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MEETING ONE
Paul Rodgers BVSc MRCVS
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Beef & Sheep Health Plans
The benefits of using Herd Health Plans or Flock Plans
in conjunction with your vet
Paul Rodgers BVSc MRCVS
Introduction
• Herd health plans only needed for farm assurance?
• Describe what good health planning should mean
• Importance of plans to identify and control disease
• Medicine and welfare legislation
• Emphasis on the economic benefits of planning
• Surveillance, management of disease and monitoring
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Agenda
• Concept of health planning
• The role of the farmer and the vet
• Describe the BCVA Health Planner
• Go through several sections in the planners using
screenshots
• Use a few diseases to illustrate the need to plan for health
• Questions at the end please
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What is a health plan?
• Farmers view “ more paperwork, record of what I do already,
more cost”
• Industry view “ Standard Operating Procedures, less risk,
higher standards, legal use of medicines”
• Consumer view “ all farmers have one already?”
• Vets view “Long overdue? Way forward. Sound preventive
medicine.”
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The Concept of health planning
• Surveillance
Clinical and sub-clinical disease
Record
Benchmark
• Managing Risks
SOPs
Action plans (must be specific to each farm)
• Monitoring disease
Keep recording
Review the plan
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Some key points in health
planning
• A plan is produced by the vet with agreement by the farmer
• It is not an imposition and the vet is not an inspector
• Main value is in preventing and reducing disease
• Compliance with regulation is secondary
• If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it
• Benefit of control minus the cost of control must be greater than cost
of disease
• We need to know the true cost of disease
• Disease is not inevitable
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The role of the farmer
• Be aware of the benefits of planning
• Recognise the role of the vet as a health advisor
• Watch for clinical and sub clinical disease
• Be prepared to accurately record disease
• Commit time and resources to planning
• Ring the practice to arrange for regular planning visits
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The role of the vet
• Have an interest in health planning
• Have access to a computer based plan
• The practice must be prepared to spend time and resources on training
vets
• Membership of appropriate veterinary associations
• Keep up to date
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The role of the vet
•Act like a health advisor if we expect to be treated like one
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The role of the vet
•And not just provide the ‘fire-brigade service’
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BCVA Herd Health Plan
•British Cattle Veterinary Society
•Software herd health plan
•Initially for use on dairy farms
•Designed for vets to use in conjunction with farmers
•Vet must attend training course
•Disease cost calculator
•Beef module
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SVS Flock planner
•Flock Planner with Sheep Veterinary Society
•Both plans now focus on disease prevention
•Report tool
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Farm and Vet details
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Certificate
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Management & Husbandry
•Recording husbandry procedures
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Management & Husbandry
•Management targets
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Veterinary Care
•Drop down menus save time
•Only need to produce these sections once
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Medicines
•Enable you and your vet to comply with medicines regulation
•Enable your vet to legally write prescriptions for you
•Flock planner has essential medicines section
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Biosecurity and Isolation
•Totally neglected on most farms
•But represent one of the biggest disease risks
•A general plan can be quickly produced
•The sheep planner has a section for specific disease risks
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Infectious Disease
•This is the important part of planning
•It needs to be regularly updated
•It is quicker and more accurate if the farm has already been recording disease
•Disease assessment for disease appropriate for the animal type
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Infectious Disease
•This example is taken from the sheep plan
•Use SOP or action plan if there is a problem
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Disease cost calculator
•Disease cost calculator for cattle
•However, emphasis on dairy farm disease
•Something for the future?
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Bovine Virus Diarrhoea
• How many of you are vaccinating for BVD?
• Of those not vaccinating how many have surveillance in
place?
• BVD is present in over 90% of cattle herds
• Annual herd incidence of 40%
• Average cost per cow is estimated at £63 per year
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BVD: disease effects
• Mucosal disease
• Severe acute enteritis in adults
• Abortion or stillbirths
• Infertility, repeat breeders and early embryonic death
• Birth of weak calves often with congenital abnormalities
• Increased susceptibility to other disease in calves e.g. pneumonia
• Increased risk of TB
• Chronic poor doers
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BVD: risk factors
• Persistently infected animals (PIs)
• PI foetus
• Acutely infected animal returning or introduced to herd
• Cattle to cattle
• Contact with other ruminants
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Vaccination
•Vaccines needed
•Correct animals
•Correct time of year
•Booster reminders
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Parasitic disease
• Drop down risk assessment
• SOPs or specific action plan
• An opportunity to save on anthelmintics without compromising
production targets
• Control PGE worms in cattle and still allow immunity to husk to
develop
• How are you going to stop getting anthelmintic resistant worms on
your farm without a plan?
• Perhaps you don’t need to worry about it?
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The prevalence of farms with worms
resistant to BZ anthelmintics
90
BZ Resistant Farms %
80
70
Average
2000
60
50
40
30
Average
1991
20
10
0
Lowland
Upland
Hill
•Data from Moredun Research Institute
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Lameness
• Sheep planner has drop down risk assessment
• SOPs and specific action plans
• Vaccine section in sheep planner
• Lameness control in sheep can be complex
• We will now use foot rot as an example
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Factors to consider in
effective foot rot control
•Foot rot is an infectious disease
•The weather and environment
•Inspection of feet
•Trimming correctly
•Separation and treatment of infected animals
•Foot bathing
•Vaccination
•Pasture management
•Quarantine introduced stock
•And if you get it all right ……..
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Nutrition
• Diets for specific animal groups
• Metabolic disease surveillance and control
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Fertility and reproduction
• Efficient production needs good fertility
• How do you know if you don’t record?
• How do you know if you don’t have pregnancy diagnosis
• SOPs for dealing with difficult lambing or calving
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Lamb and calf health
• Young animals have a higher prevalence of disease
• A bad start is much more expensive to correct later
• Risk assessment
• SOPs
• Action plans
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What does the future hold?
• Changes in medicine regulations
• CAP reform
• Cross compliance
• Public demand in response to food scares
• Foreign imports are all putting pressure on our industry
• We all need to contribute to public confidence in Welsh food
• Within a few years comprehensive health plans will become a
requirement
• Surely it is better to act now and get the financial benefits from good
health planning?
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Summary
• Health planning in herds and flocks can have many benefits
• Compliance with farm assurance, welfare, medicine, health and safety
and employment regulations
• Save time (and therefore money) producing the plan
• Have the highest health standards making your herd or flock one of
the top performers
• Healthy units are more likely to be able to be profitable in an
increasingly difficult economic environment
• Reduce the use of unnecessary medicines and reduce costs
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Beef and sheep health plans
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MEETING TWO
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Beef & Sheep Health Plans
The benefits of using Herd Health Plans or Flock Plans
in conjunction with your vet
Paul Rodgers BVSc MRCVS
Introduction
• Concentrating on Flock Planning
• A Flock Plan complying with assurance in place
• The areas covered will be dynamic
• But I will be guiding us in areas that are significant for this farm and
this time of year
• This exercise is not about answering specific farm problems for each of
the course members
• We will be going through the process of using planning on this farm to
reduce disease in the future
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Agenda
• Look at some of the current problems with Paul Morris
• Look at the appropriate sections in the Flock Planner
• Out to the farm to get an idea of the layout etc.
• Condition score some ewes
• Back in to get an idea of some of the solutions
• Discuss the agenda and timing of the next meeting
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Diseases we will be
covering?
• Pregnancy toxaemia (twin lamb disease)
• Watery mouth
• Lamb hypothermia
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Which sections in the planner
cover these problems?
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The importance of condition
scoring
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How do we condition score
ewes?
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What Targets are we
looking for?
• Condition score at least 8 weeks before mating
• Target 3.5
• First month. No change
• Mid Pregnancy. Loss of 0.5 (or 0.75 for ewes in good condition).
• To give condition score at 90days of 2.5 to 3.0
• Late pregnancy a further 0.5
• But condition scoring at end of pregnancy is too late
• Consider use of blood testing (10 animals one month before lambing)
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Summary
• What have we learnt today as applies to this farm?
• Think of areas that you can take up with your vet
• Suggestions and timing for next meeting
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Beef and sheep health plans
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MEETING THREE
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Beef & Sheep Health Plans
The benefits of using Herd Health Plans or Flock Plans
in conjunction with your vet
Paul Rodgers BVSc MRCVS
Introduction
• A flock and cattle health plan complying with assurance already in
place. But significant changes with Welsh Lamb & Beef Promotions
• The areas covered will be dynamic
• But I will be guiding us in areas that are significant for this farm and
this time of year
• This exercise is not about answering specific farm problems for each of
the course members
• We will be going through the process of using planning on this farm to
reduce disease in the future
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Agenda
• Brief description of the new WL&B promotions health planning
• Paul will set the scene with regard to the beef unit
• Planning for the beef herd
• Out to farm to look at pasture and beef herd
• Summary of conclusions from last meeting
• Paul to give update for the flock
• Flock planning
• Summary and discuss the agenda / timing of the next meeting
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Diseases we will be
covering?
• Parasite control in Spring calving beef herd
• Fertility in beef herd
• BVD & Leptospirosis
• Orf
• Ewe mastitis
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WELSH LAMB & BEEF PROMOTIONS LTD
Animal Health Plan – 2006
&Welfare Committee Steering Group
Document based on template drawn up by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Animal Health
CONTENTS:
SECTION ONE: FARM DETAILS
SECTION TWO: DISEASE PREVENTION (Biosecurity)
SECTION THREE: LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT - ROUTINE PROCEDURES
SECTION FOUR: SHEEP ENTERPRISE - PERFORMANCE
BREEDING/FERTILITY
NUTRITIONAL STATUS
DISEASE PROBLEMS
SECTION FIVE: CATTLE ENTERPRISE - PERFORMANCE
BREEDING/FERTILITY
NUTRITIONAL STATUS
DISEASE PROBLEMS
SECTION SIX: PRIORITIES, SOLUTIONS & TARGETS
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Brief Summary of the Beef
Unit
• Spring calving
• Turnout between 10th April & 1st May
• Rotational grazing?
• Bull in 20th May
• House 25th October. Why?
• Wean January (Feb for late born calves)
• Second season at grass
• Finished between December and March
• No replacements reared on farm
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Parasite Control - some
basic facts
Parasitic gastroenteritis – PGE
• Most important parasites are Cooperia oncophera and Ostertagia
ostertagia (including inhibited Type II)
• Often mixed infections
Lungworm disease (Husk or Parasitic Bronchitis)
• Dictyocaulus viviperous
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PGE
• PPP (pre-patent period): 21 days
• Egg to infective L3: 1 week or less June to August; 8-10 weeks Dec to
Feb; Spring & autumn 3-6 weeks
• Pasture infection: at least one year, some 2 years.
• During grazing season can be severe disease, but often only seen as
sub-optimal growth rates (particularly in older animals)
• Type II ostertagiosis is a severe disease
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Lungworm Infection
• PPP: 25 days & lasts maximum 3 months
• L1 to infective L3: 3 – 7 days
• Adult (causing light burdens on pasture) and yearling cattle (cause
heavy burdens on pasture) more important than larvae over-wintering
on pasture
• Large number of eggs produced, so build up on pasture rapid
• Will often cause severe disease and deaths
• Usually seen in older animals. Why?
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Lungworm - Immunity
Normal infection:
• Resistance to establishment of challenge infections wanes at 6 months
& gone by 12 months
• Immunity to development of adult worms long lasting (over 27
months)
Vaccination
• Protection to penetrating larvae waning from 3 months hardly any
immunity to development to adult (infections become patent)
• Vaccination needs to be reinforced by natural infection at least in same
grazing season and preferably within 4-5 months
Immunity while under treatment with anthelmintic
• Similar to vaccine i.e. against larval invasion only and short lived
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What is meant by clean
pasture for calves?
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Before Mid-July
‘Clean’
• New seeds after arable crop
• Pasture grazed only by sheep the previous year
• Grassland used only for conservation purposes the previous year
‘Safe’
• Pasture grazed the previous year by adult or second year animals
• Pasture grazed the previous year by beef cows (with or without calves
at foot)
• After mid-May, pasture grazed by calves the previous year
• Pasture grazed by calves before mid-March or after mid-September of
the previous year
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After Mid-July
'Clean'
• Aftermath not grazed by cattle earlier in the year
• Pasture grazed by sheep in the first half of the grazing season
'Safe'
• Pasture grazed in the first half of the season by adult cattle
• Pasture which was clean at the start of the season and grazed by
parasite-naive calves
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Prevention of Resistance
• To date in UK only resistance to Ivermectins in Cooperia.
Worms are in Refugia if they are:
• Larvae on pasture
• In untreated animals
• Stages in animals not affected by treatment
Measures to Prevent Anthelmintic Resistance in Cattle
• Treat all incoming cattle sequentially with Levamisole and a
Benzimidazole then keep in yards for 48 hours before turning out onto
contaminated pasture
• Do not try to maximise production by keeping animals 'worm free'
• Only treat first-year cattle, unless it is essential to treat older animals
on health grounds
• Use different pasture each year for calves
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Worm Policy at Moment
1st season
• Dose at housing
2nd season
• Ivermectins 8 weeks after turnout
• Ivermectin 8 weeks later
• Housing dose
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What should we do?
• Look at the planner to see the parasite section
• Fertility section
• Disease cost calculator
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The Importance of Fertility
Control in the Beef Herd
• Beef herd is seasonally calving so we need a 365 day calving interval
• The 270 day gestation period is fixed, so we have 95 days to play with
• Assume a 60% pregnancy rate and 100 cows
• 1st service 16 cows not pregnant (NP) 21 days gone
• 2nd service 7 cows NP 42 days gone
• 3rd service 3 cows NP 63 days gone
• 4th service 1 cows NP 84 days gone
• This is with an excellent pregnancy rate and good detection
• What happens if the rate is 40%?
• Or worse if some of the cows are not bulling?
• Or worse still if the bull is infertile or lame?
• One bull?
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Bovine Virus Diarrhoea
• BVD is present in over 90% of cattle herds
• Annual herd incidence of 40%
• Average cost per cow is estimated at £63 per year
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BVD: disease effects
• Mucosal disease
• Severe acute enteritis in adults
• Abortion or stillbirths
• Infertility, repeat breeders and early embryonic death
• Birth of weak calves often with congenital abnormalities
• Increased susceptibility to other disease in calves e.g. pneumonia
• Increased risk of TB
• Chronic poor doers
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Fresh Air and Sun
• Lets have a look at the farm
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Summary of conclusions
from last meeting
• Some ewes were not in the correct condition score at key times
• Other disease was caused as a direct result of the nutritional status of
the ewes
• Condition scoring so that ewes in a group meet a minimum and
maximum target
• This can be done when the ewes are being handled anyway
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What has happened to the
flock since the last meeting?
• 2nd batch ewes lambed at over 150%. They were in correct condition
and it was monitored
• Noticeable loss of condition after lambing
• Orf lesions on ewe’s teats
• Several cases severe mastitis
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Mastitis in Ewes
• Causes: Teat lesions; orf and Staph aureus
• Clinical signs: vary from undetected to rapid death
• Acute gangrenous mastitis: depressed, lame, hot swollen; progresses
to cold purple; death or necrotic & blackened; slough; healing taking
months
• Chronic: during lactation, but not ill often only found at weaning, when
it is too late for treatment
• Prevention: Correct nutrition so sufficient milk then less teat lesions.
• Weaning: wean lambs together with reduced feed inputs.
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Orf
• Spread: Carrier animal; dry scabs (buildings & equipment)
• Importance: Lambs mouth lesions or strawberry foot rot poor growth
rate; Ewes mastitis; Labour costs; Showing; Welfare; zoonotic
• Clinical signs: Undetectable lesions; Proliferative lesions on lips &
nostrils lambs (into mouth & oesophagus); Teats ewe; Persistent
lesions head & ears rams; Strawberry foot rot (dermatophilus)
• Prevention: Selection & examination of replacements from free flocks
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Orf Vaccination
• Immunity is not long lasting
• Only use if orf present
• 8 weeks before lambing; Correct site (axilla)
• Keep away from lambing sheds and pasture
• Lambs also in axilla
• Housed lambs only vaccinated as they are turned out (batch)
• Don’t mix with un-vaccinated stock
• Not in wet weather
• Vaccination in face of disease is successful
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Summary
• What have we learnt today as applies to this farm?
• Think of areas that you can take up with your vet
• Suggestions and timing for next meeting
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Beef and sheep health plans
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MEETING FOUR
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Beef & Sheep Health Plans
The benefits of using Herd Health Plans or Flock Plans
in conjunction with your vet
Paul Rodgers BVSc MRCVS
Introduction
• A flock and cattle health plan complying with WLBP already in place
• The areas covered will be dynamic
• But I will be guiding us in areas that are significant for this farm and
this time of year
• This exercise is not about answering specific farm problems for each of
the course members
• We will be going through the process of using planning on this farm to
reduce disease in the future
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Agenda
• The three problems for sheep & beef as highlighted in the WLBP plan
• Brief description of sheep unit
• Look at MLC Sheep Enterprise Gross Margins
• Sheep Lameness
• Abortion and other vaccine timings and dilemmas
• Flock housing section on planner and out on farm
• Brief Description of Beef Unit
• Fertility control in beef unit
• Dry cow management
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Problems in Sheep Flock
1. Mastitis in Ewes
Affected 20 ewes
Closely connected to Orf
2. Abortion
20 ewes
3. Lameness
Caused by footrot?
10% of ewes
25% of lambs
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Problems in Beef Herd
1. Abortion / stillbirth
4 animals
2. Fertility control
3. Dry cow management and winter housing
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Description of Sheep Unit
• 650 breeding ewes (~Suffolk Cross)
• Charolais Rams
• Housed 2 weeks before lambing and turned out 1 month after lambing
• Lambing from Jan to Feb and March to April
• Lambing percentage 125%
• First lambs fat from April at 18+kg or value of +£55 for early lambs
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Lameness in sheep
• Interdigital dermatitis (OID, Scald). Benign footrot.
• Footrot. Under-run lesions and lameness.
• CODD. Lesions on coronary band.
• Other causes
• Diagnosis is important
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•Picture 1: scald. Affects inter-digital
skin
•Picture 2: Virulent footrot.
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•CODD. Early. Affects coronary band.
Very infectious, difficult to treat. Need
to avoid by effective quarantine.
•Chronic CODD. Note it does not affect
the inter-digital space.
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Treatment Scald & Benign
Footrot
• Walk through 3% Formalin or 10% Zinc Sulphate. Gives protection for
2-3 days, repeat every 5 days, or every 14 days if moved to clean
pasture.
• Can spontaneously recover in dry weather.
• Topical sprays may not work.
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Treatment Footrot
• Paring. Should be limited to misshapen feet or before foot-bathing.
• If severe lameness antibiotics first then pare. Tools, parings, clippings
can all be infective for one day.
• Foot-bathing. Treat footrot sheep separately. Need to have good
handling facilities.
• 10% zinc needs 30 minute stand-in.
• Need to wash first; dry standing after; dry day; move to clean pasture
(rested 14 days).
• Antibiotics. Identify & cull if no response after one treatment. Remove
from group to avoid exposure.
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Treatment Footrot cont’
• Vaccination in face of outbreak.. Alternative to foot-bathing if facilities
are poor.
• Can’t use Cydectin after use of vaccine.
• Segregation of infected animals into hospital flock.
• Foot bath every 5 days.
• Antibiotics or vaccine if continue to be lame.
• Cull if 3 baths or 1 injection fails
• Uninfected inspected & foot-bath whenever yarded.
• New cases add to infected group
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Vaccination Timings and
Dilemmas
• A flock may need several vaccines
• These need to be done at the correct time
• There may be a need to use more than one vaccine at the same time
• There may be a conflict between vaccines or other products
• Can the vaccines be given at a time that other procedures need to be
done?
• Can other procedures be done at the same time as the vaccine?
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Abortion Vaccines
• Commonly need to vaccinate against Enzootic abortion and
Toxoplasmosis
• It is not ideal to give two vaccines at the same time
• But in this case this often needs to be done. But not at same site and
don’t mix.
• Timing is important.
• Not less than 4 weeks before mating and not during pregnancy for
Enzovax. Lasts at least 3 seasons.
• Not less than 3 weeks before mating and not during pregnancy for
Toxovac. Lasts at least 2 lambing seasons
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Orf Vaccine
• Immunity is not long lasting (6-8 months) and is not passed on in the
colostrum
• Only use if orf present
• 8 weeks before lambing; Correct site (axilla)
• Keep away from lambing sheds and pasture
• Lambs also in axilla
• Housed lambs only vaccinated as they are turned out (batch)
• Don’t mix with un-vaccinated stock
• Not in wet weather
• Vaccination in face of disease is successful
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Footrot Vaccine
• Again short protection is short duration
• May need second dose 4-5 weeks after first dose, or before next period
of risk
• No protection against other causes of lameness
• Can’t use Cydectin in Footrot vaccinated sheep
• Can be useful where other control measures are not working
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Space Allowances Sheep
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Brief Summary of the Beef
Unit
• Spring calving
• Turnout between 10th April & 1st May
• Rotational grazing?
• Bull in 20th May
• House 25th October.
• Wean January (Feb for late born calves)
• Second season at grass
• Finished between December and March
• No replacements reared on farm
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Fertility Control Cattle
• Need a 365 day calving interval.
• Depending on conception rates it takes up to seven cycles for a group
of 100 normal animals to conceive
• No calf no money but your costs stay the same
• Even if you are running a bull, you need PD the cows
• You need to observe and record bulling and sort out problem cows
early enough
• If you don’t have BVD you will get it.
• If you don’t have Leptospirosis you probably will get it
• Vaccinate
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Fertility Plan for Gilfach
• Bull in to herd 1st June
• Observe and record services for one month.
• Cows not seen bulling should be scanned and treated as required.
• Scan whole herd 4-6 weeks later.
• Re-scan cows as necessary.
• Vaccinate the whole herd for BVD and Leptospirosis in Dec / Jan
• Two doses needed first year as vaccine has lapsed
• Boosters required each year and double for replacements
• Find something else to save money on
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Dry Cow Management
• You need to be aware of condition scores in the cows
• A typical pattern for a spring calving herd is:
2.5 at calving
2.8 at service
3 at housing
2.5 at turnout
• Dry cows benefit from a diet that is:
High in roughage (with a good scratch factor)
Low in energy
High in Magnesium, Low in Phosphorous
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Acknowledgements
• MLC
• Veterinary Record
• In Practice
• HCC
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Summary
• What have we learnt today as applies to this farm?
• Think of areas that you can take up with your vet.
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Beef and sheep health plans
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