FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 7, 2 September 1940, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

VETERINARIAN'S REPORT YEAR'S ACTIVITIES REVIEWED Subsequent to the publication of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company's Bacteriologist's report to the directors, we have pleasure in presenting the Veterinary Surgeon's (Mr A. C. Thomson, M.R.C.V.'S) review of the year's activities. MiThomson writes: —• I have pleasure in submitting my annual veterinary report for the year ending Juno .'soth, 1940. The following figures indicate the work done: Calving cases 107 Milk Fever cases 73 General cases 506 ilorses 264 visits Pigs. 43 visitsDogs ... 30 visitsTotal 1023 "Bloat" was prevalent during the spring months and deaths from this condition Ave re numerous particularlj' in the Opouriao district. I know of no specific remedy for the condition but it can be in some measure avoided by feeding a small quantity of goodi hay before putting stock 011 dangeroxis pastures. Feeding a small quantity of bran and crushed linseed in the bail during milking also gives good results. Remedies are legion and Avith the exception of kerosene I never suggest any other remedy than the one the farmer finds efficient. Milk fever Avas common from the beginning of the season and all cases occurring early in the season recovered Avith the routine treatment of udder inflation, tAA-o ounces of calcium chloride and a laxative drench. SeA'eral of the cases occurring later in the season Avere complicated by j acidosis to such a degree that treatment Avas of no aA r ail. These cases

seem to occur only in cows in very high condition and I think that some benefit might be derived from drench ing all such cows with 6-<8 ounces Epsom salts and 2 pounds molasses as soon as they calve and repeating the dose 5 days to a week later. White and Blood Scour in Calves: Again I state that the bacteria responsible for this condition remain viable in the soil of calf paddocks and in insanitary calf houses from one year to the next. Infected paddocks should be cropped and clean areas set aside "for next season's calves. Calf buckets should be thoroughly cleaned and scalded , after each feed. Affected calves should, be isolated: and dosed with castor oil as soon as seen to be ill. Barley water should be given instead of milk for two or three days and a small dose of lysol or kerol given internally. The vaccination of calves as soon as they were born gave excellent results but as the vaccine cost about 5s per calf many farmers stopped using it. Paspalum Staggers- In spite of the heavy infection of the paspalum with the paspalum ergot very few cows suffered from "paspalum staggers/' Pig Diseases: There were.fewer outbreaks of disease in piggeries than in the previous year. As all suppliers received a circular on this subject recently I make no further comment here. Mastitis: This condition still is responsible for heavy loss. When due to irritation of the delicate tissues of the udder .through milking at too high a vacuum or leaving the cups on too long the incidence is easily reduced, I)Lit when a bacterial Infection is jjresent great care must be taken to prevent the spread of that infection in the herd. It i's well known that a cow can secrete in her milk bacteria capable of eaus ing mastitis and yet remain unuinfected herself. Such a cow is a great danger in a herd and the only way that such cows can be detected is by laboratory examination ol' the milk. The gauge testing outfit now installed in the laboratory has shown most of the gauges "tested to err on the danger side i.e. i( they show a vacuum lower than that shown by the mercury column which gives the true reading. As gauge testing is free and as many gauges are inaccurate I do think that more advantage could be taken of the service. Canine Distemper: Only a few mild cases occurred during the year. Canine distemper "vaccine" is now obtainable from Australia and it is hoped that more dog-owners will

take steps to have promising pups immunised against this scourge. Prcsypusly the, vaccine was imported to order from Great Britain and it was not uncommon for a dog to die before the vaccine arrived. Parasitic Gastritis in calves was just as common as in previous years. If possible farmers .shouldl remove? their young stock to clean pastures before the trouble starts in the autumn, but if this cannot be done the calves must be drenched regularly with nicotine sulphate—copper sulphate drench and given an ample supply of good hay. Castration of Colts: During the year 66 colts were castrated and T regret that many of them had never had a halter on them till I arrived at the farm to perform the operation. Where a good crush pen or race is available such unhandled colts give little trouble but few farms are so equipped and much time is wasted. Messages are now given fairly explicitly by suppliers but *1 think many could be sent a half hour earlier in the morning. When messages arc sent earl}' quite a number oij miles can sometimes be saved aricl of course the supplier who phones first is most likely to be attended to first; oLher conditions being equal I close with an appreciation of the assistance and co-operation of Mr Hodson and the laboratory staff.