Calf Pneumonia.
In the past couple of weeks there has been an explosion in the number of calf pneumonia outbreaks. It seems almost every farm we visit has calves which are coughing. It is remarkable how farms all become affected at the same time. The only common factor is the weather, showing how important climate, particularly sudden changes in climate, are. We have certainly had extremes of temperature and humidity from very mild and damp to dry and cold. The exact mechanism which triggers disease is to my knowledge still not clear. One theory is that the infection spreads from farm to farm by the airborne route but again there is no proof of this.
The decision of when to step in with treatment is sometimes difficult. If the calves are bright, feeding well and temperatures are not excessively high then the calves should recover themselves and not suffer any serious long term effects.
If treatment is necessary then we have various antibiotics available including Engemycin/Terramycin, Nuflor and Micotil. Pneumonia is an extremely painful disease and including anti-inflammatory painkilling drugs e.g. Flunixin or Rimadyl in the treatment routine will improve the response.
The number of calves vaccinated against pneumonia increases every year. Minor outbreaks have occurred in vaccinated calves but their severity is much lower and fewer drugs needed for treatment.
Furthermore the reduction in growth rate and problems of long term lung damage will be reduced.
Leptospirosis
The best time for Lepto vaccination is early spring as disease spreads most at this time. It may be tempting to reduce costs by cutting down on routine vaccinations. However the nature of lepto infection makes its return to a susceptible herd almost inevitable. The economic costs of lepto infection in the herd far outweigh that of vaccination.
