NOW IS CHUTE WORK SEASON

Sally and Andrea have been busy this month preg checking beef cows and vaccinating beef calves. Not that everyone has their field work done, but some days have been too wet to be combining corn or making fodder, so you might as well call the vet!

Please call ahead if you need to use our chute or if you need over 100 doses of any given vaccine or implant. We can order exactly what you need and have it the next day. We just don’t keep some things on hand in large quantities. You are welcome to rent our working chute and do your calves yourself if you would like.

If you are planning on taking calves to the Bloomington sale barn, they like to have the vaccinations done 3 weeks before the sale. This suggestion is to make sure that the calves have time to respond to the vaccine and not be stressed by moving to suppress their immune system. Bloomington also asks that the calves not be implanted so that buyers can implant the calves with whatever works in their system.

If you are planning on keeping the calves for at least 3 months, you can implant them with the Synovex Choice which lasts 110 days. Then you will get the benefit from the implant and the buyer can implant the calves with the next feedlot implant.

Bloomington suggests the following vaccines for calves:

• Bovishield Gold 5
• One Shot
• Ultrabac 7

The Bovi and Ultrabac should be given and boostered about 4 weeks later. The One Shot does not need to be boostered. It can be given with the first or second round.
 

TUBERCULOSIS TESTING IN DEER

Tuberculosis was diagnosed last year in a dairy farm near Lodi, Wisconsin. The herd has been under quarantine and been retested regularly. Last year, deer in the area were tested during the nine day gun season. None were found to have TB. The same deer testing is going on this year in parts of Dane and Columbia counties. Wild, white tail deer harvested in the designated areas will have to be tested for bovine TB. Check on the Wildlife and Habitat page of the DNR website for more information.

To date, no bovine TB has been identified in wild, free ranging animals in WI. This testing is to make sure that the TB infection did not spread to deer.
 

FIRST CASE OF EIA IN WI IN 15 YEARS

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) confirmed that a horse and a mule on the same premises in Taylor County have tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA). These are Wisconsin's first confirmed cases of EIA in almost 15 years. There is no treatment for EIA, therefore to prevent transmitting it, infected animals are humanely euthanized.

EIA is an infectious and potentially fatal viral infection that affects only equine species, such as horses, ponies, zebras, mules, and donkeys. Symptoms can vary and may include fever and uncontrollable bleeding that can progress to weakness, weight loss, depression, and in some cases death. Horses can get the disease through blood-feeding flies, such as horseflies and deerflies. The virus can also be transmitted between horses through re-used needles and syringes, blood transfusions, and other contaminated equipment. To reduce the risk of infection, horse owners should implement fly control measures during fly season, use only new, sterile needles and syringes for injections and clean and disinfect equipment shared between animals.

Horses that do anything off the farm must be tested every year. You must isolate any animals with an unknown EIA status until test results are confirmed as negative. Just because the blood has been drawn does not mean that you can move the horse.
 

MICOTIL TRAINING

Many of you have given up on using Micotil because of the stories about people dying from self-injection. Because of this risk, Elanco has developed an on-line training for safe handling and use of the drug. Micotil is a useful antibiotic and has its place in treating pneumonia in calves. Especially when some of the other antibiotics are on backorder or priced out of reach, Micotil may be a good choice for you.  Please talk to Sally or Jill if you want to use it so we can have the correct information on file.
 

CALL IF YOU NEED A VFD

Sally has been writing lots of Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) for sick calves lately. Remember that VFDs are good for 6 months so you will be ready once you let us know how many calves you anticipate in the next 6 months and what you plan on using.

Look through this list to know what you need:

• Which medications do you use in your operation?
• Have you met with your vet to review your management protocols, medications and vaccinations?
• Do you have a plan to store copies of VFDs and keep track of expiration dates?
• Which feed mill do you use?
• How many calves will you be feeding in the next 6 months?
• Has Sally seen your calves within the last year?

Remember that the VFD requirement does NOT cover medications in water or boluses or injections. These antibiotics will be available with a prescription from us. We have tetracycline to use in the water. We were finally able to get the liquid sulfadimethoxine for use in water.
 

IMPLANTS IMPROVE GROWTH

The prices on cattle this fall have been down for the most part. Some of you are struggling to feed and bed cattle and have enough hay for your cows. One way to improve the feed efficiency and growth of your feedlot cattle is to implant them.

We have been impressed with the performance of the Synovex implants. The Synovex Choice implant lasts 110 days and can be used in either steers or heifers. You can implant heifers for replacements at 4 months without causing reproductive problems. The implants come in reels of 10 and fit in either a metal or plastic gun.

We have also been impressed with the Synovex Feedlot One finishing implant. This implant is designed for 700-800 lb. calves going on full feed. It can be used in either steers or heifers, but should not be given to heifers being kept for replacements. This implant lasts 200 days, so you don’t have to fight with animals over 1000 pounds giving a second finishing implant. The implants cost about $8, but will bring you an additional 94 lbs. at slaughter with significantly better ADG.

We also have the Synovex Feedlot Grass implant. This one lasts 200 days, but does not have as much TBA in it, so you don’t get the excessive riding and other bullish behaviors that we sometimes see in small calves when implanted with the Feedlot One. The Grass implants only cost about $5 and can be your final implant.

Please call if you have implant questions. We can figure out what will work best in your situation.
 

THANK YOU FOR PAYING ON ACCOUNT

We know that prices of everything you have to sell have been low this year, except dry hay which is crazy high. This year’s late harvest season has been a real struggle with snow, rain, mud and crop losses. We appreciate you paying on your account and keeping it current. Please call if you have questions or concerns about your account balance. Jill will be happy to answer your questions.

Merry Christmas to you

and your family!

Best wishes for the new year! We appreciate your business.

From all of us at Lancaster Vet Clinic,

Sally, Cari, Andrea. Jill, Alisha, Cindy, Kristin, Megan, Vicki, Debbie, Missy, Sarah, Aly, Kayla