Pneumonia issues

I have had a number of reports this week of pneumonia in calves and weanlings in sheds. Recent mild weather has meant that sheds with poor ventilation have struggled to get enough air movement and this has led to health problems. Stress is a big factor so make sure animals aren’t under any nutritional or parasite stress. Remember in the face of an outbreak not to stress calves too much and to seek veterinary advice.

While vaccinating calves, intranasally can work quicker and give faster cover when vaccinating in the middle of an outbreak of pneumonia. When animals have high temperatures and are actively shedding, the virus will hinder the vaccination working correctly. If dosing, weaning or castrating is planned, wait until all calves are fully clear of pneumonia until proceeding with these tasks as stress could lead to a relapse. Check your ventilation and see if some temporary measures, like taking off a few side sheets, could get you through this winter. Make sure calves have a clean dry bed at all times and take care not to stock sheds too heavily. Our recent video series on pneumonia with the Journal vet Tommy Heffernan can be accessed at the knowledge hub on www.farmersjournal.ie

Stock bull

If stock bulls are neglected during the winter period, this can have a negative impact on a bull’s fertility and functionality. Take care where bulls are housed on straw bedded pens with no access to concrete areas, as feet can become overgrown and tender. It’s also important that the bull does not lose too much condition over the winter months. It’s important that they are fit and not fat either. In most cases, ad-lib access to good quality silage plus 3-4 kgs of a balanced ration is adequate. Avoid feeding rolled barley on its own, as this could increase the incidence of feet problems.

Make sure the bull receives all doses and vaccinations that the herd gets, if out wintered or housed separately, they can often be forgotten about. Many vets now offer a fertility testing service and there are many specialised fertility testing services around the country. It costs between €50 and €70 and could prove a good spend if your stock bull has become infertile for some reason. Discounts may be obtained by testing a number of bulls in the same area.

Forage crops

It has been close to ideal conditions for grazing crops of Kale and Rape over the last few weeks. Now is a good time to take a check as to how much is left and how quickly you are moving through it. If you think you might run out, extra silage could help to slow things down. Take care where feeding animals outside that you don’t run into cross compliance issues with poaching and try to move feeders and troughs regularly to avoid penalties. Remember an animal (1 L.U) must have access to 1Ha of grazing area or lie back area at all times when being out wintered. Don’t forget about fluke and worm doses in these animals as parasite burdens tend to be higher in out wintered animals.