Farm Factsheets
At Bredy Vets, we’ve collated a range of information which you may find useful. Please review our factsheets below and let us know if you have any questions. We’re always on hand to help.
Milking Cow Tube Availability Update August 2021
Note that 2 of the 8 products available (i.e. Pathocef™ & aCobactan MC Intramammary Suspension™ are defined as a Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics for human medicine and, under the Red Tractor farm assurance scheme for beef and dairy, should be used as a last resort and supported by sensitivity and/or diagnostic testing. They cannot therefore be used as first line treatments.
For more information click here.
Do You Want to Avoid TB testing Every 6 Months?
There is now another powerful reason to start measuring and managing infectious disease in your herd using a Cattle Health Certification Standards (CHeCS) health plan (e.g. the Premium Cattle Health Scheme, PCHS, run by the Scottish Agricultural College). From January 2019 herds in the High Risk Area, (which includes Dorset), which have had a reactor in the last 5 years, will have to TB test EVERY SIX MONTHS. However, some exceptions will be made for lower risk herds, which will remain on annual testing. ‘Lower risk herds’ includes those engaging in a CHeCS TB herd accreditation scheme with at least a year of clear tests since their last breakdown (scoring Level 1), with Defra stating that such keepers ‘should be rewarded for their explicit commitment to managing their TB risks’. Bredy Vets use the Scottish Agricultural College’s Premium Cattle Health Scheme to guide disease management and reduction, which can include TB management. The PCHS is CHeCS accredited.
More information on TB control and CHeCs is here. Please contact us if you would like to use the PCHS to reduce both your disease status and halve your TB testing interval.
You can read the Governments “Bovine TB: Proposals to simplify surveillance testing in the High Risk Area of England and other disease control measures” published May 2019 here.
Parasite Control in Cattle (“COWS”) and Sheep (“SCOPS”)
In the past life was simple, if you had parasites affecting your stock, you killed ’em. Now life is more complex. There’s increasing drug resistance amongst parasites, so control has to be balanced between reducing parasite burdens to acceptably low levels, and maintaining the effectiveness of the treatments we have available. In other words, tolerating a low level of parasitism. This means more monitoring of worm burdens by regular faecal egg counts, and deciding on this basis whether to worm or not.
Since the problem of parasites with drug resistance become more apparent in sheep first, the sheep industry responded with “SCOPS” – Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep. This is available as a manual on-line. The first edition gave a clear message – don’t treat all your sheep every time – but wasn’t so clear as to how to apply this in practice. The latest, 4th, edition of June 2012 is much clearer about the practice of the theory. It’s the required reference for modern sheep management. You can find it at http://www.scops.org.uk/
There’s now the cattle equivalent, “COWS” – Control of Worms Sustainably. Funded by EBLEX & DairyCo this is available at http://www.dairyco.org.uk/ though the latest edition of this dates from May 2010.
Thermal Imaging – which calves have pneumonia?
Jon has been interested in using a thermal imaging camera to help find feverish individuals in a group for some years. I first made enquiries in 2007 but the price of the kit then was prohibitive. However, the prices have dropped and I’ve bought one. I’m hoping to identify calves with a temperature without having the stress and hassle of catching all the animals and taking the rectal temperature of each one. BBC’s Countryfile TV program showed a story about thermal imaging on December 7th 2014. The device can measure the surface temperature of the skin of the animal from a distance. It’s important to realise that the skin temperature is determined by body heat AND other factors such as sunshine, variations in skin colour, cooling breezes etc. So it’s best to scan the animals when they are all quiet, on still mornings before the sun has heated parts of the environment up.