LLM Farm Vets October Newsletter 2019

Newsletter
October 2019
In this edition...
• Dairy Talk - Don’t break that protection
• Ewes News - Tupping Tip Refreshers
• VetTech Tails - Emily’s Calf Challenge
• Upcoming Events!
www.llmfarmvets.co.uk 1

Contents
• News...........................................................................................................4
• Training Courses.........................................................................................5
• Upcoming Events........................................................................................6
• Classifieds...................................................................................................7
• Dairy Talk - To test or not to test?................................................................8
• Dairy Talk - Don’t break that protection!......................................................9
• Ewes News - Tupping Tip Refreshers.........................................................10
• VetTech Tails - How many points can you get?...........................................12
Whitchurch...........01948 663000
Eccleshall.............01785 472211
Wrexham..............01978 280580
Pharmacy.............01948 302424
Accounts..............01948 663059
Lancashire...........01772 866014
Clitheroe...............01200 545456
Bakewell...............01629 691692
2
LLM Vet Team
Den Leonard
07970 267494
Bill May
07968 318493
Simon King
07973 271754
Tom Wright
07590 183804
Dan Stevenson
07894 586233
Mike Christie
07775 561820
Sarah Gibbs
07711 593783
Hannah Batty
07841 919227
Rob Hall
07889 408092
Claire Whittle
07841 775695
Tom Jackson
07837 291097
Raquel Teixeira
07889 599810
Peter Neilson
07889 595908
Laura Hughes
07736 906632
Katie Arrowsmith
07719 974540
Sam Partridge
07719983426
Lancashire Vets
Ian Cure
07590 225284
Rob Howe
07590 225283
Alun Beckett
07850 326432
Roland Millar
07894 406225
Becca Dodd
07966 207384
Emily Moule
07849 844854
Becca Riley
07719 984931
Derbyshire Vets
Andrew Henderson
07841 675549
Katie Fitzgerald
07765 644909
VetTech Team
Natalie Parker
07841 775697
Emily Hallett
07845 817070
Rachel Cooper
07834 547832
Steph Cowgill
07505 443231
Joe Wheeler
07849 835379
Jo Brown
07841 501655
Vikki Stockdale
07730 765543
Lizzie Harding
07711 593780
UKET Team
UKET Office
01948 663124
Spike Newman
07921 374036
Stan Matthews
07971 118909
TB Team
Janka Zaleska
07894 586231
Alberto Alaman
07720 737872
Simion Tiberiu Piticariu
07720 740881
Tudor Bunea
07849 835375
Emilio Martinez
07907 410983
Lilli Fox
07889 580432
Ionela - Viorela
07850 326433

Welcome to the October
edition of your newsletter!
I welcome you to our October edition
from the Lancashire practice, where
this month we’ve welcomed three new
vets to the team! Becca Dodd along
with two new graduates Becca Riley
and Emily Moule. We introduced them
in the last newsletter, but I’m hoping by
now you’ve seen them getting stuck in
on farm.
It’s been a pretty hectic few months in
the practice, with shows and parties
to get organised. It was nice to see so
many faces at the shows this summer
and although it already feels long ago
thank you to everyone that came to our
10 Year Anniversary party and helped
raise a massive £5,400 for Mind and
Field Nurse. It was a fantastic night
and I hope you all had as much fun as
we did!
As we’re now heading into autumn we
have lots in the pipeline. Hannah Batty
will be up in Lancs on the 16th October
to share her experiences and what we
can learn following a study tour of dairy
farms in the US. More info inside!
We will also be having another
medicine matters course up with us, so
take a look if you need to refresh your
medicine certificate following the Red
Tractor revisions.
But enough about us and onto this
month’s newsletter! We have a double
Dairy Talk this month, touching on
Clarifide for those who are after a
bit more information on the genomic
test, and Tom J reminds us of the
importance of vaccine timing to ensure
protection does not get broken.
Emily challenges you to her calf quiz in
VetTech Tails. We would love to hear
your results - who knows there might
be a prize?
And finally, Pete treats us to some
tupping tip refreshers - it’s never a bad
idea to get back up to speed on body
condition score.
I hope you enjoy what we’ve got for
you this month and thank you for your
continued support in Lancashire and
across all LLM practices!
Heather
3

News
Attention all Welsh Dairy Farms
AHDB have secured funding from the
Welsh government, rural development
programme (2014 - 2020). They are
using this funding to deliver a Dairy
Improvement Programme in Wales
and HerdAdvance is part of this project.
What is HerdAdvance?
It is essentially a support programme
for farms to receive assistance in many
aspects of herd health management
and disease control. This means you
can benefit from:
• Free herd health plan review
• Free biosecurity plan review
• Free animal health action plan
• Financial and technical assistance
to tackle a range of animal health
issues
• Semen vouchers available for
breeding decisions, based on
Herd Genetic Reports
• Genomic testing
Once accepted onto the scheme, there
will be an initial collection of data and
a meeting with your vet and AHDB
Knowledge Exchange Manager.
Thereafter, there is just a commitment
to supply data to monitor progress
which we can assist with.
The first round happened in October
2018 and a second round is currently
open, with applications closing on the
4th November.
We think this is a great opportunity for
all our Welsh dairy farms to take up and
definitely shouldn’t be missed! Laura,
one of our vets at Whitchurch, took this
up at home during the first round and
said it was a no brainer for them.
If you have any questions about
the scheme or want to get involved,
please give the practice a call or speak
to your vet. We will have forms in the
Wrexham and Whitchurch practices
ready for submission.
4

UK Dairy Day
At the UK Dairy Day in September, we
were honoured to be awarded “Best
Medium Trade Stand”
After many years of the Lucky Cow
gracing the Dairy Day, Nantwich Show
and Livestock Event before this, it was
finally given a pat on the back! It’s safe
to say we were thrilled!
Training Courses
Training Course Date Time Location
Advanced Calving
Calf Health
WHITCHURCH
Tuesday 8th October
Wednesday 16th
October
10:30 -
3:00pm
10:30 -
3:00pm
Please call 01948 663000 to book onto the above courses
LANCASHIRE
LLM Whitchurch,
SY13 4AQ
Eccleshall, ST21
6JL
Medicine Matters
Wednesday 13th
November
11:00am -
1:00pm
Please call 01772 866014 to book onto the above courses
TBC
5

Upcoming Events
Derbyshire
Managing a 42 Litre
Dairy Herd
Date: Tuesday 8th October, 7:30pm
Location: Thornbridge Brewery, DE45 1GS
42
LITRE
Farmer and LLM client, James Wooldridge and our very own Vet and Nutritionist
Andrew Henderson will take you on a virtual farm walk of Court Farm,
Gloucestershire and discuss the changes they have made to calf, heifer, dry cow
and lactating cow management to achieve both yield and improved margin for the
herd.
Please call the practice on 01629 691692 to let us know if you’re coming
Lancashire
Getting more bang for your buck!
What we could learn from dairy management state side
Date: Wednesday 16th October
Time: 7:30pm
Address: Broughton Practice, 136 Whittingham Lane, PR3 5DD
Following a successful talk in Derbyshire, Hannah Batty will be taking her USA trip
talk to Lancashire! To say the trip “blew her mind” is probably an understatement.
She has since come back determined to share her experience with dairy farmers
across the area. From calf rearing to fertility protocols Hannah is going to talk to
us about what we can learn from the US approach and discuss the pros and cons
in respect to the challenges we face in the UK dairy industry.
Please call the practice on 01772 866014 to let us know if you’re coming
6

Classifieds
2013/63 Isuzu D-Max Yukon
Dark green, 134k miles, MOT April 2020, Manual
gearbox, FSH, Bluetooth, cruise control, ABS, ESP,
A/C, Truckman canopy, factory-fit towbar, load liner,
electric door-mirrors, 4WD, recently serviced and
valeted. Very reliable.
£9995 no VAT
Call Tom Jackson for more information (07837 291097)
Winter Housing Available
Space for up to 100 dairy
heifers in the Newport area.
Please call 07740512137
for more information
Embryos For Sale
7 x British Blue frozen embryo’s for sale.
4 x Tipperty Whitney x Sjaka Zoe Van
Zwannhof
3 x Annanwater Ace x Tamhorn Sumo
Open to offers. Contact Paul Wain on:
07768 825735
Brown Swiss Bulls
Available
7 Generations of
excellent dams. TB4.
Lancashire based.
07709542220 /
0199561661
Young Holstein Bull For Sale
Quiet mother and many siblings
can be seen. Canadian breeding,
Lila Z family with many bulls in AI.
Whitchurch - please call
07949 331668
Simmental Bulls For Sale
BVD, IBR and Lepto Vaccinated
and Johne’s accredited. Good
temperament and easy calving.
Please call 07714 089001 or
07907 410983
7

Dairy Talk
To test or not to test...
The Clarifide genomic test has been
spoken about a lot recently, so we
wanted to give you our overview:
What is the difference between
Clarifide and Clarifide Plus?
Both are in depth genomic tests that
can give an indication on genomic
traits including; health and fitness,
production, type and composites, milk
protein components and parentage
and inbreeding. The Plus test gives
six additional indications on health
traits and three more calf wellness
traits. Both tests give really valuable
information that can help towards
breeding strategy. However, it is
claimed that by using Clarifide Plus
your herd is 106% more profitable over
a lifetime as opposed to 69% with the
standard Clarifide test.
What about the free AHDB genetic
report you can get?
We would definitely recommend
looking at your herd genetic report,
it can give a really good insight into
where your herd is in comparison
to the national average. However
it doesn’t quite give the insight that
other genomic tests do. For example,
basing breeding off parent averages
is probably better than not looking at
all, but having health, production and
disease information can obviously
give a much deeper indication into the
value off future offspring.
Is it reliable?
About 60 - 65% accurate. There will
always be those who don’t quite reach
their potential, but you also have to
factor in the environment.
The way we look at it is you’re investing
in your herd for the future. You do get
a lot of data from these tests for each
cow, which is brilliant, but only if you
can use it to your benefit. So if you’re
considering having a go or would like
to see some examples, let us know.
8

Dairy Talk
Don’t break that protection!
Cows coming in for autumn
housing, many of you will be doing
some annual vaccinations, so Tom
J is offering some helpful reminders
on timings.
We can all agree that vaccinations are
a key part in ensuring the health of
your herd. Protecting against some of
the common endemic diseases seems
simple at first glance – once the cows
have received their primary course
they then continue with regular booster
immunisations to keep them protected.
Stick to the timings on the data sheet
and it’s all very straightforward.
Unfortunately it becomes slightly less
easy to manage once we bring heifers
in to the equation – do your protocols
provide a watertight means of ensuring
that all heifers are fully protected
once they calve in to the main herd?
Critically are they covered at all stages
of their next pregnancy?
The common pitfall comes in assuming
that because maiden heifers were
vaccinated prior to service that they
will then be safe until they receive a
booster vaccination with the rest of the
herd as milking heifers – but that can
depend very much on the month of the
year that an individual calves. If she
calves a month after the herd booster
then it will be another eleven months
until she gets a booster, meaning that
it could potentially be almost two years
between immunisations. As a result
she may well be unprotected when
she next falls in calf, opening the door
for a pathogen such as BVD to cause
trouble.
For example, if we consider for ease a
vaccine that has a single-shot primary
course and a twelve-month booster
interval. As we can see there is the
potential for a large gap in immunity for
some heifers – and the opportunity for
disease to gain a foothold. It is crucial
that we design vaccination protocols so
that heifers are not able to fall through
the gaps in this manner. Your routine
vet will be happy to help you draw up
a plan to ensure that all animals are
protected at all times.
Milking Herd Booster
Milking Herd Booster
14 months
Primary
course
15 months 24 months 26 months
AI 1st Calving Protection
Expires
Fully Protected
Not Protected
9

Ewes News
Tupping Tips Refresher
Most of you will be very well
seasoned when it comes to tupping.
But there is never any harm in just
having a recap on the importance
body condition scoring pre and
post tupping. Pete gives us some
‘tup’tastic tips (sorry):
Pre-tupping
Get your hand on your ewes pretupping,
know where you sheep are! If
they are thin they may require additional
supplementation to prevent further
loss over the period; but remember
that the rumen takes a couple of
weeks to get used to any new feeds
and hence changes should be done
at least a fortnight before introduction
of the tups. Splitting ewes into groups
by body condition score is worthwhile
if you are able to manage their body
condition effectively over the weeks
to come. Any ewes who are very over
conditioned or very thin; should be
considered for culling as they may be
problem ewes going forward.
Flushing is feeding ewes on a higher
plane of nutrition prior to tupping
to improve the number of lambs
conceived, gaining an average of 0.5
Body condition score points across the
group, in the 3 weeks before tupping
starts. This has been shown to improve
lambing percentage.
It should be noted that any ewes
starting flushing over BCS 4.0 or below
BCS 2.0 will have no benefit from
flushing.
By the time the tups are introduced a
target Body Condition Score of 2-2.5
for hill ewes, 2.5-3.0 for highland
ewes; 3.0-3.5 for lowland ewes and
3.5 for tups is generally advised for
best results.
Tupping
The first six to eight weeks of pregnancy
is as it is the time of fertilisation of the
eggs and implantation of foetuses,
hence they are at their most vulnerable.
10
It is important to keep the quality of
grass and feed available to ewes
and tups good and at a constant
level over this period as any cause
of stress such as a change in diet
or unnecessary handling can cause
embryo resorptions and hence smaller
lamb numbers and more barren ewes
come springtime. Whilst the nutritional
demand of the lambs is low at this time
of year consistency to the diet over this
period is crucial.

Post tupping
Once the tups have been out a
month, no major changes to diet are
required unless we have a particularly
bad period of weather in which case
supplementary feeding may be
required. Over conditioned or good
condition ewes should be maintained
in their current body condition score
losing no more than 0.5 of a body
condition score point. Ewes which
are under conditioned can slowly put
on 0.5 a BCS point with no negative
impacts, however caution should be
given as too much feed may lead to
excessively big lambs.
The last 6 weeks before lambing
requires its own article in the spring,
look out for that!
At Tupping:
Target Hill - 2.5 Upland - 3 Lowland - 3.5
Above target
Below target
Maintain body condition score through the period, flushing
will have limited effect
Flushing unlikely to have a major effect on fertility but a
rising plane of nutrition prior to tupping and during the first
month of tupping will help mitigate problem sheep later
Post Tupping:
Target Hill - 2.0 Upland - 2.5 Lowland - 3.0
Above target
Below target
Half a body condition score point can be lost with no ill
effects
Maximum of 0.5 body condition score point increase over
mid pregnancy. Too much feed can lead to excessively big
lambs
11

tails
How many points can you get?
2
This month’s tails come from Emily
who is a bit of a calf whizz...
I quite often get asked whilst out on
farm what can be done to help maintain
growth throughout the cold winter
period. So I thought I’d put together a
bit of a quiz. This may give you some
ideas on how you can help your calves
throughout the winter period.
See how many points you can gain...
Nesting - How much straw do you
use?
□□You can’t see my calves legs when
they nest in their bedding (2 points)
□□My calves are given straw but the legs
are partially visible (1 point)
□□I use other bedding for my calves
(0 points)
1
Calf Jackets - How often do you
use calf jackets?
□□I never use calf jackets (0 points)
□□I only put jackets on smaller or
sick calves (1 point)
□□I put jackets on all my calves (2
points)
Jackets can be used to help keep calves warm,
dry and healthy when temperatures fall below
15ºC. You must ensure that calves are dry
before using calf jackets.
Nesting Score 1
The calf’s legs
entirely visible
when lying down
Nesting Score 2
The calf’s legs
partially visible
when lying down
Nesting Score 3
The calf’s legs are
generally not visible
when lying down
12
Straw is the ideal bedding material in the
winter months, as not only does it provide
thermal protection and reduce heat loss
over the colder spells, it also helps keep
the calves relatively clean and dry. Use
the diagram on the right for guidance;

3
Ventilation – What ventilation methods do you use? Do you need
ventilation?
□□I have never tested the ventilation in my calf shed/housing using a smoke
bomb (0 points)
□□I have tested the ventilation in my calf shed/housing using a smoke bomb but
not altered the building to help air flow (1 points)
□□I have tested the ventilation in my calf shed/housing using a smoke bomb and
I have altered my existing building to maximise air flow (wind tunnel/fan/
opened windows) (2 points)
□□I have a purpose built calf shed or environment (hutches) which focus on
maximising air flow (2 points)
A good ventilation system is a key attribute in minimising moisture in the calf’s environment. The best air
inlets have an area that is twice the size or even better, four times the size, of the outlet which needs to
be situated in the roof to release warm, moist, foul air.
4
Vaccination – Do you vaccinate your calves for BRD/pneumonia?
□□I don’t vaccinate my calves at all (0 points)
□□I only vaccinate over the winter period (1 point)
□□I vaccinate only my breeding stock in the shed (2 points)
□□I vaccinate all calves in the shed (3 points)
□□BONUS POINT – I get the VetTechs to vaccinate my calves (1 point)
Vaccination against key viruses can dramatically reduce calf pneumonia
outbreaks and can often be an essential part of heard health planning.
For vaccines to be effective they need to be; stored and handled correctly
(vaccines are particularly vulnerable to temperature damage). Used
at the correct time (it goes without saying that most farms rarely have
enough time to vaccinate calves at the correct age. Best way to solve this...
get the VetTechs to do it!) And finally, injected correctly (I bet most of you
vaccinating the calves yourselves struggle to find enough clean needles
and syringes at vaccination times!)
In an ideal world all calves on your holding should be vaccinated, but
for a number of reasons you may choose to only vaccinate the stock
you are keeping for breeding. If this is the case, try your best to keep
vaccinated and unvaccinated stock separate, if you are unable to keep
them in different sheds then try to put them at opposite ends of the shed.
13

5
6
Feeding regime – Do you change the
quantity or concentration of milk during
the colder months?
□□I feed the same all year round (1 point)
□□I decrease the quantity or concentration
(0 points)
□□I increase the quantity or concentration
(2 points)
Monitoring Growths – Do you monitor the
growths of your calves?
□□I don’t take or record any weights (0 points)
□□I weigh my calves (1 point)
□□The VetTechs weigh my calves (2 points)
□□I get the VetTechs to weigh my calves and
implement changes to increase the
average DLWG (3 points)
It goes without saying that calves are
bound to use more energy to keep
warm in the colder months. Where
does this energy come from? Their
nutritional intake! To ensure that calves
maintain their DLWG throughout the
colder months you need to increase
their nutritional input (remember this
will need to be done slowly - speak to
your vet for the best method)
The best way to monitor your calves
DLWG is through routine weighing, this
can also help you to identify certain
periods where your calves either thrive
or don’t do as well. Weighing the calves
also allows you to monitor the impact
of changes you have made, giving you
justification of alterations. Additionally
it allows you to see when individuals
have doubled their birth weight, which
will highlight when individuals need
weaning.
Score 0-5
(Improvements could be made)
Have a chat with your vet
to see how changes can
help improve your calves
health and environment
over the colder months.
Not all changes need to
be costly, but can reap
big rewards!
Score 6-10
(Could you pick up any quick
simple tips?)
Great work so far, just
a few tweaks could
improve your calves’
environment even further,
helping you to gain and
maintain a DLWG of at
least 0.8kg. Could you
pick up any hints and
tips to alter your rearing
system?
Score 11-15
(Keep it up)
Looks like you’re already
on top of your calf rearing
system over the winter
months. If you lost a few
points could you make
simple changes to give
you a perfect score?
14
Could you improve your score? Remember to speak to your vet when making
any changes regarding calf housing and rearing. The VetTechs are also really
useful as they see a lot of different calf systems; they may be able to discuss their
ideas with you and your vet over a brew!
Hope this is of use to you, looking forward to hearing your scores! Emily

Caption Competition
This month, we were fortunate enough to capture this “Mike” moment on
CCTV...Ah technology.
This is a week after he left his phone on his roof.
If you have an image that you think is made for a caption competition, send them
in to lucy.evans@llmvets.co.uk
15

Midlands
Whitchurch
Old Woodhouses, Broughall, Whitchurch, SY13 4AQ
01948 663000
Eccleshall
Unit 19A Raleigh Hall Ind Est, Eccleshall, Staffordshire, ST21 6JL
01785 472211
North Wales
Wrexham
Unit 24, The Bridgeway Centre, Wrexham Ind Est, LL13 9QS
01978 280580
Lancashire
Broughton
136 Whittingham Lane, Broughton, Preston, PR3 5DD
01772 866014
Clitheroe
Unit 2 Deanfield Court, Link 59 Business Park, Clitheroe, BB7 1QS
01200 545456
Derbyshire
Bakewell
Riverside Business Park, Buxton Road, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1GS
01629 691692
www.llmfarmvets.co.uk
info@llmvets.co.uk
To unsubscribe from our newsletter, please email info@llmvets.co.uk