Tag: Livestock Health

Should I Test for BVD?

Posted on by Weicks-Webmaster

Should I Test for BVD?

 Article and photos courtesy of Central State Testing.

Most people associate BVD with large, train wreck-like catastrophes. Rarely is this the case. What BVD does is quietly rob you by decreased gain, increased medicine costs, increased mortality and morbidity. You are puzzled — something is wrong with that pen and no matter what you do you can’t seem to fix it or find a solution.

“The economic impact from PI animals exposing the population to BVD virus can be great. A study evaluating this impact in the feedyard showed a cost of $67.49 for every animal exposed to BVD-PI animals,” says Dr. Bill Hessman, owner of Central States Testing (CST). “Most of the economic loss came from reduced performance at $58.83 and an additional $8.66 coming from increased mortality.”

ACE-ELISA BVD-PI testing technology

Central States Testing was the first to apply ACE-ELISA BVD-PI testing technology for large scale testing in the U.S. Dr. Hessman has led and aided in many research studies on BVD and is known as an industry leader on BVD.

The biggest segment of the industry testing today is the stocker and backgrounder segment, because the calves are younger and more vulnerable as they are comingled. Customers say they are seeing a difference in the mortality and morbidity by testing for and removing PI’s as well as improvement in gain and feed efficiency.

“I didn’t know that one PI positive calf could expose the entire bunch to illness,” Greg Goodnight with Goodnight Ranch said. “High medicine bills and death loss are a thing of the past since being able to test for PI cattle. Another bonus is healthy calves move to grass quicker and gain better than calves that spend a month in the sick pen.”

Strategies

Should you test everything or only surveillance test? What you test depends on your operation. For stocker and/or feeder style operations it’s best to test everything as comingled cattle are more susceptible to the effects of BVD and risk of exposure is much higher. If you run a cow/calf operation it’s best to test all calves, dams that didn’t produce calves, replacement heifers and bulls. If the newborn calf is negative, it’s mother is negative for being Persistently Infected (PI). Otherwise if a new born calf or still born is positive, test the dam to determine if she is a PI or was acutely infected. Then you can surveillance test all new cattle that are introduced into your herd such as replacement heifers, cows, and bulls. Remember, you bring this problem on to your ranch.

“Whether you are a veterinarian, cow-calf, stocker, feeder, or dairy operator, it is of utmost importance to know the PI status of your animals in order to do a complete job of managing cattle health,” said Jim Bob Harris with Texas Vet Labs (retd).

Pooling is Fooling

In it’s simplest terms, pooling samples is combining multiple samples into one test. Producers and laboratories do this in order to keep testing costs at a minimum. While it seems that this will save money up front, you lose money on the back end. Pooling samples can greatly decrease accuracy in two ways: first is outright dilution of the samples because you only take a fraction of a normal sample size. Second is a masking effect where negative animal can mask the signal of a positive.

Central States Testing has put forth immense effort to figure out why some negative samples can mask the signal of a positive sample. While they don’t have the exact answer, evidence to date would indicate that something more than antibodies may be causing these false negative pooled results.

The chances of having a pooled negative sample mask a positive one increases in herds where sickness is present, which is where you will normally find a PI positive animal.

“You don’t know when or where a PI will show up and by finding them and finding them sooner the less damage they can do to a group of cattle and that’s better than throwing a lot of antibiotics at a group of cattle,” said Mike Tompkins with Tompkins Livestock.

“One of the few problems I think we need to clear up in the cattle industry if we are to move forward with controlling the BVD-PI issue is the fact that while there is not very many of them, the small number that we do deal with cause detrimental effects to the health and performance of our cattle and most of the time you don’t even notice it,” added Dr. Hessman. “Ultimately, testing and removing PI cattle is necessary to mitigate exposure of BVD.”

Summary

With the trend for less antibiotic use in the livestock industry it will become more important for producers to adopt proactive strategies to address health issues. Utilizing BVD-PI testing to eliminate positive animals from the herd and to stop the spread of BVD virus is a very proactive technology and is very cost effective.

Central States Testing focuses on providing producers with cost effective and accurate options for testing for BVD-PI animals. Whether you test on site yourself or ship samples to the CST lab, you can be rest assured you have an accurate product.

You can view many articles, studies and information about BVDV and BVD-PI animals on Central States Testing’s website at www.cstbvd.com/bvd101

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Creating A Herd Health Plan

Posted on by Amy Wold

Most ranchers, large and small scale alike, could tell you quite a bit about their animal health protocols and yearly schedule if you asked them offhand. Considerably fewer would likely be able to produce a formalized written protocol. This makes perfect sense, developing a herd health plan is time consuming and tedious. Unless it is required by a certain welfare or certification program, this detail is very tempting to forgo.

In spite of the obvious inconvenience, there is a lot of merit to be had in making an official herd health plan part of your management strategy. Everyone knows disease prevention is far less expensive than the cost of treatment. Think of this as a concrete way of putting said prevention into action. It is something not only for your own reference, but also for any family members, employees or emergency help who may be involved. Besides disease avoidance, it is nice to have a premeditated course of action in case of disease outbreak to prevent further spread to healthy animals.

While it does cover a lot of bases, an intimidating task at first glance, pulling together this document need not be a stressful nightmare. When you break it down much of it comes down to common sense, and if you are a successful manager chances are you are already unofficially implementing most good health practices already. Plus, your veterinarian and extension agents will often be all too happy to help you in this pursuit.

The rough outline

The cattle production cycle is the hinge to develop a sound herd health plan. The scope of what yearly production looks like includes not only the reproduction cycle, but also seasonal management, pasture movements, vaccination schedules, marketing and nutrition.

The common way to break these down is by seasonality. These are pre-calving, the calving window, post-calving, weaning, pre-breeding/pre-conditioning, and breeding respectively. In each of these broad seasonal categories, break down what you typically do in relation to health. Include what you’re feeding, vaccinations routinely given, internal and external parasite control, diseases/issues to check for and so-forth. This section is the real “meat” of your plan, and it should give a clear overview that anyone might be able to pick it up and have a good level of understanding.

Protocols

Another part you will want to include are treatment protocols for specific issues you expect to encounter. Identify what drugs you keep on-hand, approximate dosages, withdrawal periods and so forth. If you have any employees involved, this section should also list who is qualified to administer treatments and the proper way to document them. This can include what to do in emergency situations for down or injured cows, and how to euthanize if need be.

Biosecurity is another aspect, more frequently address in dairy than beef. All operations of any size should have some sort of biosecurity procedures in place. It could be as simple as having a disinfecting boot scrub for visitors or quarantining newly purchased animals before introducing them to the rest of the herd. Regardless of what this may look like for you, it is a good practice to outline what your expectations are of visitors and potential customers. This will be especially helpful in the unlikely event of a regional or even national disease outbreak.

Remember to always think about customization. Your plan isn’t just specific to the issues you face in your state or region, it is specific to your exact herd and may not look like what your neighbor needs. Think about how the weather, facilities, stocking density, resources and labor may all play into this.

Make it simple, make it work

Once you are familiar with all the components of a herd health plan and your specific needs you have before you the task of putting it all together in one cohesive document. This certainly is not something you want to sit down and pour hours of work into all at once. Instead, it is more efficient and less mentally taxing to go through piece by piece. When you follow the seasonal calendar, this makes it fairly easy to organize everything in distinct sections.

If you have certain employees or family members who oversee various aspects of the operation such as reproduction, let them write down those protocols, needs and goals. Coordinate the best ways to track and exchange records in accord and keep the line of communication open.

Don’t forget to follow the big picture. Be sure to have a sheet of contacts for on and off the farm, information and procedures for emergencies and so forth. If available, you should consult your veterinarian before and after you have put together your plan. They can double check you on everything and let you know if something has been overlooked.

Employ outside resources

If you have not done a lot of document or writing work, you may not know where to start for how a proper plan “should” look on paper. If you are very fortunate, some vet clinics do offer creating herd health programs as a service to clients. But even if that is not the case, it is extremely easy for anyone to have very professional looking documents and records.

Several university extensions already have downloadable outlines and worksheets free to use and readily available. Accessible templates out there make it so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, simply customize as you see fit. Fellow producers may be willing to let you have a look at their plans and how they pulled it together. And don’t forget, there are plenty of customizable software and programs out there. Microsoft Excel has a plethora of free templates that can be easily edited to make records, inventory or protocol worksheets.

Summary

And of course, don’t forget the real-world educational tools that are available to also supplement your health goals. Everyone who works with animals in some capacity on an operation should be Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) trained, even just on the free virtual course. This not only offers a lot of excellent practical information, it directly covers important things like proper drug administration, withdrawal periods and the like. It gives you added confidence that everyone has been exposed to the industry standards and expectations in administering cattle health services.

Additionally, your extension office, state or regional cattle association may also offer in-person programs and webinars for continuing education at little or no cost. Stay up to date on what’s available and never be afraid to take advantage. Remember, a good herd health plan is very adaptable and routinely goes through review and update. Furthering education on your own time is not just for creating an initial plan, it helps you improve going forward.

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Top 12 Considerations for a Cattle Facility

Posted on by Amy Wold

Top 12 Considerations for Building a Cattle Facility

The cattle handling facility is at the heart of most every ranch. The quality of the facility and its ease of use can determine the enjoyment or frustration of use and dictate how often you work cattle through it. Properly designed and thought-out facilities will be safe for the producer and animal, handle cattle with ease, require a minimal number of personnel and allow for cattle to be worked in a timely fashion.

There are multiple design principles that can be used, depending on the cattle-handling abilities of the personnel and their ability to understand “cow psychology.”

Here are the top 12 factors you should consider prior to building a new facility.

1. Use Type

Consider the species and type or class of animal for which the working facility will be used. Will it only be used for cattle, or will you need to handle goats and sheep, or horses, in addition to cattle? If it’s only cattle, will it be used only for a stocker operation, or will you need to process cows, bulls and calves through the chute as well? The size of cattle worked will dictate how wide of a raceway you need. Finally, do you plan to rope and drag calves, or process through a chute? Roping and dragging calves will require an area large enough to do so.

2. Bud Box Or Solid-Sided, Curved Designs

Both Bud Box and solid-sided, curved designs are effective. In general, the curved, solid-sided-fence facility, in my opinion, allows the cattle handler to make mistakes and recover without adversely affecting cattle flow. If you are in the wrong position yet the animal cannot see you because of the solid side, it may not affect the movement of cattle. A drawback to this style is it is more complicated and costly to build because of the curves and the added expense of the solid-sided fences.

The Bud Box system uses the animal’s instincts to your advantage. It works on the principle that animals will want to return to where they have been if they cannot proceed further. When they turn around and head back in the direction that they came from, the animal is diverted down another alley or raceway leading up to the working chute. The drawbacks to this system are that it is typically not recommended for novice cattle handlers, and if handlers are out of place, they can impede cattle movement.

3. Location

It’s all about the location. The working facility should be central to most pastures and easily accessed, either using lanes or along adjoining fences that help funnel cattle into the facility. Having a corral situated where cattle have to routinely enter and leave on their own will facilitate penning them on working day. One example is a catch pen situated between pastures that cattle must walk through when rotating from one pasture to the other. It could be a central watering location or where feed and hay are fed to the animals. If you plan to use the facility to hold sick or freshly received animals for a few days, then having shade from trees along the fence might be beneficial.

4. Materials

There are numerous materials that a set of working facilities can be built out of: drill stem pipe, highway guardrails, cable, sucker rod, cattle panels, wood. All have their benefits and drawbacks. In general, metal building materials will probably outlast wood. Cable fences are not well-suited for working and crowding facilities. They flex too much and can allow calves to get through. Likewise, if you have to quickly climb a fence to get away from an aggressive animal, cable fences will not support your weight well enough to allow you to quickly escape.

Make sure any drill stem you purchase is not magnetized, as it makes welding difficult. Also, make sure the drill stem is not radioactive or excessively rusty if it has been used in drilling activity. Graduated cattle panels have smaller hole sizes on the bottom of the panel, making them difficult to climb when in a hurry. If using sucker rod, consider welding a clip over the rod to the line post. Experience has proven that welding a sucker rod only to a post will result in a broken weld.

5. Utilities

Having access to electricity and water is beneficial but not necessary. If you plan to use an electric branding iron, access to land-line electricity will eliminate the need for a costly and loud generator. If you have electricity available, you can have a small room located next to the chute to store medicine and vaccines in a refrigerator. Additionally, you can have hot water to help clean up the equipment after use.

6. Cover And Shade

It is beneficial to have cover over the working chute in case you have to work the cattle in extremely hot or inclement weather. Additionally, you may decide to have a portion of the pens covered in case you need to hold a quarantined or sick animal in the facility for a length of time.

7. Slope

The working facility should have a small degree of slope to allow drainage during and after rainfall events. The slope should not be so great that erosion or channeling will occur after the grass has been trampled down. Additionally, consider the degree and direction of the slope when planning where you will back up a trailer to the pens. Backing across a slope when muddy may result in the trailer sliding sideways. Trying to pull up a muddy slope when loaded may be difficult, too.

8. Calf Chute, Palpation Cage, Gates

Buy a chute that is large enough to handle your largest animal, including your bull. It may be necessary to restrain the bull to treat a foot or to conduct a breeding soundness exam. Remember, bulls are longer and thicker than a cow. Many of the economy-type chutes are not designed to hold a bull. Also plan for a palpation cage at the end of the chute to allow a safe access area for a veterinarian so he or she doesn’t have to worry about getting run over by the next cow in line. The cage will also be handy if you have to treat a hind foot.

Design the facility with options. It is much easier to work 2- to 3-month old calves in a calf chute than in a large, cow-sized chute. Do not skimp on gates! Make sure they are heavy and well-built. Plan on gates between adjacent pens and from the alleys. Having gates between pens allows you to open up adjacent pens to create one large pen when needed. Use headers across the top of the gate to ensure it stays in line and does not sag, so it opens and closes as it should. Make the headers high enough that you can drive equipment or ride horseback under them.

9. Access To Roads

You should plan to have all-weather road access to the working facility to enable you to load and unload cattle even in rainy conditions. However, placing a set of corrals right off a county road could enable cattle thieves to bait your cows into the pens and easily and quickly load out and steal animals, so keep that in mind.

10. Size

The size of the facility will be determined by the activities needed and how long you plan to hold cattle there. If you are just using the pens as a holding area while working the cattle, each cow-calf pair will require a minimum of 35 to 45 square feet. The larger the calf while on the cow, the more room that will be required.

11. Number Of Pens

One of the biggest design mistakes we see is a facility without enough holding pens. It is always good to plan to have at least one more pen than you think you need. At the minimum, three pens are needed. You will need one large pen to hold the cattle when they are first caught, and then preferably two more to sort calves and cows into. This will also allow you to have an open pen to catch the animals after they have been worked. So, then they do not get mixed with unprocessed cattle. Designing an alleyway along-side the pens that leads to the chute allows you to sort animals out of the alley and into the pens. Additionally, the alley can be used to hold cattle temporarily.

12. Other Considerations

  • Build with flexibility in mind:

1. Design the facility so that expansion will not require a major overhaul.

2. Make the design modular so more pens can be added alongside existing alleys.

3. Make the raceway leading to the chute adjustable to enable it to be wide enough for cows. But can be adjusted down so that a calf cannot turn around in it.

  • Do not design the facility so that the chute turns out into the pasture. If you miss a head catch on an animal, you cannot easily recycle it back around.
  • Set all posts at least 3 feet down into concrete.
  • If concrete is used under the chute. Extend it at least 6 to 8 feet past the front of the chute. Make sure the concrete is heavily grooved to provide traction even when covered with mud and manure.
  • Reduce shadows that go across alleys by running alleys east and west if possible. Cattle do not have depth perception and may view a shadow as a hole or trench, causing them to balk.

Visit, Plan, Visualize

As you design your handling facility, go see as many other working facilities as possible in person. Talk with the people who use them, and ask what they like and what they would change. Draw your design out on paper, and then lay it out on the ground to scale. Use marking paint and survey flags to help you visualize the layout before building. Then walk through the layout as you would when working cattle. It is far easier to make adjustments in the planning stage than after everything is built.

Robert Wells, Ph.D. Livestock Consultant

Wells serves as a livestock consultant in the producer relations program. He joined the consultation program in 2005. His areas of emphasis include: forage-based beef cattle production and cow/calf nutrition, herd health programs, improving herd genetics, and value-added calf programs.

October 2020

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