Deciphering digital dermatitis

ANIMAL HEALTH
DART DEBATE
Readers defend responsible use of
remote drug delivery.
PHOTO: WYATT BECHTEL
Close range and a good rest for accuracy are critical for effective
use of remote drug delivery.
BY JOHN MADAY
The use of remote drug delivery (RDD), or “darting,” to
treat sick cattle in the field has grown in both popularity
and controversy over the past year or two. In our September
issue, we ran two articles about the use of darts for RDD,
and we followed those with an online article asking for feedback
from producers and veterinarians.
We received a wide variety of comments, many of them
acknowledging the potential problems with RDD while defending
its use for treating cattle under certain circumstances.
A reader from Oklahoma writes: “I have a cow–calf
operation in big, rough pastures and darts are very helpful. It
is difficult and time consuming to rope or try to drive every
animal a mile or more to pen.
Most of my darts fall out in a few minutes, and very rarely
do I find one that did not inject. I believe if given in the neck
they are safe for the cattle and consumer.”
A reader from Kansas relates these experiences:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this article. I have
a (RDD) air rifle. It is 2 years old. Pinkeye was terrible in my
area. I have had four darts that I am aware of that failed to
deliver the intended drug. Don’t get me wrong about my rifle.
It’s been a necessary evil this summer. If not for it, my cattle
would have been gathered weekly for the past two months.
Imagine the expense of hiring help to do that. Seventy pairs in
640 acres would have required several guys on horseback at
$200 per day for each.”
Another reader offered these thoughts: “On the
topic of RDD using darts, I have doctored hundreds using
this method and have never had trouble getting the drug in
the cattle, or at least not had trouble getting the cattle over
sickness using the dart. As for lesions or abscesses popping
up afterwards, I have seen minimal issue. Much of this is
dependent on the art of delivery including distance, angle of
the shot and length of the needle. RDD through using darts is
one of the best tools ever created for keeping cattle healthy
when used correctly. The amount of stress it removes from
the cattle by not wrestling them up in a chute or roping them
far outweighs the negatives.”
A cow–calf producer from East Texas shares these
experiences: “I routinely use 5 and 6 ml 3/4" needle darts
on 200- to 500-weight calves. The tool has dramatically
reduced calf losses, reduced herd-handling stress and made
20 OCTOBER 2016
bovinevetonline.com