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We have a bumper newsletter for you this month.

Herd health problems during this wet winter include lameness in sheep & grass tetany in cattle. We discuss both these concerns and options for management and treatment.

It's mid winter and a great time for horse owners to be checking their horse's teeth before the warmer riding seasons. 

Check our article on why dental checks are so important for horses and make the most of our August specials for horse dentals. 

August Equine Dental Specials

  • Equine dental plus 2in1 vaccination $220 single/$200 for multiples
  • Equine dental (no vax) $180 single/$160 for multiples

The small print - these prices apply if you bring your horses to us - we are happy to come to you however normal travel charges will apply. Payment is required on the day, no accounts. 

Contents of this newsletter

01  When was your horse's last dental check-up?

02  Grass tetany prevalent this year

03  Lameness in sheep

04  How to resuscitate a calf

05  Hendra risk concerns

06  Getting the best performance from your rams

07  SheepTRAX - check the local drench resistance status

01 When was your horse's last dental check-up?

Regular dental care is a vital part of good horse husbandry and, just like people, all horses should have a complete dental examination performed at least once a year.

Dental problems can have a negative effect on performance, behaviour and overall health. Some signs that could indicate an underlying dental problem include:

 

  • Behavioural problems
  • Weight loss or poor body condition
  • Quidding (dropping partially chewed food out of the mouth)
  • Bit resistance or head tossing
  • Excessive salivation
  • Bad breath
  • Swelling of the face or jaw
  • Purulent, smelly nasal discharge

 

However, as a prey animal, horses are very good at hiding any sort of dental pain, so you won’t necessarily know that anything is wrong in your horse’s mouth until the problem is very severe and painful. This is why it is so important to ensure regular and thorough dental examinations are performed. A thorough visual and manual examination must involve sedation, a dental gag, light and dental mirror in order to carefully assess each and every tooth in the mouth.

Abnormalities that we may identify include:

  • Sharp, overgrown teeth, often with associated cheek or tongue ulcers
  • Abnormal wear e.g. wave mouth
  • Missing teeth
  • Fractured or diseased teeth
  • Extra teeth
  • Dental caries
  • Periodontal (gum) disease
  • Diastema (gaps between teeth) and feed packing

So if it's been a while since we last asked your horse to "open wide", it’s time to give us a call and arrange a checkup - and take advantage of our August special rates. 63618388

02 Grass tetany prevalent this year

Throughout the states, many properties are reporting severe outbreaks of grass tetany mainly in beef cattle and sheep. In many cases it has been due to relatively short pasture (<1t/ha DM), and lack of supplement hay and magnesium supplementation.

Grass tetany (low blood magnesium) can catch graziers by surprise and cause serious livestock losses, with the first signs being sudden death. Cattle are not able to store magnesium in their body, therefore they must consume their requirements each day to maintain adequate serum magnesium.

Factors which affect magnesium intake and body uptake are:

  • Low magnesium content of rapidly growing pastures
  • High potassium content of rapidly growing pasture
  • Low dietary roughage High crude protein levels of pasture
  • Bad weather and cold overcast days
  • Lactation

The key to prevention is being proactive. Measures should be taken to minimise the risks of lactating cows grazing lush pasture. The best, longer term approach is the incorporation of more legumes into pasture mixes. If this is not possible, then the provision of good quality legume (Lucerne) hay reduces risk. Hay can be treated with magnesium oxide (at 50g/hd/day). Loose licks containing >8-12% magnesium can be effective, but we do see issues with some animals consuming inadequate amounts. Water supplementation is possible, but needs to be started before peak risk periods, as cows need to be trained to accept the treated water.

As you can see, there are many ways to reduce grass tetany risk. The key is to make it easy and practical with the infrastructure on your farm.

If you have any questions or are worried, give us a call to make a plan.

03 Lameness in sheep
Sheep in green grass reduced size

photo Margot Hughes photography

With the unique conditions of moisture being in an abundant overload, our livestock are certainly feeling the pressure. The high moisture levels along with lush pasture and soft feet are compounding factors that are leading to the vets at OVH having a large influx of lameness cases in sheep.

Some simple preventative/ husbandry measures include acting as early as possible before large percentages of the flock are affected.

Foot-bathing; A 10% Zinc Sulphate solution with hooves completely submersed for 5 minutes, and once bathing is complete, allowing the sheep to stand in a dry area for 30 minutes (not muddy conditions). This process can be completed weekly.

Ensuring Body Condition Score of not >3.5 is also another major factor, as heavily pregnant ewes and heavy rams are at the highest risk.

With many more options for prevention and treatment regarding lameness in sheep, it is best to contact OVH and chat with one of the Vets as this issue can lead to severe production losses....63618388

04 How to resuscitate a calf

You have at some point probably come across calves that require resuscitation after delivery. These are calves that have become stressed and depleted of oxygen during the delivery process. They may have swollen heads, blue gums, slow/weak or absent breathing, a flaccid/floppy body and a poor or absent suck reflex. Without mechanical ventilation, many of these calves will die soon after birth.

We do not recommend ‘mouth to mouth’ in the calves due to OH&S issues, however there is a very good device on the market which is specifically designed to resuscitate calves.


The McCulloch Medical Aspirator/Resuscitator Kit™works to first remove mucous from the calf's airways, then deliver air to its lower airways. A video can be found
here.

The resuscitation process is as follows:

Aspiration

  • Attach the aspirator mask on the wide end and place over the muzzle.
  • A vacuum is created when the unit is pumped to remove mucus or fluids that may be blocking the airway.
  • Tilt head back to open airways.
  • Use four or five pumps to draw the mucus or fluids into the aspirator mask.
  • Remove the aspirator mask from the pump and follow resuscitation instructions.

Resuscitation

  • Attach the resuscitator mask to the small end of the unit and place over the muzzle.
  • Hold push down over the oesophagus (just above the trachea) to prevent air going into the stomach.
  • Pump resuscitator every 5 to 10 seconds to allow full exhalation.
  • Breathing should be stimulated with as few as 5 to 10 pumps.
  • Check for breathing every few pumps.
  • If not breathing after 4 to 5 pumps, turn the calf over and repeat. This will allow the lung previously closer to the ground and weighed-down by internal organs to inflate more easily.
  • Continue while heartbeat remains.

Please contact us if you are interested in buying one.

05 Hendra risk concerns

Orange Vet Hospital are sharing our concern for an increased risk of Hendra occurring in the horse population across the Orange and Central West region.

Winter 2020 may present a higher risk for Hendra infection in horses due to current climate patterns which appear to make spillover events more likely. Similar patterns were seen in winters of 2011 and 2017, both years of significant increase in Hendra cases.

“Hendra virus is carried by flying foxes which excrete the virus most commonly during winter. If horses come in contact with the excretions they can become infected and then shed massive amounts of virus which can infect and kill humans” says OVH vet Andrew Litchfield.

Symptoms of the virus include a rapid onset of illness, fever, sweating, increased heart rate and rapid deterioration with respiratory and/or neurological (nervous system) signs. Signs that horse owners could easily attribute to a severe colic event.

“Horses most commonly become infected by consuming food or water contaminated by faeces and urine from flying foxes. Infected horses shed large amounts of virus via the nose, mouth and faeces even prior to becoming sick putting other horses and humans at risk”.

To prevent infection, ensure that horses are not kept near flying fox roosts. Feed and water sources need to be carefully managed so that contamination is avoided. Biosecurity is essential for horses travelling off their property.

A vaccine for horses is available from Orange Vet Hospital and is strongly encouraged as the single most effective way to reduce the risk of Hendra virus infection. We urge horse owners to be aware of the risk and consider vaccination in order to protect their horses and themselves. 

“We encourage horse owners to contact the Hospital if they notice unusual disease symptoms, abnormal behaviour or unexpected deaths in their horses.”

The following infographic will assist in horse owners keeping up to date with vaccinations.

For more information or to arrange a consultation please contact us on 63618388.

06 Getting the best performance from your rams

Rams are the primary drivers of genetic improvement and they work very hard across the joining period. To cover ewes effectively, rams need to be able to eat and convert nutrients, and maintain the ability to walk, mount and serve. To avoid unnecessary loss of production due to poor reproductive performance, inspection and preparation of your ram team is a critical part of the farm calendar. This should be performed 8-12 weeks prior to joining.

The essential aspects of ram inspection are:

Rams are in condition score 3.5 - consider feeding lupins to increase sperm production and output.

Good general health - check for lameness, cuts, sores or any sign of infection around the body, including the horns.

Check the four Ts:

1. Teeth - Sound mouth. No broken or loose teeth.
2. Toes - No lameness. Examine for overgrown or deformed toes, cracks, dermatitis etc. Trim if necessary, but don’t cut too deep. You should not draw blood.
3. Tackle - Check the penis. There should not be any swelling or scarring of the penis. Check the prepuce for swelling or discharge.
4. Testes - While the ram is either in the sitting or standing position, check both testes for swelling and lumps.

Shear rams 8-12 weeks prior to joining to avoid sunburn, cuts, infection and susceptibility to heat at joining. Apply effective lice and fly preventative treatment.

Vaccination should be boosted twice per year. Rams should be treated with Glanvac 6-in-1 to prevent clostridial infections plus CLA.

Drench with an effective drench, for more see the article "SheepTRAX - check the local drench resistance status" below.

07 SheepTRAX - check the local drench resistance status

Most sheep properties have resistant worms to one or more sheep drenches. Using effective drenches is key to controlling worms and maintaining a healthy and productive sheep flock. Resistance is classified as efficacy less than 95% (% reduction in worms). Farmers either breed their resistance on their farm with the ongoing use of drenches, or the buy resistance in with new purchases on the farm.

When choosing a drench to use on your farm, Wormboss recommends three principles:

  1. Use the most effective drench for your property
  2. Use an effective combination of two or more drench groups
  3. Use short acting treatments and restrict the use of persistent products for specific purposes and high worm-risk times of year

To assist Australian sheep producers with selecting the correct drenches, Zoetis has created a website called SheepTRAX. The website is a database showing the prevalence and geographical distribution of drench resistance. The data has been generated from hundreds of on-farm drench resistance tests (FECRT) across all sheep producing areas in Australia. Sheep producers are able to use this data to:

  • Improve knowledge of drench resistance
  • Assist in making an informed decision of what drenches to use
  • Assist in understanding the likelihood of resistance worms in purchased sheep.

SheepTRAX aims to help put research behind your drench selection, and therefore help maximise your return from your drench investment.