With calving starting to come to an end out thoughts will turn to the upcoming breeding season. As most producers are aware bull prices have increased in the last 12 months and so it is very important that we are able to keep them healthy throughout the joining period. At OVH we see a lot of injuries to the prepuce and penis in bulls in the early stages of joining. This is typically in young, newly purchased bulls with high libido. Most of these injuries occur when the bull has an erection and is entering or exiting the vagina.

There are management tools that can be used to limit the chance of trauma to the penis or prepuce. These include considering single sire joining, having a lower number of cows/heifers with each bull, and using suitable or safe paddocks for joining (not rocky or undulating). If trauma does occur, early detection is important, to keep all treatment options open (surgical and medical) and to improve the prognosis for recovery.

It is now the time when you should be doing your annual bull checks/ treatments prior to joining. This should include routine vaccinations and drenching, as well as structural examinations. We also recommend veterinary inspections of your herd bulls which may be as simple as crush side exam or may include service ability testing or semen morphology examination. If you have any queries about pre-joining treatments/ examinations and or bull management please feel free to contact OVH and talk to one of the veterinarians.

Image: from Veterian Key

Horse owners will know that they are lovable but frustrating beasts- and have a habit of hurting themselves at the most inconvenient time- be it a public holiday or right before a special event you had planned. One of the best ways that you can prepare for this concern to minimise the stress for you and your horse in the time of need to practice excellent handling skills.

To safely and efficiently treat your horse, we need to be able to handle it. 

Basic skills to cement at home, before it is an emergency, include;
- Putting on a halter and lead
- Leading between different areas
- Being handled all over, including picking up feet
- Giving medications by mouth
- Floating, in case your horse needs to be in hospital for treatment

Your farrier and your veterinarian will appreciate these skills- and they are applicable for all horses- large and small, old and young. When an emergency happens, the horse is often painful and stressed. This is an unsuitable time to be trying to put a halter on and learn new skills.

With warmer weather, many alpacas will be shorn and this is a great time to check their body condition scores. Body condition scores are a useful way to check in on the health of the animals, and gives a reflection of how pasture management is going.

There are a number of scoring systems available, but generally a low number reflects a skinny animal, and a larger number reflects a fatter animal. To best score your alpacas, use a combination of visualisation as well as palpation of boney landmarks.

Ideally, most alpacas in your flock should be around a 3- not the extremes of 1 or 5. This means that the ribs and spine should be palpable with light pressure, but not obvious on the shorn animal. Animals that are too fat or too skinny have health concerns including metabolic issues and more lameness issues, and may have difficulties with reproduction, including conception, birthing and sperm production.

If you have animals that are too skinny, arrange veterinary consultation. If your animals are too fat, review your feeding practices in the first place and seek veterinary consultation if you are not seeing the results of your changes.

For more information, see;

Water accounts for 70-75% of a calf’s body weight, yet it is often not available for growing calves. Free water, not the water content in milk, is required to support the growing rumen bacterial population and promote good rumen development and function, a necessity for safe weaning. When water goes into the rumen it mixes with grain to aid fermentation, stimulating the development of rumen lining. Research has shown that calves who were not offered clean water ate 31% less dry feed and gained 38% less weight over a four-week period.

Coming into warmer weather , calves water requirements will increase to maintain hydration and normal body function. During periods of water loss, like scours or extreme heat, dehydration will reduce feed intake, feed conversion and growth. Even mild dehydration (1-5%) that is not visible to the human eye will reduce a calf’s metabolism and welfare.

When offering water ad-lib, offering dirty water doesn’t count. If you are going to feed water in buckets or troughs, the equipment needs to be clean. Algae deposits can grow quickly and need to be scrubbed out of water buckets. Some research has shown a 40-50g per day increase in live weight when clean water is offered compared to offering dirty water buckets.

So to answer the question in the title, yes, fresh clean water is an essential element to raising calves, and lambs too. It is good for the calves, and good for their growth. 

An interesting article appeared in Thomas Elder Markets this month, looking at the impact of Pestivirus on livestock. Their snapshot was:

• Pestivirus is the second most costly virus impacting the cattle sector and accounts for approximately 12% of the total cost of significant endemic diseases impacting the industry (see figure above)
  
  
• The virus mainly targets the intestinal tract, lymphatic and reproductive system causing symptoms such as poor weight gain, fever, nasal discharge, diarrhoea, immune suppression, decreased reproductive performance and reduced milk production
  
  
• It is estimated that more than 60% of cattle across the country have been exposed to Pestivirus and exposure rates vary a lot both between herds and within herds

From a veterinarian’s perspective, this virus accounts for a lot of damage in different sectors of the cattle industry. In breeding enterprises, it is known to cause abortion and calf loss. It is a common reason we see poor pregnancy testing rates in certain mobs on the farm. In feedlots, the virus plays a large role in the development of pneumonia in cattle. In calves, we often see it implicated with outbreaks of disease.

Management of this virus is worth discussing, as a safe and effective vaccine (Pestigard) is available. This vaccine offers you a simple way to reduce these risks on the farm. We can also offer testing and diagnosis to meet your business requirements.

Horses need good teeth

Last month’s articles were about what horses ate, this month we’re talking about what they eat with. Horses are like rats and rabbits in that their teeth continue to grow for their whole life. The teeth on the outside of the upper cheek and the inside of the lower cheek are not worn as much and, as a result, the chewing surface becomes angled, causing sharp enamel points to develop on the outside of the upper cheek teeth and on the inside of the lowers. Without regular dentistry, where these sharp points are removed (usually with a diamond disc or a hand rasp), they start to cause trauma to the cheeks and tongue as the horse chews. This is particularly important for very young (<5years) and old horses (>20 years).

Sugars and decay

Like humans, horses are also susceptible to excessive sugars in their diets, particularly in regions where there are high-sugar cereal hays, like oaten and wheaten hay. The sugars in these diets ferment and produce acids in the mouth which dissolve the outer layer of the cheek teeth, producing decay. Left unchecked, this painful, often progressive disease around the teeth leads eventually to tooth loss.

Other conditions seen in horses’ mouths include fractures due to trauma (e.g. kicks) or due to advanced dental disease. Teeth can become displaced when there is overcrowding or when there are issues as the teeth erupt into the mouth.

Regular attention

Horses should have their teeth examined at least annually, involving very good light and a mirror. Overgrown teeth are reduced, and sharp points are removed to facilitate an efficient and pain-free chewing action. This is important in both the ridden and unridden horse, but in the ridden horse, particular attention must be paid to the area that the bit sits, to ensure that contact between the mouth and bit is not painful.

To sedate or not to sedate?

Horses have a very narrow mouth, and regardless of how well behaved your horse is, the entirity of the mouth cannot be examined without sedation. Although the dental day might not be a fun one, it is in your horse's best interests to have dental pathology identified earlier rather than later, as it becomes more difficult to manage. 

It appears there is a common perception among producers that ovine brucellosis (OB) is an issue of the past. If you hold this view, unfortunately, you are misinformed. A recent survey of OB in the Riverina found 31% of flocks (109 of 353) were positive for the disease.

Ovine Brucellosis is a bacterial disease rams acquire. Infected rams are either sub fertile or infertile, which causes moderate to severe reductions in the pregnancy rates of ewes. It is common that a recently infected mob will have a 30% reduction in pregnancy/ lambing rate. This alone is an enormous cost to the business, before considering the loss of infected rams needing replacement. On the contrary, once OB is eradicated from a flock, it is common for ram percentages to reduce by up to 30%, joining periods to reduce by up to 50% and lamb marking percentages to increase by 30%. It is clear this is a disease worth managing out of your sheep flock.

To get an idea of the chance of OB in your flock, you need to get an idea of the ewe’s fertility profile. This starts with pregnancy scanning, followed by lambing percentages, marking percentages and weaning percentages. If there are significant variations in these numbers, or your scanning performance is subpar, this should be investigated.

There is no treatment or vaccination for rams already affected with the disease, therefore it is prudent to:

• Have sound farm biosecurity – good fencing, ram paddocks, etc.
  
  
• Communicate with neighbours regarding stray rams
  
  
• Only source rams from accredited OB flocks
  
  
• Don’t buy rams from sale yards or dispersal sales unless you have checked the relevant status and done your own risk assessment
  
  
• Know your own flock – learn to palpate your own rams or get a qualified vet to help

As reported in Beef Central on two separate occasions this year, Victorian farmers have been taken to court on animal cruelty charges for failing not to deal with eye cancers:

1. Farmer pleads guilty to animal cruelty charges
2. Wangaratta farmer pleads guilty to cattle cruelty

Eye cancers are a common condition we are called to deal with. It is very common in Hereford and Holstein cattle.

It is illegal to put cattle with tumours of the eye, larger than 2cm, in Victorian sale yards and similar rules apply in other states. The recommended method of disposal of cattle with small eye cancers is direct to an abattoir. However, cattle with early-stage eye cancers up to the size of a 5-cent coin (2 cm) that are not bleeding or discharging, may be put in a sale yard and sold for slaughter.

Cattle with eye cancers between the size of a 5-cent coin (2cm) and a 20-cent coin (3cm), that are not bleeding or discharging, may go direct to an abattoir at the owner's risk of non-payment.

Eye cancers larger than 3cm, or involving the whole of the eye, or with significant swelling around the eye and/or flyblown, and/or weeping, must be treated or destroyed humanely on-farm.

In instances where you want to keep cattle, the best surgical removal occurs when cancers are small. When removed while small, they rarely grow back. As they get bigger, the tumour often advances back into the tissue behind the eye and complete surgical resection is more difficult.

Poisoning risks

As pasture growth continues through October in most parts of Australia, there are some undesirable plants that can find their way into even the best pastures. Some of these weeds can pose serious risks to the health of horses and other animals enthusiastically munching through the smorgasbord on offer.

With such an extensive range of poisonous plants that can affect horses, there are simply too many to cover, but here are a couple of examples.

Paterson’s Curse

This well-known weed hails from Southern Europe, but it is not a recommended part of a Mediterranean diet. It is widespread in Australia and is a declared noxious weed in most places. In many circumstances, it is avoided by most horses when other, more palatable feed is available. However, when other species dry off or are in degraded pastures, it remains green and can therefore be attractive to horses. It has been responsible for many horse deaths in recent years. It is also poisonous when dried off. It contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which affect the liver.

There are acute and chronic signs of Paterson’s Curse poisoning with signs including jaundice, loss of appetite and general depression. Consult us today if you suspect your horse has been affected. But with all poisoning, prevention (including effective weed control) is the best solution.

Cape Tulip

Another common pasture weed that is less commonly associated with poisoning (more commonly in livestock) is Cape Tulip. This weed, like many others, hitched its way across the Indian Ocean from Africa. There are two species that are declared noxious weeds in most of Australia. It’s relatively easy to identify by its pink-to-orange flowers.

As these weeds invade pastures and crops, they are frequent contaminants of hay and should be controlled due to their poisonous potential.

An excellent, photographic, detailed reference to all plants that pose poisoning risks to horses is below