off for signs of mastitis. Most dry cow mastitis cases are caused by environmental bacteria that are confined to the udder, but occasionally more severe mastitis cases occur causing a systemic infection that is life threatening. Sick mastitis cows require attention ASAP because toxin build up can leave them dead within 24 hours. A vet is often required as are fluids. In all mastitis cases use a longer acting anti-inflammatory like Metacam® 40 and strip out the affected quarters if possible. An antibiotic treatment is often required with an injectable mastitis treatment often better than simply using an intramammary. This is because when cows are dry, there is no milk for the intramammary treatment to diffuse through and get dispersed up into the udder. When the treatment is finished don’t follow up with a dry cow antibiotic as this risks an antibiotic grade at the start of next season.
Nitrate testing of crops and young/new grass:
- Nitrate poisoning (or toxicity), is a relatively common problem in grazing livestock in our temperate climate and often follows when livestock graze young and/or rapidly growing pastures and crops that haven’t converted all their nitrates into protein.
- Nitrate poisoning affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and can cause abortion and stillbirths in pregnant cattle up to a dramatic and sudden death of the affected animals.
- Monitoring is simple – bring any suspected pasture or crops in for testing prior to feeding. Samples need to be at least a full bread bag size. We can comment whether the feed is safe to consume or not. Check out the link ‘Nitrate poisoning’.
| Farm focus – managing 1st calving heifers: Too often, we find high empty rates in our 2-year-old heifers after their 2nd mating and the reasons mostly stem from management before and throughout their 1st calving period. And, generally, if they have poor reproductive performance after their 1st lactation, they have poor reproductive performance as 3 year olds – big wastages with big flow on effects. Underweight and/or small heifers going into calving are a big culprit. These are heifers less than 90% of their mature weight at the start of June – this includes the weight of the calf and placenta). Heifers will lose condition if they don’t go through a proper transition period, if they’re managed with bigger older cows once they have calved and/or if they’re milked twice a day from the get-go. They can’t compete when food resources get tight or if space is an issue. Because of this, they will be under constant stress, and they will take longer to cycle post-calving. There will be more anoestrus heifers and reproduction suffers, resulting in empty heifers and a later calving spread from those that get in calf. Underweight heifers on the milking platform are also an inefficiency from a feed utilisation perspective – they will be using feed to still try and grow, taking away that feed from possible milk production. With underweight and/or small heifers, it is more economical to correct problems as much as possible pre-calving. With the right management, heifers can grow and gain condition right up to calving. They need selenium, copper, phosphate and calcium for skeletal growth, crude protein ≥ 20% for muscle and foetal growth, nutrient-dense feed (avoid too much bulky forage – e.g. too much grass and grass silage – palm kernel is ideal), and they’ll need to be run as a separate group. They don’t need high levels of sugar or starch (e.g. maize silage – they’ll get fat but not grow muscle or skeleton). Inject them with MULTIMIN® and feed an ad lib mix of 80% palm kernel and 20% soyabean meal with minerals (a trace element mix plus DCP/MCP or limeflour) while on grass and give them some grass silage to chew on. It’s also important to introduce and familiarise all heifers to as many new things as possible prior to calving so that the only new thing they experience at calving is the calving process itself. Always apply good stockmanship with heifers – be calm, be quiet and take your time. Feed strange feeds (maize, silage, PKE) in the paddock for a few days to allow heifers to get used to the new food, then get the heifers used to the new feeds on the feed pad. After this introduce them to the dairy. This may require just getting them into the shed yards first then trying to load them up into rotary or herringbone on a following day. Introduce them to older cows. This can be done at any time and may help with the other training. Don’t mix different animals on concrete – mix out in the paddock. Put heifers (the least dominant group) in a paddock first for a day then add the older cows (the most dominant group) into the heifers the following day. Start with 10 to 20 mature, good condition, earlier calving cows. Carry over cows are also good. Next start all of the necessary animal health treatments (e.g. MULTIMIN® injection, drenching, ear tagging, tail trimming etc.). |
Moving day:
For anyone moving or changing staff (especially managers and 2IC’s) could you please update us with your new details. If you are joining the Totally Vets, Tararua Veterinary Services, or Levin and Horowhenua Vets – we look forward to working with you.
Please introduce yourself to your local clinic – we’d love to meet you. Let us know your expectations and what you value so we can cater to your needs. If you are leaving us – we are sorry to see you go. Thank you for working with us, thank you for your business and we wish you luck with the next stage. Check out the link “Moving Day”
Beware – acorn poisoning (or acorn toxicity):
Every one or two years in late autumn and early winter, we get called out to cases of dead or ill-thrifty weaner cattle (and sometimes animals that have bloody/black scours) with the cause ultimately identified as being from eating too many acorns.
The ‘ultimately’ word inclusion within this first sentence indicates that the reason behind these deaths is not always immediately apparent as deaths or ill-thrift can occur up to 4 weeks after eating acorns and the diagnosis may require remembering where these animals grazed over those last 4 weeks. Young cattle are the most susceptible to acorn poisoning, although adult cattle, sheep, and horses can also be affected.
Acorn poisoning isn’t always a given when animals graze around or under oak trees, and some farmers will get away with it while others may get stung every 4 or 5 years. It’s important to know that if feed gets scarce (e.g. after a dry period) or if animals develop a taste for acorns (or oak leaves or shoots) they can eat dangerous amounts that can lead to gastrointestinal damage and kidney failure.
Symptoms don’t typically occur straight away – anywhere from 3 days to 4 weeks after eating acorns so animals might be well away from oak trees when symptoms start occurring.
There is no cure for acorn poisoning, and the prognosis is poor once severe kidney damage has occurred.
It pays not to gamble with the health of your animals when grazing near oak trees once acorns start dropping. The best defence against acorn poisoning is to fence off around oak trees, to trim back branches past fence lines or to cut them down completely.
Sheep/Beef/Deer – May & June 2026
Sheep:
Lambs and parasites:
- Lambs are generally bigger and older with stronger immune functions and it’s getting colder which can slow down or stop parasite development on pasture. Drench intervals could be stretched out (continue to use faecal egg counts to see if this possible starting from 28 days after the last drench) with some farms not having to drench at all over the winter. If you haven’t yet, a knockout drench event using Zolvix® can help clean out your lambs going into the winter. Try not to graze any lambs on pasture you are going to lamb ewes on over the spring.
| On farm focus – winter ewe management – a primary driver of profitability: Many of you will be taking out, or about to take out, the rams from the ewe flock. What happens from here onwards is key to setting up the flock to maximise lamb survival, ewe survival, lamb growth rates etc. which in turn will drive the profitability of the flock as we head into another season. With prices appearing reasonably steady as we look forward, the implications of getting this crucial time of year wrong can result in significant loss of opportunity. Set up a winter feed budget: One of the first steps is to measure the feed on hand and set up a winter feed budget. With grass growth slowing down, because of the lack of moisture and cooling temperatures, this could be critical to success. If there are any holes in the budget then it may be that only certain groups can be priority fed. Alternatively, animals could be sent away grazing or supplementary feed brought in or finishing stock sold as store. Management prior to scanning: As long as the ewes below a body condition score (BCS) 3 are not pushed too hard, the few weeks between the rams exiting and ewe scanning is a period where the flock can be fed at or slightly below maintenance for short periods of time. This will allow pasture covers to build up ahead of them and some cleaning up of poorer quality feed. If a tail end exists, then these should be drafted off and preferentially fed. Ewes will not gain weight eating rank poor quality feed and lifting the condition of these lighter ewes is the best allocation of feed on the farm at this time of year. One BCS is equivalent to approximately 7 to 9 kg of live weight which at 100g/day growth will take 70 to 90 days to put on. Management at scanning: Timing of pregnancy scanning is between 55 and 90 days after mating start date and no more than 45 days after ram removal. The next opportunity to adjust feeding levels is usually at scanning. If the person pushing up the ewes has experience in body condition scoring this is ideal and ewes can be split into those that are < BCS 3 (a lighter group to priority feed), those that are BCS 3 (a group that can be on maintenance feeding) and those that are > BCS 3 (a group that can be tightened up). If nothing else, identify the ewes carrying multiple lambs that are also < BCS 3, draft them off and preferentially feed. Immediately post-scanning is the only opportunity that ewes have to put on condition as it is hard to achieve weight gain within a month of lambing. Now is a good time to do some liver trace element testing on the cull ewes. We can get selenium, copper and vitamin B12 checked. Just call us a day or two prior to trucking and we can organise some testing of livers via liver samples taken at the works. Scanning treatments: Now is also a good time to administer a long-acting iodine supplement like Flexidine™ especially if there is a history of goitre at lambing or if brassica crops are grazed over the winter. Flexidine™ shouldn’t be given within 2 months of lambing. A cheaper form of iodine supplementation is potassium iodide – a powder mixed in liquid and administered as an oral drench at eight weeks and four weeks before lambing. Ewes deficient in iodine can give birth to lambs that are slow to get up and take their first colostrum feed (which is magnified on cold wet days and can be the difference between life or death) and in extreme cases lambs can present with goitre. Check out ‘Iodine deficiency in sheep’ If you are deciding on vaccinating your ewes for the first time against clostridial disease now is a good time for the sensitiser dose. Use a product like Multine® 5-in-1 or Covexin® 10. A booster injection is then administered prior to lambing. Why are we targeting a BCS of 3 in our ewes? A BCS of 3 is the target at lambing to maximise lamb survival and weaning weights. Studies from NZ and internationally have shown that injecting ewes pre-lamb with MULTIMIN® also shows significant improvements in lamb survival and lamb weaning weights (beware the copper component if using MULTIMIN® Plus Copper). Ewe BCS at lambing has a large impact on lamb survival which will decrease by around 5% for every ½ BCS lost in the month prior to lambing and 5% lost for every BCS below 3 at lambing. These losses will most likely be much higher with adverse weather. Sheltered paddocks for the multiple bearing ewes is the ideal. Ewe BCS also has a huge impact on milk production, hence the impact on weaning weights. Underfeeding ewes can result in poor udder development, longer times to reach peak milk production (with a lower peak) leading to lower total milk production over lactation. Light ewes don’t milk well, give birth to lighter lambs and are higher risk of dying from metabolic disease. Management after scanning: Identify best lambing paddocks and graze these early in the winter rotation so they have time to recover in time for set stocking. From scanning until 50 days pre-lamb single bearing ewes should be offered 1.5 – 1.8 kgDM/ewe/day with post-grazing covers left at around 800 kgDM/ha. This is a sward height of approximately 2cm. For multiple bearing ewes, post-grazing covers should be around 900-1000 kgDM/ha which is a sward height of 2.5 – 3 cm. These recommendations are for sheep at target BCS. Lighter ewes, especially those with multiples, should be fed as well as can be achieved. Where ewes are being fed on a winter crop the dry matter allocations apply but some consideration needs to be given to feed utilisation. Pre-lamb shearing: Timing of mid-winter pre-lamb shearing – between 50 – 100 days (optimum 88 days) after mating start date. Too soon after ram removal risks early abortion and later than 100 days increases pregnancy toxaemia and milk fever risk. If ewes are fed well and are at least a BCS of 2.5, shearing with a cover comb can increase placental growth and the potential size of the lamb. This increase in birth weight can significantly improve lamb survival. There are other advantages to pre-lamb shearing including a lower risk of cast ewes, better quality wool, lambs having easier access to teats and increased weaning weights that outweighs the expense of the shearing costs. Pre-lamb shearing also provides an opportunity for an effective lice kill. Lice products off-shear include Extinosad (jetting, saturation dipping), ExPO Extinosad™ Pour-On and Zapp Encore Pour-on or Flexolt® (oral). Check out ‘Flexolt another tool for controlling lice in sheep’ Management pre-lamb: Three weeks out from lambing ewes should be offered 2 to 3 kgDM/ewe/day depending on the number of lambs they are carrying and ideally grazing residuals should not drop below 1000 – 1100 kgDM/ha. Where there is not enough feed available then multiple bearing ewes, light ewes and earlier lambers should be prioritised. As lambing approaches, feed intakes should not be restricted, and residuals should not drop below 1200 kgDM/ha (roughly 4cm high sward). The aim is to set stock with covers that don’t drop below 1200 kgDM/ha during lactation. Check out ‘The sleepy ewe’ There are several products available for pre-lamb treatments of ewes before they are set stocked: We believe the absolute minimum the ewes should be treated with is a clostridial vaccination booster. We recommend Multine® 5-in-1. Administer 2 to 4 weeks prior to lambing. Multine® 5-in-1 can include selenium and/or B12. There are not many situations where the extra selenium is not warranted. Nilvax® is an alternative 5 in 1 clostridial vaccine. It also contains levamisole which is not used for its anthelmintic properties but for its enhancement of the immune system. Nilvax® can be administered 6 weeks out from lambing and, depending on when it’s administered, can push the clostridial protection, passed onto lambs via the colostrum, out past docking. There are also a wide range of products available which can be administered before lambing which contain several elements/vitamins. The products we recommend for consideration are Healthy Ewe, Hideject™ and MULTIMIN®. With our now high value, high performing sheep flocks these are certainly worth considering to maximise ewe and lamb survivability and growth rates. If nothing else, consider using them in multiple bearing ewes and/or your younger ewes. Whilst we are certainly not in the game of recommending drenching ewes pre-lamb there are occasions when a partial approach can be beneficial, i.e. the drenching of tail end ewes or the use of a long-acting product in hoggets or multiple bearing ewes. The decision to use pre-lamb drenches is a complex one so please feel free to talk to us if you have any questions about this or if you want to plan risk mitigation around the use of certain products. Check out ‘Anthelmintic treatment of ewes pre-lamb’ Final note – beware milk fever in ewes pre-lambing: Every year we see at least one large outbreak of milk fever in ewes close to lambing. If not picked up early these can be very costly. The trigger is usually where either chicory/plantain or autumn sewn grass has been included as part of the rotation in later pregnancy or the trigger can even be brought on by a change to a feed of different quality. It is OK to lamb ewes down on chicory but once they are on, they must stay on until after lambing. It is a feed that is very high in calcium and its inclusion in the diet causes a down regulation in the ewe’s ability to absorb calcium from its bones. When ewes are removed from chicory after a few days of feeding their blood calcium levels crash and they can’t adjust them quickly enough. |
Beef cattle:
Breeding heifers and cows:
- By now a lot of animals have been pregnancy tested. Pregnancy rates at this stage have been encouraging – we have been pregnancy testing groups with zero animals empty, and a lot of heifers and cows look to be in good condition. We are seeing a few animals with discoloured hairs which may be indicative of a mineral deficiency. Now is a good time to get cull cow livers checked for copper and selenium. Call your local clinic to organise this through the works 1 to 2 days prior to cattle going on the truck.
- For those farms with a history of falling copper levels over the winter now is a good time to supplement with copper +/- selenium. Check out ‘Copper’
- For those animals with a high empty rate, we can check 15 animals from each group to check if BVD is circulating through the animals and/or we can organise fertility testing of your bull team prior to the next mating period. Light animals at the time of pregnancy testing can indicate a nutritional deficiency at the time of mating and should be reviewed. Liver fluke can also be a cause of poor body condition, and we can diagnose this through faecal and blood samples at the time of scanning. Check out ‘BVD – Bovine Viral Diarrhoea’
- Now is also a good time to booster animals with your leptospiral vaccine like Lepto 3-Way® or Lepto 4-Way®.
- Good condition cows can be used to clean up the rank hills during this period to allow the build-up of pasture closer to calving (and lambing) for when ewes and cows need it the most. Good condition cows can be pushed during the middle trimester of their pregnancies with little effect on the developing calf inside – more so than in late pregnancy.
Weaner cattle (beef breed and dairy breed):
- Have you boostered your clostridial vaccine yet or have you vaccinated your cattle with a clostridial vaccine. We recommend the use of Covexin® 10 in 1 for any cattle going onto a crop. Check out ‘Clostridial protection in your cattle, Covexin® 10’
- Have you checked the trace element status of your younger cattle and/or have you supplemented them yet? We recommend that selenium and copper at least need to be accounted for. Some trace element supplementation options include:
- All-Trace® boluses from Agrimin, MULTIMIN® from Virbac, Selovin™ LA from Elanco, and copper capsules or injection. These provide up to 10 months of mineral cover.
- Parasites:
- Some of these younger cattle are getting older and bigger, building up immunity to parasites. As it’s also getting colder drench intervals can be extended, or for some stopped all together.
- As always, we recommend using an effective combination product on younger cattle up to 12 to 15 months of age to control both Cooperia and Ostertagia worms. We recommend products like those in the Boss® or Turbo® range.
Deer:
The stags will be pulled out from the hinds during May. Stag management during May and June focuses on post-rut recovery which includes:
- body condition scoring
- drenching poor condition stags with a product like Cervidae Oral
- addressing copper +/- selenium deficiencies
- moving into more sheltered paddocks away from sheep (that can carry the herpes virus responsible for Malignant Catarrhal Fever which is fatal)
- providing high-quality feeding to regain all that weight lost over the rut
Provide some fibre to the lighter stags. The breaking down of the fibre within the rumen by bacteria can help produce heat on cold days to an animal with poor fat reserves. Check out ‘Importance of deer nutrition’
With hinds, post-rut weaning usually occurs around now. Now is also a time to book in scanning for the end of May and into June. A lepto booster vaccination can occur now, Copper and selenium can also be supplemented now or it can wait until after the empty hinds have been pulled out after scanning. We can organise liver testing of cull hinds at the works for copper and selenium. Contact us 1 to 2 days prior to trucking to organise this. Tail end hinds can be drenched and separated out and preferentially fed and good condition hinds can just be fed at maintenance levels. Check out ‘Deer scanning’
Liver Fluke in ewes, cows and hinds:
A large tail end of poor body condition animals at pregnancy scanning for ewes, cows and hinds can indicate a liver fluke problem and one that’s worthy of diagnosing and treating. Liver fluke that was picked up over the summer will be maturing into adults and with that eggs are produced that can be identified in the faeces in a lab. A blood test can also identify liver fluke and so can post-mortems of tail enders or surveillance through the works as indicated on your kill sheets.
Liver fluke can be killed by products like REFLEX® F (pour on), ICON® F (injection) and Flukecare® + Se (oral).
Nitrate toxicity in ruminants:
Nitrate toxicity (or nitrate poisoning) is caused by consuming forage with high nitrate levels over the autumn/winter period. It can be serious and can cause death (especially cattle) within 1 to 8 hours of eating. If it doesn’t kill them, it can also cause abortion in pregnant animals.
High risk situations include grazing new grass, annual ryegrass, oats, millet, fodder beet or brassicas (kale, swedes, turnips) or grazing forages that have gone through cold/wet or overcast weather or, conversely, rapid growth after a drought.
To minimise the risk of nitrate toxicity get us to test the forage to be grazed for nitrate levels. We can indicate if the forage is safe to eat or is toxic. Initially only graze high-risk crops in the afternoon, as sunlight allows plants to convert nitrates into protein, and never put hungry animals onto high-risk feed. Feed animals with hay or silage first and initially only graze for a half hour the first day building up to longer periods over 10 to 14 days. Avoid feeding the lowest 20 to 30cm of the plant (stem), as this contains the highest nitrate levels. Use older stock for high-risk feeds, as they are less susceptible than young animals. Check out the link ‘Nitrate poisoning’
