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Post by RedRidge on Mar 30, 2015 11:40:06 GMT -5
Great thread Patti. Another thing to keep in mind is that some things are so location dependent they may be irrelevant. BVD with the cattle, scrapies & CL (with our sheep), and johnes (in both) have been our primary tests. And yes, they are different types of johnes tests, so doing both is highly recommended as one is not a quick turn around but more accurate. Thankfully, we are classified as a brucellosis free state, so even in our licensed dairy we didn't have to test for that. We genetic test for scrapies susceptibility and PHA (and all other tests are required to be negative before brought onto the property, and then all new livestock coming onto the farm (which rarely if ever happens any more) is kept in the quarantine area for a 30 day minimum. We used to permit tested cows to come into the property to use our bulls, but after some critical problems on several farms in our part of the state last year, we closed our farm and no longer lease our bulls at all. Just a precaution. We sell a lot of meat every year (beef, lamb, poultry and rabbit are our main farm income), and even the products are not picked up on the farm but at drop points.
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Mar 30, 2015 13:04:26 GMT -5
Here's a twist on this thread. I know someone with over a dozen cows that have recently calved. This person was also given a heifer a few days ago (from somewhere else) that was pulled and the cow didn't make it. The heifer was weak and having trouble standing, although she can get around now. However, she has gone blind. Then a first-calf heifer abandoned her heifer, and that calf has gone blind in one eye. This is not a closed herd; I have no idea what testing or vaccines have been done.
What would pop into your minds? What would you test for?
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Post by kansasdexters on Mar 30, 2015 16:19:33 GMT -5
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Post by simplynaturalfarm on Mar 30, 2015 16:23:38 GMT -5
Johnes is prevalent in beef herds also. There are seed stock herds that test and maintain different levels of certification and the state here pays for a lot of the testing if you qualify. So far though most people cull the cows without even bothering to test because they wouldn't do anything about it anyway. So the reason it is not apparently there, is that the beef guys are selling off 6+ year olds around here as bred cows and only keeping prime prime cows to their old age. IF they have one that gets symptomatic, they ship it. They are routinely sharing bulls, they are buying culls at auction, they have nose fence contact with multiple herds, they have multiple pastures 50 miles apart - it does not even make sense for a lot of them to consider testing. And they are buying their raw colostrum from a Johnes positive dairy herd which the local vet sells milk from. . . no you can't trust that your local vet will have any idea why it could be important to you or why you should be testing. So do your own research for sure. As far as other things, there are things that can be state to state, herd to herd etc. It is expensive to sell good disease free animals - everything adds up. . . I do not do tests on the young heifers for sale unless they are requested and then I do it at the buyer's cost with a deposit and the agreement that they will purchase the cow when the test comes back negative. If it comes up positive (which never has) they would still have to absorb that loss and I would give them back the deposit. I do not test all young stock for sale, because 75% of the buyers have zero interest in disease status and only interested in price. I have a closed herd here and one fellow asked if I would drop off 2 heifers at the --- auction yard for him to pick up in a day or two. I was nauseous thinking of the gazillion things they would be exposed to and I could be blamed for a few years down the road. There is a reputable seed stock producer near us who hauls his bulls to the livestock auction to be bid on, then hauls some of them home and organizes shipping. I thought he has just nixed all the work he put into them by taking them to a place that is a reservoir for every disease in the state and every cull cow going through there multiple days per week and THEN he takes them back home for 1-2 months and organizes shipping!
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Mar 31, 2015 8:37:34 GMT -5
Thanks, kansasdexters. This has raised a new question which I think I'll ask in a new thread. Welcome, simplynaturalfarm, and thanks for your input. Your comment not to assume our local vet wouldn't know about testing contributes to the question I'm going to start a new thread about. It is incredible that the producer you mentioned hasn't thought about disease he's introducing to his herd. I could understand a relative newbie like me not thinking about it, but . . . I originally thought it would be fun to show our young bull when we got him, because he accompanied his dam to shows and was used to it, until I had to keep him in isolation for 3 weeks and remove every bit of manure and bedding from his pasture during that time, disposing it somewhere it wouldn't get on our pastures . . . all just in case something would turn up. The thought of having to do that every time I'd take him to a show (all by myself since DH did not want to show) made me rethink that idea!
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