We have recently seen a few cases of the sheep stomach worm; Haemonchus (Barbers Pole Worm). The risk of haemonchosis in grazing sheep and goats is high at the moment, particularly if we begin to see some grass growth. This tropical/subtropical parasite is able to survive in warmer temperatures than our more usual gut parasites. Clinical signs are anaemia, with no diarrhoea, and sub-cutaneous oedema (bottle jaw) and faecal egg counts are usually high. There is little immunity to this parasite, so disease can be seen in lambs and adults. Where haemonchosis is diagnosed in lambs, you need to be alert to the possibility of ewes on the same farm harbouring hypobiotic (dormant) parasites which may cause disease around lambing time. In this situation, worm treatment at lambing should be considered. If you have symptoms similar to the above then please speak to one of our vets who can help guide you through testing and treatment.
It is frightening how many infertile and subfertile Rams and Bulls we see. Some are born this way, others develop infections or injuries later on. I have talked previously about the benefits of a tight lambing/calving period and having the Ram or Bull firing on all cylinders is probably the biggest part of that. With this in mind, we are hosting 2 Tup Testing days at the practice. If you bring them in, for £30 per Ram we can collect a sample, analyse it and give you an answer on the spot as to whether or not he is fit for the job. These are to be held on Wednesday 13th August and Monday 22nd September. Please call to book a slot. We are also happy to do teaser surgeries on the same days. Unfortunately, we can’t have Bulls into the practice, but we are happy to come out and test them!
Spring calving herds should soon be considering getting their cows scanned for pregnancy. There are several benefits to having your herd scanned, including expected calving dates and identifying barren cows. The simplest approach is to scan 6 weeks after the bull is out. Scanning at housing is also an option to reduce handlings but still identify empty cows. These can be sold before taking up their share of winter housing & feed; however ageing the pregnancies will be much less accurate at this stage.
I don’t think I have ever seen so many cases of New Forest Eye as in the past few weeks, cattle need prompt treatment to prevent deep ulceration and scarring. The pain of the ulcer will certainly cause loss of appetite and weight loss. The eye often looks to be getting worse in spite of treatment; in order to heal the defect on the cornea, new blood vessels need to migrate into the ulcer; this reddening of the eye is normal. As a rule of thumb, once the eye stops running and dries up the treatment can be stopped. Please ensure you use an effective insecticide fly treatment to help reduce cases. We often get asked why there are still flies in spite of treatment; fly treatments are insecticidal so the flies have to bite to die, it doesn’t repel flies. For this reason it is important to get treatments onto the cattle early in the season to prevent flies numbers from mushrooming.
APHA and the FSA have informed Vets and Hauliers that any cow with shackles should not be transported to the slaughterhouse under any circumstances. It is acceptable to transport a cow with shackles a short distance to receive nursing care but never to the abattoir. If any animal does arrive with shackles they will be reported to the local authorities for investigation that could ultimately end in prosecution.