Cattle Ill Health: Causes and Prevention

Ill Health in Cattle

• Ill health can arise in cattle at the farm level due to poor nutrition, hygiene, exposure to infection, unsuitable facilities, poor husbandry, stressful events.
• Primary causes of ill-health in farm animals include biological agents (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi/moulds), metabolic agents (e.g., low blood magnesium causing grass tetany), and nutritional factors (mineral/protein deficiency).
• Inherited genetic conditions, allergic reactions, and chemical agents (pesticides, toxic substances) are additional causes of ill health.
• Signs/symptoms of ill health are being off food, dullness in movement, excessive lying, drooping ears, sunken eyes, tucked-up abdomen, tight skin, scouring, runny/open mouth, high temperature, abnormal breathing.

Benefits and Diseases of a Health Herd

• Benefits of maintaining a healthy herd include better animal performance, more profit, less money spent on medicines and vets, less time spent treating illnesses, and faster recovery.
• Grass Tetany in suckler cows is caused by low magnesium in the blood. Symptoms include staggering, nervousness, and death. Prevention includes magnesium sulphate solution and immediate vet call.
• BVD is caused by a viral infection. Symptoms include poor fertility, abortions/foetal losses, calf birth defects, poor immunity, stunted calves, poor growth, calf scour, and death Prevention include vaccination, testing, closed herd management, isolation and culling of infect animals, and good hygiene.
• Leptospirosis is caused by bacterial infection. Symptoms include abortions, stillbirths, mummified calves, poor herd fertility. Prevention methods include vaccinating cows/bulls, maintaining a closed herd, isolation and vaccination of purchases, good hygiene, and rodent control
• Mastitis is caused by bacterial infection. Symptoms include a swollen/hardened quarter and walking stiffly/sorely. Prevention involves ensuring quarters are fully sucked, observing cows, maintaining hygiene, cleaning over winter housing, and using fly repellent/dry cow tubes.

Prevention and Causes of Lameness and Mastitis

• Mastitis can be prevented by ensuring each quarter is fully sucked, observing cows, maintaining hygiene on the farm, cleaning over winter housing, using fly repellent, good weaning practices, and using dry cow tubes.
• Causes of lameness in cows include laminitis, foreign bodies in the hoof, joint swellings/stiffness, bacterial infection, muscular problems, and overgrown/diseased hoof.
• Lameness can be prevented in cows through routine hoof/foot care, good hygiene, a clean yard, and avoiding build-up of infectious agents.

Bloat, Colostrum

• Bloat in cattle is mainly attributable to the build-up of rumen gases/foam, young clover-rich pastures, or diets high in concentrate.
• Calves should receive 5% of its bodyweight of colostrum 1-2 hours after birth.

Scours

• Nutritional Scour in young calves caused by indigestion from overfeeding, irregular feeding, or upsets in the feeding routine.

Naval, Pneumonia and Internal/Extarnal Parasites

• Naval/Joint ill in calves is due bacteria entering bloodstream through navel cord shortly after birth. Infection spread to liver, lungs, and joints, causing joint ill.
• Prevention involves good hygiene practices, disinfecting calving boxes, bedding pens with fresh straw, dipping all calf navels in iodine after birth, ensuring adequate colostrum, and isolating suckling calves.
• Pneumonia in calves is largely bacterial or viral.
• Stress and poor ventilation/overcrowding/mixing can cause pneummonia.
• Lice, ticks, mange examples of external parasites in Cattle
• Stomach worms, Hoose worms, Liver Fluke, Rumen Fluke, and Warbles all exampl of internal parasites in cattle

Worms

• Worms in herd of cattle can be suppressed by regular dosing using residual anthelmintics, boluses, anthelmintics in water, or pour-ons.
• Worm infection in a herd of cattle can be avoided by leader follower system (grazing younger stock ahead of older cattle) and mixed grazing.
• Occurrence of Fluke can be prevented/reduced by draining wet areas, avoiding grazing wet fields, removing/housing stock over winter, and spraying wet fields with molluscicide.

Disease and herd health

• Preventing disease in pregnant cows requires ensuring good nutrition, drying off at least 8 weeks before calving, allowing 6 weeks on farm before calving after purchase, vaccinating for problem diseases, and ensuring the cow is not lame.
• Herd Health planning involves identifying health problems on a farm and creating a plan in collaboration with a vet to prevent diseases from occurring.

Benefits of Cattle Housing

• Advantages of winter housing of cattle include early grass in Spring, soil rest to prevent poaching, better farmer working conditions, better herd healthcare and feeding management, better control of fluke and worms, better animal performance, and more efficient use of slurry.
• Advantages of slatted housing include combined animal/slurry accommodation, reduced labor compared to straw bedding, housing a wide range of cattle, efficient slurry control/use, and reduced straw purchase.
• All slatted housing should include a shed design allowing safe/easy movement of cattle, external agitation, waterproof/dust-proof/corrosion-free electrical fittings, accessible lights, and sliding doors.
• Child-proof manholes with safety grids, galvanised steel frames, and visitor awareness of safety risks.

Housing Advantages/Disadvantages

• Advantages of loose housing include a simple shed design, housing a range of cattle, and no special fittings/equipment needed.
• Disadvantages of loose housing include being labor intensive, expensive straw, pollution risks, and the need for a Dungstead for excess FYM.

Space Requirements for Housing

• Loose housing requires 150mm feeding space and 2.3-2.8 m² lying area per weanling.
• Weanling cubicles should be 0.95m wide and 2.1m long, while suckler cow cubicles should be 1.15-1.2m wide and 2.4-3.0m long.

Safety for cattle and calculations

• Safety considerations when loading/unloading cattle include ensuring trailer ramp is functional and has secure ramp gates. Position trailer in line with the ramp.
• Freeboard of __200__mm must be provided in all covered tanks otherwise __300__mm in all uncovered tanks

Planning permission and cost to build

• Two types of planning permissions - outline and full planning permission Calculate slurry based on # Heads x Slurry (per week) x 18 weeks
• Outline Permission determines suitability of proposed development, but does not grant permission for work to proceed. Once permission granted, detailed drawings necessary for full approval.
• Full planning is required for land/property development and need include a full application alongside site maps/drawings.
• Slatted shed constuction estimation is Weanling = €650 to €850 & Store = €900 to €1100

Profit

• Calculating profit : Total Sales - Purchases +/- inventory changes = Gross output & Gross output - LESS ...VARIABLE COSTS... = Gross Margin & Gross Margin - Less Fixed Costs = NET MARGIN or NET PROFIT
• Driving profit in beef production requires defined system, good animal health, high stocking rates, appropriate calving date/pattern, replacement strategy, high reproductive performance, and maximised grass use.
• Key figures on the e-profit monitor are profit (amount left after costs deducted), output per livestock unit (indication of farm production), variable costs (direct costs), and output per hectare (animal production multiplied by stocking rate) .

Perfomance Indicators

• Physical performance indicators in beef production - Land area, number of animals, average weight, stocking rate, animals sold per hectare per year, silage quality, animal performance and concentrates fed
• The four important Herd Fertility targets - one calving system ,365 days calving interval, less than 2.5% mortality at birth, less than 5% mortality at 28 days
• Herd fertility targets include 11 week breeding season, 3 month calving system ,60% of cows calved in first month ,80% of cows calved by end of second month, 0.95 calves per cow per year

Beef Farming

• Aspects of sustainable beef farming incorporate sustainable development, using natural resources sensibly, increasing economic growth, and sharing benefits.
• Beef farm sustainability can be improved with organic/biodynamic farming, integrated Crop Management, and permaculture.
• Two main greenhouse gasses - Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide.

Knowledge Transer programme

• Objectives of The Knowledge Transfer Beef Programme - Transfer of knowledge to beef farmers enable them to perform well at breeding, animal health, grass management and improve management.
• In addition, will share health and safety awareness for everyday hazards in group discussions.