The more I dig into herd health the more I am reminded that the basics are still where we flounder. I had a case recently of calves going off their suck at two days of age.

I examined the batch and found one navel infection and one with scour. The herd has a recent history of Se defiency, so I thought maybe this could be the reason. As the situation worsened I spoke to other vets who maintained that it was more likely related to septicaemia coming from navels or poor colostrum intake.

Naval care

I had the conversation originally about navel care and colostrum and the farmer was quite adamant that this was well under control. When one of the batch died we went for a post mortem which showed conclusively the navel was the source of the infection. This is a difficult conversation to have with any client when you are questioning management practises on any farm.

I then sampled some calves to check for passive transfer and found inadequate levels of serum protein. There calves were getting infections through their navels and didn’t have immunity to fight it, causing these septicaemias. So it was back to basics and if I wanted to make a difference to calf health on this farm, I had to be strong on my convictions and advocate improvements to management practises.

Treating the problem

I am very aware that it is hard work to rear calves and no one wants this hard work to be questioned, as vets we will make no improvements unless we assess and critique the foundations of any calf rearing set up. Treating symptoms is not enough; we must go and find the source of the problem and improve management practises on farm.

We decided to clean out all calving pens and disinfect using steam cleaning. We are going to focus on colostrum and measure colostrum quality. Each calf is to be thoroughly navel washed at least once, if not twice, in the first four hours with a hibitane solution.

We are holding off on prophylactic antibiotics to new borns and reassessing how things are going in three weeks. Calves are also getting a Se injection at birth. My focus on any investigation of ill health is to focus in on the basics first, then if they are right look for the more obscure causes. ‘Common things are common’ and unfortunately it is the basics that are commonly wrong.

Originally from Kerry, Tommy Heffernan qualified from UCD in 2002 and has been working in Avondale Veterinary Clinic in Wicklow for the last 12 years. His interests are in herd/flock health and developing preventative strategies of controling disease.