Salmonella remains an important disease risk on Irish farms, affecting both animal health and farm profitability.

The most common clinical signs of salmonellosis in cattle are diarrhoea and abortion, with Salmonella Typhimurium commonly associated with diarrhoea and Salmonella Dublin a major cause of abortion.

Following infection, cattle may recover and develop immunity, but some animals can become carriers. These carrier animals can continue to shed Salmonella bacteria either continuously, intermittently, or remain as hidden (latent) carriers, allowing infection to persist within a herd.

The impact of Salmonella goes beyond treatment costs and animal losses. Infection can have significant long-term effects on productivity and profitability, including:

Production losses may include:

• Reduced milk yield
• Fewer calves produced per cow per year
• Reduced daily weight gain
• Poor thrive and reduced performance

Protecting Your Herd Before the Risk Period

Salmonella Dublin abortions in spring-calving dairy herds typically begin to increase in autumn, with cases often peaking around November. To ensure adequate protection, pregnant heifers should receive their primary vaccination course, or a booster vaccination, at least 2–3 weeks before this higher-risk period.

Bovilis® Bovivac S Vaccination Protocol

Cattle aged 6 months to adult:

• Two 5ml doses given 21 days apart
• Annual booster vaccination recommended 2–3 weeks before the main risk period (typically around September)

Calves from approximately 3 weeks to 6 months:

• Primary vaccination course of two 2ml doses, 21 days apart

Vaccination should form part of a wider Salmonella control plan, alongside good hygiene, biosecurity measures, and effective herd management practices. Together, these measures help reduce the risk of infection and protect herd health.

Protect Your Herd. Protect Your People.

Talk to our farm team today about creating a Salmonella vaccination plan for your herd.

As all Dairy Farmers may be aware by now , there have been changes in prescription practices driven by the challenge of AMR and the vet council/department of agricultures enforcement of same. (More Responsible use of antibiotics going forward)

Watch a very informative video by Caroline Gavin SSVI,  explaining what the changes mean for vets and farmers.

A new veterinary-led consultation for farmers has been developed by Animal Health Ireland called Cell Count Solutions. The objective of this free mastitis consultation is to help facilitate a collaborative approach between the vet and farmer, to ensure better SCC and mastitis control on farms.

During the consultation, all relevant areas  including the cow, the milking routine, the environment, records etc. will be discussed. The consultation is available throughout the entire lactation and there aren’t any eligibility requirements necessary to register.  Please call our clinic and we will answer any questions you may have.

Why is this Consultation process important for the farmer?

To facilitate our compliance with the legislation , we advise you to sign up for the service because it will have significant implications for the use of lactating antibiotics and dry cow antibiotics , as well as improve the ability to prescribe for your herd.

We will be calling all our Glasslyn Dairy Farmers over the coming days and weeks with further information.

Getting Ready for Breeding

If you are going to start AI on May 1 then April is the month for preparation.

In simple terms: Pregnancy rate is Submission rate x Conception rate.

In Irish terms submission rate is the amount of cows that are available for service (calved >42 days) that have been bulled in the first 3weeks of breeding. The target is 90% in a seasonal herd.

The target for conception to 1st and 2nd service is about 65%. So if you have 100 cows and you have asubmission rate of 90% then 90 cows should be bulled in first 3 weeks. If 65%of them hold then this leaves about 41 cows left to breed (that were eligible to breed in first 3 weeks.)

Second service will get another 27 cows (65%). This gives you in total 86 cows in calf in 6 weeks.

So in short you can make up for a poorer conception rate with a good submission rate. While conception rate is affected by disease/health and energy (energy levels, dry matter intake; buffer feeding), submission rate is really just seeing them in heat.

Submission rate can be improved by:

1. One month before breeding you need to check cows for heat or not – pre breeding. Tail paint/apply scratch cards to all cows 3 weeks before start of breeding and note any cows not bulling.

2. Any cow calved 42 days and was not seen bulling within these 3 weeks should be scanned and treated if necessary. This avoids the loss of time further in breeding season and a cow that was once a February calver becoming an April calver.

3. Any cow that was treated for retained cleaning should be re-examined before breeding. They may show heat even with a chronic womb infection.

4. A vasectomised bull will aid in heat detection during the breeding season.

   ** (surgery should be carried out 3 weeks before bull is needed)**

Conception Rate

1. Ensure all vaccinations are up to date and that maiden heifers have received their primary course ahead of breeding. Lepto/ BVD/ IBR can all interfere with conception rate.

2. Implementing regular BCS (Body condition score) on your farm leading up to breeding will highlight the high-risk cows that require attention. Ideally at breeding cows should have BCS of 2.75 – 3.25.

   Thehigh-risk group would include under conditioned cows, high yielders, lame cows and difficult calvers. Someof these would benefit from once a day milking or extra feeding.

    

   Consider keeping lame cows or under conditioned cows close to the parlour to optimise dry matter intake and reduce energy used to and from parlour.

3. Ensure adequate mineral and trace element intake. Copper and Manganese deficiency can lead to silent heats. Selenium deficiency will affect conception rates.

**Don’t forget the Bull**

Bull should be given a once over before breeding starts.

Fertility can be assessed by one of the vets.

Mobility is vital and if showing signs of lameness, his feet should be tended too aheadof breeding to allow recovery time.

Ensure enough bull power is present. Consider team of bulls to provide 12 hour break if large herd.

Recently MSD Animal Health and XL Vets ran a series called Day in the Life of a Vet and our very own Kevin O Sullivan was shadowed for a day.

Meet Vets Christine and Richard, Vet Nurse Katie and FLuff & Buff Groomer Caitriona, as well as some interesting cases and a chicken!

Watch how the day unfolded on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17845474305184603/

2 Farm talks being hosted by us and Zoetis on how to Improve In-Calf Rates on Farms.

1st Event: 27 March 2024 Coachford

2nd Event: 3 April 2024 Dunmanway

See you there!

Milk fever and subclinical milk fever are the most important macromineral disorders that affect transition dairy cows. The occurrence of milk fever or subclinical hypocalcaemia is related to increased incidence rates of several other transition cow problems. The cows with low blood level of calcium have a higher likelihood of having immunosupression, an assisted calving (2-3x), retained placenta, uterine prolapse, endometritis, mastitis (8x), displaced abomasum (2-4x) ketosis and fertility problems. Therefore, it very important that both milk fever and subclinical milk fever are prevented.

The main strategies to avoid milk fever and subclinical hypocalcaemia at calving are:

1. Ensuring the correct BCS at calving (BCS 3.0)
2. Providing adequate Mg supplementation pre-calving (min 20 g per cow per day)
3. Achieving negative DCAB (dietary cation anion balance)
4. Reducing dietary K intake

*It is very important to have your silage analysed to know the mineral content and the nutritional value.

Cows who have gone down with milk fever should be treated by a vet with IV calcium. High risk cows (over-conditioned, high-yielding, lame cows and cows with a previous history of milk fever) would benefit receiving an oral calcium bolus at the point of calving and the second one 12 hours later in aid of lowering the chance of the cow getting milk fever.

Consider milk fever as a gateway disease to other illnesses and work towards identifying the specific strategy for milk fever control in the enterprise. All farms should have some pre-determined strategy for milk fever prevention. If you have an increased number of transition cow problems or more than 5% of your cows get milk fever an investigation into the issue would be advisory.

Contact Glasslyn Vets for further information on milk fever prevention and testing.

As herd sizes increase, the incidence of lame cows is also increasing. Increased walking distances and increased standing times have a detrimental effect on cow hoof health. Lameness is not only a problem for the cow; it can lead to significant financial losses for the farm business.

Considering the fact that every case of a lame cow can cost up to €300, having a herd plan in place for lameness is vitally important. The cost of a case of lameness includes the loss of milk production for 2 months before and up to 4 months after the clinical case, the veterinary bills, the increased infertility and the increased risk of culling.

The four main causes of lameness in an Irish grazing system are:

White Line Disease

White line disease is the separation of the hoof wall from the sole on the outside claw of the hind foot. It may start off as a thin black line but it fills with grit and stones causing pain and sometimes infection. Treatment includes trimming the affected claw, a shoe on the good claw and anti-inflammatory injection. Most of these do not need antibiotic treatment.

Digital Dermatitis (Mortellaro)

Highly contagious, this initially looks like a red rash, and can develop into extensive skin loss and scabbing around the cleft between the claws and on the heel. Treatment involves topical antibiotic spray daily for up to 5 days. Do not put these cows through the footbath. Prevention is the best approach to Digital Dermatitis with weekly foot bathing using formalin, copper sulphate or inorganic acids. Talk to your vet about the best location for your footbath, and the conentrations of products to be used. Try not to use a plastic footbath because generally cows do not like walking through them and as a result you will not use it as often as you should.

Solar Bruising and Ulcers

Red to dark purple discolouration, which only becomes visible about 2–3 months after the damage has been done. Sole ulcers can develop from very severe bruising. These occur when the tissue under the hoof becomes inflamed and can break through the horn, or cause under-run sole. Excess horn should be trimmed from around the ulcer, a shoe applied to the opposite claw, topical antibiotic applied and anti-inflammatory injection.

Foul in the Foot/ Footrot

Symptoms include swelling above the hoof, splayed claws, and a foul smelling secretion between the claws. It is caused by bacteria entering the foot through cracks in the skin caused by dirty wet conditions. Treatment requires antibiotics.

How to reduce lameness

Look at your own behaviour

• Watch the rear group of cows and make sure their heads stay down (if the head is up – they are being pushed)
• Ensure they aren’t pushing each other (cows don’t like body contact)
• Do not rush the back of the herd with dogs or quad bike

 Roadways

• Well-designed
• Firm, compacted base material
• Crowned to keep water off – Non-damaging surfaces, well-drained edges
• Width sufficient for herd size (min 5 m)
• Free of congestion points – avoid right angle bends, narrowing of race, mud holes, excess crowning

 Collecting yards

• Ensure plenty of space in the yard to congregate – a minimum of 1.3 square metres space for Jersey cows and 1.4 to 1.5 square metres space for Friesian cows (depending on their size and the design of the shed)
• Look for any other factors that would make cows fear the yard (slippery concrete, stray voltage, electrified backing gate)
• Use the backing gate only to take up space, not to push cows

 Prevalence and cost

• 20-35% of cows suffer some degree of lameness
• 90% of lameness is in the foot, with 80% in the hind limbs and 80% of these cases in the outer claw
• Clinical lameness is estimated to reduce milk yield by 350kg per lactation
• A case of clinical lameness is estimated to cost €160 – €300

Point Lameness Reduction Plan

1. Record keeping (not just lameness, of course!)
2. Early detection and effective treatment
3. Minimising risk of injury (risk assessment, design and construction of facilities, and understanding of the dairy cow for good stockmanship and low stress handling)
4. Hygiene or minimizing risk of infection (footbaths and facilities)
5. Good health for the foot (cow comfort, avoiding health issues)

There are multiple clinical signs of salmonellosis. The most common are diarrhoea and abortion, predominantly caused by Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella dublin respectively. Once infected cattle can acquire immunity and recover or remain carriers. These carriers can shed the bacteria constantly, intermittently or become latent carriers.

Economic implications are not only restricted to treatment costs and mortality, but significantly affect productivity subsequently profitability.

Production losses:

• Decreased milk production
• Can lead to fewer calves/cow/year
• Decreased daily weight gain
• Ill thrift

Abortions caused by Salmonella dublin in spring born dairy herds likely commence in autumn and peaking in November.  It is therefore recommended to vaccinate pregnant heifers with a primary course, or a booster, at least 2-3 weeks before this main risk period.

Vaccination protocols for Bovilis Bovivac S:

• Aged 6 months – adult: Two 5ml doses 21 days apart
• Revaccination annually 2-3 weeks before the main risk period, or 3-4 weeks pre-calving provided a primary vaccination course has been completed by subcutaneous administration
• Calves from approx. 3 weeks to 6 months can start their primary vaccination course: Two 2ml doses 14-21 days apart

Implementing a vaccination programme in addition with strict management and good husbandry practices will provide cattle with immunity to reduce infections.  Contact our team today to schedule your vaccination.

Our colleague Kevin Meaney MVB Cert DHH, Southview Veterinary Hospital and XL Vets member, gives a very good insight into how to interpret and act on milk quality reports.

Mastitis and high somatic cell counts (SCC) can be one of the most expensive health problems on a dairy farm. Teagasc research has shown an increase of 1.3 cents per litre in getting a bulk Milk Cell Count from 200,000-300,000 to below 200,000. In a 94-cow herd, this was shown to increase the farm profit by 33%. Milk recording is an essential tool in monitoring mastitis levels on farm- without it, reliable and effective milk quality control is impossible.

As well as udder heath information, milk recording gives us valuable information on the production performance of cows, which helps us to make decisions on a herd and individual cow level, but here we will concentrate on how to find, interpret and act on milk quality reports.

Upon logging into IBCF, you will see on the right side of the dashboard a list of the most recent reports; these are usually the latest milk recording reports.

Alternatively, clicking on menu on the left upper corner of the screen, then, selecting reports, then milk management, will allow you access to all your milk reports (See ICBF Reports Menu image below).

Milk Recording Reports

There are 4 Milk Recording Reports;

More commonly used

• The CellCheck Report; this gives herd-level analysis in a very easy to read format Milk Recording Farm SCC Report (Problem Cow Report);
• Milk recording Farm Summary Report; this divides herd information into groups based on Autumn/Spring calving and age – may sometimes provide insight into mastitis problem, if there are other management problems Milk recording detailed.

Less commonly used

• Milk recording Farm Summary Report; this divides herd information into groups based on Autumn/Spring calving and age – may sometimes provide insight into mastitis problem, if there are other management problems.
• Milk recording detailed Farm Report; this provides a lot of general information on each cow on the farm- not commonly used for mastitis control.

Cell Check Report

This report is a very powerful tool that very quickly and clearly shows us how the herd mastitis control is performing and highlights any worrying trends. It evaluates 4 measures of performance; (and gives the farm a quick, eye-catching star rating for each) 1

1. Somatic Cell Count
2. Mastitis control during lactation
3. Mastitis control during dry period/calving
4. Clinical mastitis

Somatic Cell Count

This section starts with the bulk milk versus the average SCC at the recording, showing the effect of cows withheld from the tank on the overall SCC of the herd. It also gives the percentage of infected cows in the herd; the higher this is, the greater the source of infection for other cows and the greater the risk of spread. Finally, there is an estimate of loss of milk production, to illustrate the cost of the problem and the benefit in resolving it.

Mastitis Control During Lactation

The recent infection rate identifies the percentage of uninfected cows at the last recording that are now infected. An increase here points to possible problems with the milking regime and control measures. The Chronic infection rate identifies the percentage of cows with persistently high SCC. These animals are a source of infection to other cows and are less likely to resolve or respond to treatment. Many of these cows will need to be culled, so an increase above the 8% threshold presents a serious and expensive problem.

Mastitis Control in Dry Period/ At Calving

The New Infection Rate over the Dry Period gives the percentage of cows that dried off without a high SCC but had one in the new lactation. This may point to poor hygiene at or around the time of drying off, or during housing, calving down or early lactation. It also raises questions about the efficacy of the dry cow therapy and use of sealers.

The Cure Rate over the dry period, is the real test of the Dry Cow Therapy and culling policy. Low cure rate suggests ineffective dry cow tubes but could also mean that some cows should have been culled last autumn, instead of drying off.

Clinical Mastitis

This section is usually blank, because very few farmers take the time to log onto ICBF and record use of mastitis tubes or clinical mastitis. This is a pity, because accurate recording of this information can be really useful on an individual and herd level- it is very informative to see how many times a cow has been treated for mastitis, along with her SCC results for the year. This can be done on the ICBF event recording option on the menu on the top left corner of the dashboard, or by text message to ICBF. To register your mobile number telephone 1850-600-900.

Milk Recording Farm SCC Report (Problem Cow Report)

This report lists the mastitis information for all the cows that had a high SCC in this lactation, order of their SCC at the last recording.

For each cow it gives up to 7 important pieces of information;

1. Age- a big factor in response to therapy
2. Lactation- again older cows less likely to respond
3. Number of tests over 200,000 in this lactation- is this a recent or chronic infection?
4. SCC results for the last 3-4 recordings; very high results indicate poorer response to therapy
5. (and 6.) Average SCC and number of high SCC results in the last lactation- cows that were infected in the last lactation and again in this are very unlikely to respond to Dry Cow Therapy this time around
6. Number of mastitis treatments in this lactation and the last very useful information to have.

Actions – What to do with all this information

1. Identify new cases (recent infections)
2. Identify infected quarters, using California Mastitis Test (CMT) and sample for culture.

Options include;

• Treat infected quarter with mastitis tubes – only likely to work in quite new cases
• Dry Off the quarter – do not treat with dry cow therapy, watch closely for mastitis
• Dry off cow – a longer dry period increases cure rates and reduces risk to rest of herd
• Cull the cow (See 4. below)

3. Review management
   1. Identify the bacteria causing the infection this will help to pick the most effective control measures
   2. Identify the source (High SCC cows) and is from uninfected cows. Options include;
      • Milking last
      • Running a separate high SCC group
      • Culling infected cows

Identify risk factors for spread – there are too many of these to discuss here, and the risks on your farm need to be identified and resolved, your vet will be happy to advise you on this

4.  Culling decisions – Unfortunately, a large proportion of problem cows will ultimately need to be culled because of a SCC problem. Which cows to cull depend on a number of factors;

1. Herd Factors – these will determine how many animals you can afford to replace;

• The level of infection in the herd
• Number of in-calf replacement heifers
• Number of cows culled for other reasons, such as infertility or lameness

2. Individual Factors – these will determine which cows will be at the top of the culling list and which will be further down;

• Number of high SCC results in this lactation- more high results means a poorer response to Dry Cow Therapy
• Number of high SCC results- high SCC last year, and again this year point to a poor chance of response to Dry Cow Therapy- these cows go to the top of the culling list
• Age – generally cow in their 3rd lactation or higher show a poor response to Dry Cow Therapy
• Changes to the udder- this is a factor that is often overlooked, but if a cow has a lumpy udder, she is much less likely to respond to Dry Cow Therapy