Now is a good time to get sheds winter-ready before cattle go indoors.

Sheds should now be clean and disinfected to reduce disease risk when animals join in close proximity. Young calves are particularly vulnerable to infection, so cleaning and disinfecting calf and calving pens, isolation boxes and equipment is essential.

Good airflow, drainage and adequate space for animals helps reduce standing water, stress and the risk of disease spreading, so check ventilation, drainage and lighting. Inspect and repair damaged slats, cubicles and head feed gates, which could cause injuries to both cattle and handlers.

Empty drinkers, and check water flow for access to clean water. Look out for rodents in sheds and feed stores; these can spread infections, including leptospirosis to cattle and people, so take appropriate action.

In many yards, heavy rainfall results in a lot of clean water entering slurry tanks and taking space needed for slurry. Now is the time to check and fix leaky gutters and downpipes to avoid collecting clean water.

Inspection programmes by local authorities continue to identify clean and dirty water separation as an opportunity to reduce runoff of contaminated water and storage over the winter period.

Teat-sealing heifers

Heifer mastitis can be a problem for some herds, reducing production and udder health in first and subsequent lactations. Many studies show that elevated SCC at the beginning of the first lactation significantly increases risk of early culling.

Given the substantial costs associated with rearing heifers, it is imperative to prevent mastitis. Heifer mastitis occurs due to exposure of teats to pathogens in the pre-calving environment, and research shows that teat-sealing heifers, if done properly, can reduce incidence of heifer mastitis by up to 50% in problem herds. Teat seals form a physical barrier in the teat canal; this helps to prevent bacteria entering the mammary gland and causing mastitis.

When heifers spring up, the natural teat seal is often no longer intact, so teat-sealing reinforces and strengthens heifers’ own natural seal. The practice is essential where heifers spend a lot of time on slats or topless cubicles in the lead up to calving.

It’s important to consider both your own safety and that of your heifers when teat-sealing, and milking parlours are not ideal environments for infusing tubes into small heifers. The preferred option is to use a trained technician, in appropriate handling facilities, to ensure a safe process. The ideal window is between 40 and 75 days pre-calving, and it usually costs €5-8 per heifer.

Grazing

After a lot of heavy rain in parts of the country last weekend, and more forecast this week, some herds will have to be on/off grazed or housed by night this week.

While we all want to extend the grazing season, it makes sense to use facilities to avoid poaching in difficult conditions.

This is also a really good N loss reduction action. Avoid grazing heavy covers for a few days during very bad weather. Better use will be made of these when conditions improve.