Coccidiosis: Coccidiosis generally rears its head in calves from about three weeks of age and is most commonly associated with profuse watery brown/green diarrhoea, frequently containing blood. It has become a problem on some farms this year with prolonged housing of three- to six-week-old calves. With straw scarce on many farms, this has compounded the problem. In severe cases, an affected calf can show continuous signs of straining to pass faeces, with a raised tail. These calves can sometimes pass mucus or gut lining along with faeces. Once affected, calves can excrete up to one billion oocysts over the course of a full infection, leading to the rapid spread of this highly contagious disease. Infected calves can become stunted in nature, have dry coats and generally never reach their growth potential. There are a number of products on the market to treat coccidiosis, but they are most efficient when used as preventatives in at-risk calves prior to clinical signs. Calves on farms where coccidiosis has been diagnosed should be treated with coccidiostats at seven to 10 days of age and, again, two weeks later where environmental contamination is high. Infected calves showing clinical signs should also be removed from the group as soon as possible, and strict hygiene measures employed in relation to feeding utensils and footwear used. Proper power washing and disinfection of calf creeps and sheds with an effective disinfectant is also extremely important. Discuss treatment options with your vet.

Grazing: Grazing conditions continue to be extremely difficult on many farms. Cold weather in the past week has meant growth is behind target and regrowths are very slow on paddocks that have been grazed. It’s important to get fertiliser and slurry out as soon as possible to try and kickstart growth. Aim to get a half bag of urea/acre out wherever there is already some grass cover. Anywhere bare and dry should get slurry. Think about closing some silage fields and the cutting date. It’s getting late to get silage ground grazed and closed up for a May quality cut. If fields are bare, they are better getting slurry and fertiliser now and forget about grazing. Having some quality silage in the yard could help cut down on next year’s weanling feed bill.

Thin cows: I spoke to a vet in Donegal last week and he said he is coming across a lot of thin cows calving down in poor condition. In many cases, these cows have been fed poor-quality silage all winter and are losing body condition as energy demand increases close to calving. There is not a lot that can be done at this stage regarding body condition. Feeding 0.5k to 1kg of soya bean meal will help to increase colostrum quantity and quality and will cost between 23c and 46c a day. Getting these cows out as soon as possible after calving will also help to increase body condition in advance of breeding. Thin cows will be under pressure for a few weeks. It’s important to bolus or feed meal to protect against tetany. He has also come across a lot of cows licking navels sprayed with iodine (a possible sign of deficiency) and has changed to treating with chlorohexidine in these cases.