LOTS OF PNEUMONIA IN WEANED CALVES

 

            We have been seeing a lot and answering a lot of questions about pneumonia in weaned calves.  Some of the problems are in home raised calves and some in purchased calves.  The most important factor is to watch these calves carefully and treat at the first signs of droopiness or “ain’t doing right.”  Otherwise, the first signs you will see will be a dead calf!

            We have diagnosed mycoplasma, biberstenia and histophilus somnus in calves so far this year.  “What are those?” You are thinking.  These are less common organisms that cause pneumonia.  All are tough to vaccinate against.  They cause the worst problems in combination with each other or other stressors.

            What can we do??  Most important is to vaccinate calves at weaning or purchase with Inforce 3 to get their immune system primed.  If you can, then plan on boostering the vaccines with Bovishield 5, One Shot (pasteurella) and blackleg after calves have settled in for a month or so.  If you only have one shot at vaccinations because of facilities, give the Bovishield/one Shot and blackleg at the same time as the Inforce.  You can also vaccinate against histophilus somnus if you have had problems with that organism in the past.  Mycoplasma vaccines are not effective.

            Don’t wait to treat a sick or droopy calf.  Use a long acting, pneumonia specific antibiotic like Draxxin or Nuflor at the first signs of off-feed or fever.  Both these drugs do a good job on mycoplasma, which penicillin and Excede don’t touch.  Retreat at the recommended interval (7 days for Draxxin, 3 days for Nuflor) to make sure you are keeping effective blood levels of drug in the calf for at least 10 days.  Calves may look good after only one dose, but you don’t want them to relapse.  You may need to combine Excede with the Draxxin or Nuflor.  One pasteurella is resistant to everything except Excede.

            We have also had good luck giving Draxxin to all calves through the chute.  This option is expensive, but with the price of calves, you can’t afford to lose any if you can help it.

 

 

 

CALL IF YOU NEED A VFD

 

            Don’t wait until the last minute or a crisis to get a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) for your calves.  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?

 

      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 have not been able to get the liquid or powder sulfa products for a long time.  We do have the sulfa boluses which work well in combination with LA-300.   

 

 

HOW YOU FEED COLOSTRUM MATTERS

 

            Do you tube feed colostrum to every calf?  Do you let calves suckle the cow?  Do you feed with a nipple bottle?  Do you test colostrum?  Do you use colostrum replacer?

            Studies done at the University of Minnesota compared feeding different amounts of colostrum by tube feeder or by nipple bottle.  The smaller quantity of colostrum (1.5 liter) contained 100 grams of IgG, the amount found in most dried colostrum replacers.  The only difference was found between the small quantity fed by tube vs bottle.

            The bottle fed calves had sufficient serum IgG and successful passive transfer whether they wer fed the large or small amount of colostrum.  However, the tube fed calves had to have the large amount (3.0 liters) in order to get enough IgG.  Almost 60% of the tube fed calves with the 1.5 L of colostrum had failure of passive transfer and significantly lower levels of circulating antibodies.

            What does this study mean for you?  If you want to feed colostrum replacer or have to because of some problem with the cow, be sure to use a nipple bottle.  If you have to tube feed replacer, use 2 bags to get adequate IgG levels.  If you are feeding fresh colostrum, be sure to test it to know that the antibody levels are high.  If you have at least 3 L, you can feed either way.

            Aspiration pneumonia can be caused by the tube feeder being put down the trachea instead of the esophagus or by not being careful to close the feeder when pulling out the tube.  Milk can leak out at the top of the throat and drip into the lungs.  These pneumonias are very tough to treat and may not show up until 2-5 days after the calf has been tubed.

            Please call if you have any questions about tubing calves or if you would like a demonstration.

 

FRESH COLOSTRUM IS BEST

 

            Recent studies comparing fresh colostrum to frozen or heat treated colostrum have found that either freezing or heat treating negatively effects the cells in colostrum.  We all know about the importance of antibodies in colostrum for calves, but we are just learning about other components like white cells.

            Calves fed fresh colostrum had less diarrhea on day seven and more red blood cells at 3 weeks.  Calves fed untreated colostrum also responded better to viral challenges and had immune cells with the ability to recognize particular pathogens,

            The best calf management is to harvest colostrum quickly and cleanly and feed a gallon to the calf within the first hour (6 hours at the most).  Then continue feeding colostrum from the next milkings to calves for the first four days of life.  Treated or colostrum replacers are better than nothing, and do contain antibodies, but feed fresh colostrum whenever possible.

 

IMPLANTS IMPROVE GROWTH

 

            The prices on cattle this fall have been up and down at best.  Some of you have gotten caught owning cattle that are not worth much more than you bought them for this spring.  One way to improve the feed efficiency and growth of your feedlot cattle is to implant them.

            We are now recommending Synovex Choice implants for weaned calves.  This implant last 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 7-800 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.

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

 

ASHLEY AND JAKE IN MONTANA

 

            Some of you have been wondering how Ashley McFarlin is doing.  She and her husband Jake finally got moved to Montana this month with some help from Tabby and Cassie from the clinic.  They got all their horses and dogs and goats moved safe and sound.  They are working on building a house in the Great Falls area.

 

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, Jill, Alisha, Christine, Cindy, Kari, Tabby, Vicki, Cassie, Rachel, Allyson, Felisa, Tanner, Gracie, Sam, Jack & Zoey