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Inspect stock before they enter the ring
It is important that when you arrive at the mart you don’t simply head straight for the sales ring. At best, you will only get 30-60 seconds to look at the animal you are about to purchase. Often you can miss some of the telltale signs that indicate trouble. You should go down to the yard and look at the selection of stock on offer. The best place to observe stock is at the intake point. Here you will be able to pick out weanlings that have not been weaned properly and/or are very agitated. You will also be able to identify stock that best suit your system. Stay clear of weanlings that are showing any early signs pneumonia – snotty noses, panting or standing with their neck stretched and tongue out.
Talk to the seller
Where possible you should talk to the owner of any weanlings you purchased. It is important to try and find out when the calves were last dosed and what level of meal feeding they were on prior to sale. Also, enquire if animals had been vaccinated against respiratory diseases or blackleg.
Get home for mart ASAP
It is essential that you get your animals home from the mart as soon as possible. At all costs try and avoid having them standing in the mart overnight. Don’t be tempted to overload either the trailer or the lorry when bring stock home from the mart. If buying bulls and heifers, try to pen them separately during transit.
Well-bedded pen
In most cases you will be retuning home from the mart either late in the afternoon or at night so don’t let stock out to grass right away. Instead put them into a well-bedded and ventilated shed that is free from draughts and has fresh water. Make sure to clean the water trough out if the shed has not been used over the summer. Give animals plenty of lying space and if possible avoid housing on slats for a few days after purchase.
When turning out stock out to grass, do so in the morning so that they have time to settle before temperatures dip in the evening.
Going back out to grass
Where weather conditions allow, try to get weanlings out into a well-sheltered paddock with good-quality grass the following day. However, don’t turn out if conditions are wet and cold or during periods of muggy weather – wait for a dry fine day. When turning out stock out to grass, do so in the morning so that they have time to settle before temperatures dip in the evening. Where grass supplies are tight, good-quality grass silage should be fed.
Avoid mixing weanlings
Where you have a batch of weanlings settled, try to keep them in this group until housing. Where possible, you should avoid adding freshly purchased weanlings into settled groups. By keeping the group size small, you will limit the spread of any diseases that may have been picked up during the selling process.
Meal feeding
You should aim to feed 1kg of meal for at least two weeks after purchase. Not only will the meal help them to settle, but it is also an ideal way of identifying sick animals. Where grass supplies are running tight, you should increase meal feeding levels to 2kg per day until housing.
Check stock regularly
Early intervention is the key to successfully treating sick weanlings. It is therefore essential that you check stock at least three times per day for the first weeks after purchase and twice daily thereafter. Always check weanlings first thing in the morning as cold wet nights can trigger a pneumonia outbreak. Where you suspect an animal to be sick, the first thing to do is check its temperature. A healthy weanling should have a temperature of 38°C. Try not to stress the animal when bringing it into the yard. It is often easier to bring the entire group in.
Dosing programme
If you are unsure of the dosing history of a weanling and suspect it to have a heavy worm burden, do not move in with an Avermectin-based drench right away. Treating an animal with a heavy worm burden using an Avermectin-based wormer can actually cause a pneumonia outbreak due to increased stress levels associated with discharging of the dead worms from the lungs.
Wait for a few days after purchase and then treat with either a white drench or a Levamisole-based product. These products have a reduced worm kill and are not as severe on the animal. Levamisole-based products have also been shown to help boost the animals’ immune system. However, as they provide no residual cover, you will need to treat animals with an Avermectin-based dose two to three weeks pre-housing.
Where you do not suspect a worm problem, dosing can be left until two to three weeks prior to housing. At this point you should use an Avermectin-based product. These products provide residual cover for a period of three to six weeks. Therefore, treating with an Avermectin product two to three weeks pre-housing will ensure the animals’ lungs are in a healthy condition prior to the high-stress housing period. The residual cover means there will be no need to treat for worms post housing.
Do not castrate after purchase
You should avoid castrating bull weanlings for at least two weeks after purchase. The added stress can lead to health problems. Remember, under EU regulations, calves over six months of age must be castrated by a veterinary surgeon.
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