Livestock

Infection with Nematodirus battus causes scour and death in lambs during late spring and early summer. 

In the first 4 weeks the ewe lets the lamb suck anytime, then she only allows the lamb to suck on her signal which is heads up. 

Work by Teagasc in Ireland showed that if you want quality silage, pre grazing before shutting fields up can have an effect by removing dead and senescent material. 

Jonathan Firth a fencing contractor in Dumfriesshire got fed up repairing fences damaged by floods, only to have them washed away again the following winter. 

Hydrogen sulphide/slurry gas is one of the biggest causes of death on farms.  The highest concentrations are released when slurry is first mixed so please follow the code completely.

Have a look around your fields before you turn stock out, you never know you might find.

Salmonella Dublin is a bacterium which more often causes disease in dairy herds than beef herds.  However, buying in calves to twin on or rear, or buying beef x dairy replacement heifers can all be sources of risk to the beef herd.

Our advice is by purchasing from herds with risk level 1 for Johne’s disease you have the lowest risk of buying a Johne’s disease infected animal.  The risk increases step wise for herds at levels 2, 3 and 4. 

In December Jamie N. Henningson of Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory published a useful note in ‘Bovine Veterinarian’ on cases of apparent overfeeding of minerals.  His general observations are equally relevant to UK livestock farmers.