Wessex Animal Health Ltd | Kingfisher Park | Headlands | Salisbury Road | Ringwood | Hants | BH24 3NX

FOOT HEALTH – Quarantine dry cows & heifers entering the herd

Instigate an effective hoof care program that you can work with, one that is effective but that is not hazardous to you or the cow’s health. Work with your foot trimmer to come up with a drying off protocol, give their feet a service!

• Wessex hoof care regime is a proven effective protocol for your herd.• Simple to follow ‘Remedial’ or ‘Preventative’ strategies. There are no quick fixes in foot health

and it is a big subject but follow the plan and you will see amazing results.• Use the Kanters gels and sprays after an evaluation of the herds hoof health. Spot treat

individuals prior to a DAILY footbath regime with Kanters gel or Kanters spray liquid if lesions are shrinking or at first signs of reddening but yet to appear as a lesion.

• Then advance on to a DAILY footbath regime with Wessex Hoof Care Advance. This product is a combination of powerful & persistent disinfectants with an added foaming agent to help cleanse the hoof area and reduce the build up of organic matter around the coronary band. Contains Gluteraldehyde, Formaldehyde & Quaternary Ammonium with a simple ‘Step down’ dilution regime – Week 1 @ 3% dilution. Week 2 @ 2% dilution and from week 3 you should be at 1% dilution.

• Cheaper, Safer & Kinder than Formalin!

WHAT CAn bE dOnE TO HELp THis nuTriTiOnAL mAinTEnAnCE prOgrAm?

Wessex premium ‘Lifegard pre-Calver’ mineral support blocks or buckets are a very efficient way of ensuring adequate levels of all the key trace elements, vitamins and minerals are supplied every minute of the dry period. Allow ½ -1 bucket per cow for the entire dry period!• Includes mannan oligosaccharides (bio-moss), protected copper, zinc & selenium• Boosts immunity in cow & calf• Easier calving & less retained placentas• High vitamin E, selenium and iodine ensures healthy calves with disease resistance• Designed to Increase colostrum quality & quantity.

Wessex high iOdinE salt blocks and buckets are an essential part of your dry cow maintenance package as once again they contain all the key trace elements, vitamins & minerals in a high sodium carrier and the cattle will ‘self-limit’ their own intakes making them a very cost effective option as well. Far superior to standard rock salt as we know what is in our product! Does not contain iron (the red in the Afganistan red rock salt) which can lock up copper and impair your cattle’s fertility. Allow 1 x 20kg bucket per 4 cows for the entire dry period!

Tracesure Cu/i cattle boluses are the most advanced leaching bolus on the market today. Administer 1 x selenium, iodine & cobalt bolus (all in one bolus) and 1 x copper needle bolus for cattle under 550kg at drying off (2 of each if over 550kg) to ensure the optimum effects to both the cow and the

unborn calf. These boluses give up to 6 months daily supply of the key trace elements needed for optimum performance and fertility. These are a must-have in any breeding animal to ensure optimum performance and fertility are maintained throughout this sensitive period.

Agrimin biotin gold boluses deliver the required 20mg of Biotin daily for a full 120 days. They also contain Selenium, Cobalt, Iodine, Copper, Manganese, Zinc & Vits A, D3 & E.• Biotin plays a key role in the synthesis of glucose, protein & fat. It is also necessary for the

synthesis of keratin, a hard structural protein involved in horn production.• The first signs of biotin deficiency appear as dermatitis & softening of normally hard tissue

such as hoof horn.

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WEssEX AnimAL HEALTH drY COW pACKAgEs

simple rules: Keep a body condition score of between 2½-3 from drying off to calving, do not attempt dramatic weight loss or weight gain in this period.

• Pre-calving condition should be ‘fit not fat’ and (drying off) should be such to allow a moderate level of supplementation to prepare cows for early lactation.

• At calving cows should not calve in an excessively fat condition. Fat cows may develop fatty liver disease or ketosis and are more prone to milk fever, mastitis, lameness and infertility.

mEdiCinAL suppOrT FOr THE drY pEriOd:

• For routine hoof health maintenance - Once every two weeks when you have reduced the lameness to an acceptable level use Kanters Hoof-Mix footbath solution at 3-5%. This potent chelated copper (Not Sulphate), organic acid (low pH of 3.2) & Quaternary Ammonium the persistent disinfectant. This will add strength to your hooves and will continue to act as a fantastic disinfection of the hoof.

• The Wessex Hoof Care Plan use 5 separate highly potent active ingredients throughout the month, this ensures that you have every chance of killing the bacteria that cause common hoof/skin disorders.

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HOOF HEALTH PLANprEvEnTATivE sTrATEgY

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rEmEdiAL sTrATEgY

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mEdiCinAL suppOrT FOr THE drY pEriOd:

Take advantage of a ‘FrEE’ bulk milk tank test to determine the potential effects of gut worm (Ostertagia) on your cattle. A worm burden in adult cattle can reduce appetite and encourage an energy gap in early lactation and a therefore having a significant effect on the herds annual milk yield.

sTOp THiEF – don’t let worms steal your milk

Cydectin Cattle pour On can be used up to 6 days pre-calving but is best used 2-3 weeks pre-calving as the cows enter the transition group.Please see page 3.

Endospec 10% drench kills adult stages of liver fluke, round worms and tapeworm all in one treatment and has a very low milk withdrawal of only 60 hours making it a useful tool to have available.

vACCinATiOn – boost colostrum antibodies to key calf scour pathogensBy using the vaccines available, you can help boost colostrum antibodies to the key disease causing pathogens such as E-Coli, rotavirus & coronavirus. Give the calves a fighting chance and vaccinate the mother at drying off.

• rotavec Corona is the most convenient option for vaccinating the cow, a simple 2ml, one shot application from 12 weeks up to 3 weeks pre-calving will give the calves a passive immunity for up to 14 days if an adequate volume of colostrum is consumed. give annually at drying off.

KEEping up WiTH THEsE JOnEsEs WiLL TAKE sOmE dOing, buT WOrTH pursuing ALL THE sAmEFor Wyn Jones and his family’s award-winning 190-cow Feithy herd of pedigree Holsteins at Cilfiethy Farm, Kidwelly, just south of Carmarthen in south Wales, a simple bulk milk test in August last year turns out to have unlocked another one litre/cow/day – worth about £90/cow/year, of course – at no apparent increase in feed use or cost.

The test was prompted by SQP Paul Morris from Wessex Animal Health to establish if the herd was carrying a sub-clinical worm burden and whether treatment may be justified and lead to improved productivity. A positive test result led Mr Jones to introduce the use of Cydectin Pour-On for Cattle at drying off and he credits this with the additional daily litre, taking the herd average to 10,600 litres/cow on a simple feed system of grass silage, maize silage with a purpose-made blend.

Also last year, the Holstein UK ‘All-Wales Premier Herd’ title was awarded to the Joneses for the fourth time in seven years.

Meanwhile, in context with other farms and research work, the yield response attributed by Mr Jones to worming is within the expected range (see graphic, left), according to Paul Morris.

“Adult cows infected with stomach worms but not showing signs are able to do so having developed natural immunity,” explains Paul Morris. “However, this has two consequences that can make strategic worming a good investment.”

The first is that worms reduce appetite, which clearly is critical to animal performance in early lactation, with a bearing therefore on optimum timing of treatment. The second and less obvious impact of worm infection is that mounting an immune response consumes energy that otherwise could be available for milk production.

To take maximum advantage of the increased feed intakes that can result from de-worming, Mr Morris suggests the optimum timing is clearly during the dry period, when incidentally the six-day milk withhold is accommodated automatically. He recommends that treatment is integrated into the standard management routine for drying off or pre-calving.

Paul makes the headlines in the Press!

Fasinex 240 drench Under new legistlation regarding flukicides, not all triclabendazole products can now be used. Fasinex 240, a concentrated low volume dose gives control of all stages of liver fluke. Must be administered at least 48 days pre-calving.

Eprizero Cattle pour On has a zero days milk withdrawal, so can be used at any stage of lactation but is again ideally used pre-calving for optimum results.