Healthy cattle are more likely to be thriving cattle. With cattle housed for winter management, make getting on top of routine health treatments a top priority.

Plan out which cattle need what treatments and when they should be carried out. This does not need to be an elaborate or overly complicated piece of work.

The purpose of the exercise is to simply know what stock need treating and when. Breaking these tasks down into a couple of categories, makes it easier to plan out routine health treatments.

Outlined is an example of health planning for a suckler farm this winter.

1 Fluke and worms

The most common winter health treatment will be for internal parasites, mainly liver fluke and worms. Many products combine active ingredients that target both parasites.Fluke affects all cattle that had access to grazing in recent months, whereas worms are more of a problem in younger animals.

While mature cows are generally resistant to gut worms, you should include first-calved heifers in your winter worming programme.

After a relatively wet and mild September and October, cattle are more likely to have been exposed to fluke and worm burdens at grass, so treatment plans may need to be different to other years.

Starting point

Although it rarely occurs on farm, the best starting point is to take a few dung samples from housed cattle to determine the level of parasites present.

Dung samples should be taken after two to three weeks post-housing, as the parasites will be at a more mature stage.

Most farm vets will offer this service. It is a small cost that can offer solid information to base the timing of treatment and the products to use.

Taking dung samples after animals have been treated will determine if the product used has been effective.

Also, you should look for classic fluke symptoms such as sudden loss of condition, dry coat, sunken eyes, heavy scour and a swollen jaw.

Choosing a product

When it comes to choosing a product to kill internal parasites, there is a wide range of options. These include oral drenches, injection-based products and pour-ons.

All three have their merits. Pour-on products can be applied quickly and less labour intensive, but you need a dry day, or indoor handling pens.

Injected products are slower to administer. But provided the correct dose is given, farmers are more reassured that animals are properly treated.

Oral drenches also provide effective cover, but there is the risk that not all of the drench will be swallowed by the animal.

When to treat

Also, consider which product gives the most effective kill. Most fluke products target the parasite at all stages of development.

However, some products are more effective at targeting fluke during the early immature and immature stage, while others are more effective at targeting mature fluke.

Once cattle are housed, they will not be picking up new fluke burdens. Therefore, go with a product that targets immature fluke around three weeks post-housing, or use a product which targets mature fluke around seven weeks post-housing.

For cattle housed in late October, using a product that targets mature fluke means treatment will be delayed until mid-December.

But for cattle housed at the start of the month, such products can be given in mid- November.

Priority cattle

For forward stores on a high-concentrate diet, autumn-calving cows approaching the breeding period and weanlings destined for sale in spring, these animals should be top priority for parasite control.

The earlier these animals are treated for fluke, the better. For cattle housed in the past fortnight, this may mean going with a product that best targets immature fluke.

For convenience, dry spring-calving cows can also be treated with such a product, along with stores or weanlings.

Take a few dung samples late next month to see if the treatment worked. If not, use a follow up treatment.

Alternatively, for cattle housed in early October, a product targeting mature fluke may be more practical if it is to be administered over the next few weeks.

Weighing

Weighing cattle before treating for fluke and worms reduces the chances of animals being under-dosed. If weighing is not an option, group animals of similar size in the handling race, then set the dosing rate to the heaviest animal in each group.

Withdrawal dates

Always pay attention to withdrawal dates when treating cattle, especially in the case of forward stores on an intensive finishing diet, or cows which will be culled shortly after weaning.

2 Lice

Lice is the main external parasite that affects cattle when housed. Lice come in two forms, biting and sucking. Make sure the product used covers both.

Clipping animals at housing time helps to limit the level of lice on animals compared to cattle with a heavy coat of winter hair.

More often than not, cattle will need a follow-up treatment for lice, so keep an eye out for the tell-tale signs of animals constantly licking their coat, scratching and hair loss. Sheds with poor ventilation, and a heavy build-up of dust or cobwebs are a haven for lice, so addressing these issues can help to cut down the problem.

3 Vaccines

Other areas to consider when planning winter health tasks are vaccines. In breeding herds, plan out when vaccines for diseases such as BVD or Lepto need to be given to breeding cows.

In early spring-calving herds, scour vaccines are a good idea if calves will remain housed for a lengthy period before going back to grass.

Make sure vaccines are given in good time, so there is a proper immune response before the period of risk.

4 Mineral supplementation

A final area to consider is mineral supplementation. Forages such as silage, hay and straw tend to be low in minerals, as are forage brassicas used to outwinter cattle.

Therefore, make sure animals on such diets are properly covered for minerals.

Finishing cattle on a high-concentrate diet will get minerals through a purchased ration.

However, animals fed a home mixed ration will need mineral supplementation.

Use a bolus, powdered mineral dusted on silage, or provide access to lick buckets over winter.

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