DAIRY HERDS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 3, 31 August 1943, Page 6

DAIRY HERDS

RANGITAIKI PLAINS AREA VETERINARY SURGEON'S REPORT In his report to the annual meeting of suppliers to the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company,, at Edgecumbe last Wednesday, the Veterinary Surgeon, Mr A. L. Thomson, stated as under:— I have, much pleasure in submitting my veterinary report for the year ending 30tfa June, 1913. During the year the following visits were made: Calving cases 155 visits; milk fever cases 122; general cases 490; horses 290; pigs 51; dogs 40. Total 1148 visits. Milk fever was much more prevalent than in previous years but fortunately there were few cases of the. complicated type that occur at times. Some fanners are treating their milk fever cases themselves by the intravenous injection of calcium boro-gluconate solution. No great skill is required to give, an intravenous injection to a dairy cow but I do not consider the usual farmers' methods suitable for the preparation of a solution for intravenous use except in extreme emergency. For the farmer who treats his. milk fever cases himself I' advise udder inflation and drenching with calcium chloride—this treatment rarely fails and if strict cleanliness is observed there is little, chance of udder trouble. "Bloat" was not serious during the year. Mastitis: As usual this disease caused serious loss of production on some farms. The Dairy Board is conducting a survey on mastitis in herds in several districts in New Zealand. In this area Mr Hodson and I are co-operating with the. Board's consulting officer in a survey on the use of vaccine in the control of mastitis, but I am most disappointed that only three herds, are covered by this survey. Many farmers swear by vaccine, many swear at it yet when an opportunity is given to investigate its real worth few are ready to co-operate by allowing their herds to be used for an experiment that, entails little more than taking an intelligent interest in the test and keeping a complete record of the state of health of each cow in the herd for one season. Calving Trouble: For some unknown reason there Avas a substantial increase in the number of calving cases.. I regret that I could, not attend to many of these cases immediately but I would like to say that, left to herself,, a cow will not come to much harm even if left for several hours. The 1 calf will most probably die but. the cow will not suffer as much as some do at the hands of amateurs who fail 1 to realise the harm they are, doing in their unskilful attempts to* render assistance. White and blood scours in calves did not seem to be so serious as in some other years. Parasitic gastritis appeared earlier in the season than usual but was at no time serious. I think most farmers who- used phenothiazine were well pleased with the results it gave, and it is certainly much safer to use than the nicotine sulphate—copper sulphate drench. Contagious Abortion Vaccination. A number of farmers, had their calves innoculated with contagious abortion vaccine. The use of a similar strain of vaccine has done much to reduce the number of abortions due. to brucella abortus infection in both America and Britain and, as I See no reason to expect different results here, I strongly advise farmers to have their calves innoculated. I do not iknow what the programme is to be. for this year but if suppliers who wish to have their calves innoculated will let me know as soon as possible how many calves they intend to raise I will send the information forward. Pig Diseases: Losses in pigs were heavy on some farms, paratyphoid being responsible for most of the deaths. Most of the trouble occurs in January, February and March when the grass in the pens is either burnt or extremely tough.

Poultry: Many suppliers are going in for poultry keeping on a more or less extensive scale as a side-line.. Should any of these be in need of advice on their poultry problems I will be pleased to help. Veterinary Supplies: Although some commodities arc hard to get the position seems much easier than it was a year ago. I would like' to see more suppliers getting their veterinary medicines from the Veterinary Department instead of from

every itinerant salesman who toils a good tale. In closing I wish to express my appreciation of Mr Hodson's assistance and co-operation during the year.