Getting calves through to weaning is a major milestone and now we need to protect that initial investment.
The percentage of dairy farms on which coccidia is resident has steadily increased and it would be safe to assume that coccidia is on all farms. While the calves are on milk and meal, clinical coccidia is not common; most milk replacements and calf meal contain coccidiostats which suppress infection.
It is when they are weaned off these products that the potential for clinical disease emerges.
Calves do produce a natural immunity to coccidia as they mature so depending on their health at the time of weaning, the level of challenge and whether the calves are stressed, you may or may not see clinical signs. The key signs to look out for are calves straining when defaecating and passing blood-tinged diarrhoea.
The trick of course is not to get into a situation where calves are clinically ill and our recommendation is to not graze weaned calves in the same area year after year, spread them out and when weaned build up their immunity with an injection of Multimin® (1 mL subcutaneous per 50 kg BW) and drench with Turbo® Initial (1 mL per 10 kg BW).
The Multimin® will provide essential trace elements, selenium, copper, zinc and manganese that will get the calf through to 120+ kg BW when long-acting trace element supplements can be utilised.
Turbo® Initial is a drench that combines actives for the control of internal gut parasites and lungworm plus a coccidiocidal.
Now if your calves are already showing clinical signs of coccidia, we will recommend the use of different product, Catolyst®. Be sure to treat all calves, not just those that are obviously ill.
Lungworm has been mentioned earlier. This can be a devastating problem when an outbreak occurs. Individual calves or the mob will present with signs of respiratory distress, and they can be in good body condition. Early on an individual calf may have died or has not responded to antibiotic treatment.
Lungworm larvae are ingested with pasture and develop in the gut before migrating to the lung. On postmortem adult lungworm are easily seen in the airways of the lungs; they can be up to 4 cm in length. They are not a pretty sight.
Strategic drenching calves with Turbo® Initial or Turbo® Advance will avoid lungworm epidemics; the word strategic is important because it is important for young cattle to develop immunity against lungworm which means some exposure to this parasite is needed as they develop into adult cattle.
If you suspect that weaned calves or young cattle are clinically affected with lungworm, please call us. Drenching in this circumstance can cause symptoms to worsen for up to a week following the drench, as dead adult worms are expelled from the lungs. In this situation, we will provide other supportive treatments so cattle can recover more readily.
Tararua Vets offers a comprehensive on-farm and in-clinic veterinary service. Our branches in Pahiatua and Dannevirke complement this service with carefully chosen animal health products and merchandise with up-to-date advice on their use.
© Tararua Veterinary Services, 2021