In part two of our coverage of XLVets and MSD Animal Health open day, we caught up with more of the vets to discuss further dairy health topics.

Kevin Meaney, Southview Veterinary, and Brian Murphy, Killenaule Vets, talked about minimising mastitis cases and SCC within your herd

Mastitis control involves a lot of seemingly small details, each of which can become vital when a problem emerges.

Brian and Kevin focused on two topics that are especially important at this time of year; decisions around dry cow therapy and the problem of teat end damage and how it impacts on the spread of mastitis at milking and even in the dry period.

Selective dry cow therapy is a strategy that is becoming increasingly popular with farmers as well as processors and the consumer.

Kevin talked about setting the right targets at herd SCC below 200k and individual cows under 100k. He said you must be milk recording and also advised to get your vet involved in drying off consultations through Animal Heath Ireland.

Teat end damage is becoming increasingly prevalent at this time of year, as cows milk out more quickly.

Outbreaks of mastitis and high SCC can frequently be attributed to teat end damage opening the door to infection.

Brian discussed the factors that contribute to teat end damage and how we can address them. He said you must start examining teat ends for damage regularly.

Isabel Coen, Glen Vets, and Donal Lynch, Tullamore, talked about improving fertility and getting the basics right

Fertility is one of the main drivers of profitability on dairy farms. Making a plan of action with agreed targets and early intervention are key to having an efficient and successful breeding season.

Cows

  • Heat detection starting from the month of April.
  • Eligible cows are cows calved >35 days and eligible for breeding; if not seen bulling they should be scanned.
  • Identify potential problem cows.
  • Pre-breeding scan in late April to examine non-bullers and problem cows.
    • .

  • Late calvers – once eligible, get them bred. Consider synchronisation with hormones to tighten up calving interval.

    • Heifers

  • 55% to 60% of mature body weight at breeding.
  • Breed early to ensure calving early, more time to recover post-calving and helps maintain a tighter herd calving pattern.

    • Bulls

  • Reproductively sound – fertility test before start of the breeding season.
  • Bull to cow/heifer ratio - how many bulls do you need?
  • Have dates when to introduce/remove the bull.

    • Mike O’Meara, Gortlandroe Veterinary, and Tom Julian, O’Connor Julian Cashel, on replacement heifer calf rearing tips

    The better a heifer calf is treated in her early life, the higher her potential as an adult animal.

    Farmers are well educated on calf-rearing systems and if these are successfully implemented, calves should avoid costly setbacks and easily achieve their target of double their birth weight by weaning.

    The aim when rearing replacement heifers for the dairy herd is to ensure there is minimal difference between the heaviest and lightest animals in the group.

    Dividing heifers into groups by weight and feeding accordingly is vital to have a uniform group by mating time.

    Heifers will tend to reach puberty at a certain percentage of mature body weight – somewhere between 42% and 45%.

    There is no problem with calving heifers at 21 months of age if their weight target is achieved.

    Weight at key times

    Therefore, it will pay handsomely to weigh heifers at key times and take corrective action if needed to ensure that they hit the key target of 60% of mature weight at 1 May for spring-calving herds.

    Having achieved weight targets, all heifers should be cycling by mating start date.

    Early and compact calving is now the target and this will be helped by early turnout, appropriate timing of vaccinations and mineral supplementation where necessary.

    Heat detection aids and possible use of synchronisation protocols are advised to maximise early season submission rate.