SHROPSHIRE FARM NEWS: OCTOBER 2016
shropshire
FARM
PRE-AUTHORISATION
OF MEDICINES
As has been the case for ever, POM-V medicines need the
pre-authorisation of a vet before they can be released.
We have been subject to two recent inspections and this is
currently a hot topic that is being checked.
When a medicine order is delivered by the vet who is
coming to your farm anyway, by definition your order is
pre-authorised so there is no problem here. Every month
approximately one third of all medicine orders are collected
by clients and this is not a problem for us, in fact it is very
pleasant to see you. However, where-ever possible, and to
NEWS
avoid any delays when coming to pick up your medicines,
please can you phone ahead with your requirements so they
can always be pre-authorised.
Ultimately we are looking to move to a pre-authorised list
of medicines that can go into your herd/flock health plan
which by definition, are all pre-authorised. Monitoring this is a
challenge at the moment but we need to start somewhere and
we want to introduce this over the coming months. This should
make life much easier as well as keeping everybody compliant
with the law.
IN THIS ISSUE: October 2016
TB Update for July
The total number of tests we carried out in
August was 44.
The total number of animals tested came to 4,787.
There was 1 inconclusive and 10 reactors.
“EFFICIENT
Shropshire Fa
DAIRYING”
rm Vets invite
you to a
FARM WALK
by kind perm
ission of
Mr John Wigle
y
Drenewydd, W
hittington SY1
1 4NB
on Friday 14th
October at 10
.30 for 11.00
start
Come alon
g and meet so
me of the team
Lunch provid
ed
Please contac
t the practic
e on:
01691 8988
22
or em
ail farm@shro
pshirefarmvets
to register your
interest
.com
Whittington
By the time you read this, we will have started to work out
of our new office in Whittington. As a part of the opening,
please be aware that we are hosting a farm walk entitled
Efficient Dairying on October 14th at John Wigley’s farm,
Drenewydd, Whittington. The walk is due to start at 1030
for 11am and refreshments over lunch will be provided.
We should be finished for around 2pm.
If you, and especially if any of your friends/neighbours
who are not clients would like to come along, please
phone the office on:
01743 860920
our new Whittington number:
01691 898822
or email [email protected]
to confirm your place.
Find us on social Media
www.facebook.com/ShropshireFarmVets
www.twitter.com/ShropFarmVets
Farm Walk Fly
Shropshire Farm Vets
Unit 3, The Depot, Hanwood, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 8NY
20/09/2016
10:44
T: 01743 860 920 F: 01743 861 934 E: [email protected]
W: www.shropshirefarmvets.com
er v3.indd 1
There has been some interest expressed in these numbers
recently, especially as we had zero reactors in June when
Shropshire had 115 that month. All I can say is that it wasn’t
one of our clients (happily).
The following are recently released government figures for
Shropshire are compared with our own SFV figures (both are
the year to end June 2016) and in brackets the comparative
figures to the end of June 2015.
• Annual TB Numbers
• Still Got Time to Test
•Colostrum
•DOOPS
• Pre-authorisation of Medicines
• Whittington Farm Walk
Please keep a note of the mobile
numbers for the vets should you ever
need them.
ALISTAIR MACPHERSON........................... 07909 517184
TIM O’SULLIVAN........................................ 07909 517479
Shropshire
June 2016
SFV
June 2016
Shropshire
June 2015
3,704
648 (17.5%)
(4,165)
JAMES MARSDEN....................................... 07876 443950
465,072
86,915 (18.7%)
(472,387)
ROD WOOD.............................................. 07809 227426
New instances
261
no data
(312)
NATHAN LOEWENSTEIN.......................... 07815 543546
Reactors
1,925
152 (7.9%)
(1,580)
EMILY DENTON.......................................... 07762 069182
Slaughterhouse case
96
no data
(89)
JOHN HEMINGWAY................................. 07496 305412
Herds restricted
197
private
(232)
PABLO NUNEZ............................................ 07455 882210
Total tests
Total head tested
Full figures are available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incidence-of-tuberculosis-tb-in-cattle-in-great-britain
ROEL DRIESEN............................................ 07813 833385
PELAYO PEJARES........................................ 07522 637322
ROSA FERNANDEZ.................................... 07719 270835
So what do they mean?
Shropshire as a whole has seen an 11% drop in total numbers
of tests and a drop of 1.5% head. In other words the average
herd test has risen from 113 in 2015 to 125 in 2016. Our
own average herd test is 134.
Herds are getting bigger, so what, we know that.
Despite rising herd sizes with all the associated movements
of animals, the number of new instances of TB in Shropshire
has dropped by over 16% and the number of herds under
restriction has dropped by 15%.
Continued overleaf
EVA LEIBIG................................................... 07874 054328
PRACTICE/DISPENSARY TIMES
We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
office hours:
Monday – Friday
Shropshire Farm Vets
Unit 3, The Depot, Hanwood, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 8NY
T: 01743 860 920 F: 01743 861 934 E: [email protected] W: www.shropshirefarmvets.com
8:15 – 5.30
From front page
The bad news is that the overall number of reactors in
Shropshire has risen by nearly 22% and the number of
slaughterhouse cases has also risen, by nearly 8%.
Less herds getting more reactors means that if you are
unfortunate enough to get TB, the chances are it is going to be
more of a hit.
Clients of Shropshire Farm Vets are responsible for nearly
8% of the Shropshire reactor total, but we are testing over 18%
of the head in Shropshire. I am not going to get into clever
statistics here (!) but the upshot of these rolling totals is that
locally, we are currently escaping the worst of the TB problems
and that it is other areas of Shropshire that are struggling. Of
course this can and probably will change as our busiest time
for tests, and reactors is the next three months (that was 33%
of our annual total).
Given this current information, is there anything you can be
doing to reduce your chances of getting TB?
Yes, of course but nothing against this disease is full proof so
a multi-factorial approach is necessary especially as we live in
a high-risk area. There are multiple good sources of TB control
(NFU, www.tbhub.co.uk) and it is beyond the remit of this short
article to describe them all in detail but in summary, if cattle
give TB to badgers, and cattle give TB to cattle, and badgers
give TB to cattle and badgers give TB to badgers, which part of
this cycle can you control? Also, what is practical for you to do?
You can go a long way to control cattle to badgers and
badgers to cattle issues by removing (at least restricting)
contact between the two species. This can take the form of
electric fences around buildings, setts and latrines, and closing
holes in cattle feed and water access.
You can do something towards cattle to cattle contact by
buying from low risk areas or farms with a known history and/
or isolation policies (practical or even reliable??), restricting
neighbour access and manure storage spreading. Underlying
disease control is also a very valid aspect here. BVD and
or Fluke have both been proven to exacerbate TB in herds
so there are potentially additional reasons to control these
diseases.
Badger to badger control is a lot more difficult. If you want
to waste money and BCG vaccines ever become available
again, then you can try badger vaccination but in the cold
light of day, the numbers are poor at best. Ultimately, culling
badgers is going to be the only method that will bring results
but it appears we in Shropshire must wait a while before
this is available to us. Who knows, maybe even Brexit will
force a change in policy upon us? In the meantime I would
recommend the TBhub site as continual testing and culling of
one side of the equation isn’t sufficiently proactive and if we
locally are on less numbers, perhaps now is the time to get
more biosecurity controls in place?
STILL GOT TIME TO TEST?
It is starting to get a little late for this but do you know if your
ram is working properly? Depending on when you intend to
lamb, tupping might be finished, ongoing or about to start. If
you fall into the latter category, do you/should you test your
biggest asset at the moment?
Within a group of rams, fertility levels can vary significantly.
If this is the case, the more fertile rams will have to work harder
to cover for those that are less fertile. This invariably leads to
a lower overall flock fertility. This is particularly true if one or
more of the more dominant rams is sub-fertile, since they will
suppress the mating ability of a subordinate ram which may
well be more fertile.
Sub-fertile rams can have a dramatic effect on flock
performance and profitability with high barren rates (target<5%),
low lambing percentages and a longer lambing period.
At Shropshire Farm Vets we have offered a full ram breeding
soundness examinations including physical exam and semen
testing, if required. This can all be done either on farm or at
the practice.
Any valuable ram should pass a breeding soundness
examination as a condition of purchase – after all, you
wouldn’t buy a car without at least a test drive!
Remember that Tups are part of the flock, and as such
should always be included in any vaccination programme.
COLOSTRUM
Medicine
Matters
Everyone knows about this, don’t they?? We keep banging the
drum, and will continue to do so as it is THE most important
aspect to calf health, or any other young animal!
It is often said of property purchases that the three most
important aspects are Location, Location and Location. When
it comes the calf health, the three most important aspects are
Colostrum, Colostrum Colostrum. Colostrum isn’t just crucial
to calves because of its’ antibodies, it also contains lots of
energy and protein which helps promote calf health and gives
it the start it needs to double its weight in the first eight weeks,
a trigger factor so crucial to longterm growth and production.
The FIVE key points are:
1. Help the dam grow and deliver a healthy calf by providing
a late gestation ration that avoids excessive conditioning,
that is palatable and that encourages the dam to eat enough
in the week leading up to calving. Ensure you assist calvings
(if necessary) in good time and with the right equipment.
If you do assist make sure you use appropriate hygiene,
antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
2. Help the dam produce top quality colostrum by, as above,
ensure the dam is eating well in the week up to calving as
this is when colostrum is made. If oyu have had calf disease
in the past consider vaccinating dams in the dry period to
increase antibodies in colostrum. Milk the dam as soon
as possible after calving to collect maximum amount of
colostrum.
3. Protect the newborn calf from pathogens by keeping the
calving area as clean as you can. If the calf gets muck on
its’ head or especially in its mouth during calving, rinse it off.
Dip the navel as soon after birth as possible with at least 7%
tincture of iodine (iodine in alcohol)
4. Strip out clean colostrum and keep it that way. Make sure the
udder is clean before collecting colostrum and that it goes
into a clean, disinfected container. Consider testing quality
with a colostrometer. Feed it to the calf or chill it immediately
to stop any bacteria in it multiplying. Once chilled, if you are
not going to use it within 2 days, freeze it for the next calf.
5. Use colostrum to build newborn calf immunity – 3 litres in
3 hours is ideal, split into two feeds if necessary. After 6
hours of life the calf’s ability to absorb antibodies from the
colostrum is down to about 60%, and is approaching zero
by 12 hours. A calf does NOT have 24 hours where it can
absorb colostrum, the window is much tighter!
DOOPS
There is increasing regulation and enforcement of
disposal of medicine bottles, syringes and needles
etc. For a long time we have provided DOOP bins,
those garish yellow buckets that come in various sizes
ranging from 3.5 litres right up to 60 litres depending
on your use.
We will be attaching a form to these buckets
so you can detail what goes into them as this is a
requirement that the powers-that-be are getting
tighter on. If this goes missing by the time you need
to return the DOOP back to us for incineration,
you will be asked to sign a small declaration stating
that your DOOP doesn’t contain any controlled
medicines. This should be a formality but is
something that we are having to get done.
As you can imagine, there are plenty more rules, the
most notable of which are:
• Needles or blades should be disposed of in a
separate DOOP from medicine bottles
• Despite strong temptation,
please don’t smash up
the bottles to get more
in. If these DOOPs
exceed a set weight, they
will be refused.
• Don’t send aerosols back
in DOOPs as
they go
bang in the
incinerator!