BVD samples

valtraman

What size and type of envelope are you sending off the samples in and what is the postage rate for say 5 or 6 samples at a time .I put the first lot in a bubble wrap padded envelope and it wes over €2 ,no results back but all were big strong hardy calves so should be clear

whelan1

postage is normally just 55c, think its an a5 envelope i put them in,sent 12 samples last week put sellotape to sell envelope and put 55c stamp on it, arrived ok

td5man

Leave them on the milk tank and the milk man brings them ,very handy it means theres no forgetting to post them.

whelan1

td5man wrote: »

Leave them on the milk tank and the milk man brings them ,very handy it means theres no forgetting to post them.

is that true?

delaval

td5man wrote: »

Leave them on the milk tank and the milk man brings them ,very handy it means theres no forgetting to post them.

Milkman collects? Who do you supply or is this just an arrangement with your driver?

delaval

valtraman wrote: »

What size and type of envelope are you sending off the samples in and what is the postage rate for say 5 or 6 samples at a time .I put the first lot in a bubble wrap padded envelope and it wes over €2 ,no results back but all were big strong hardy calves so should be clear

Vitality of a calf is in no way and indication of health re BVD.
I post twice a week always get it weighed but would be sending more samples.

td5man

whelan1 wrote: »

is that true?

Yep

td5man

delaval wrote: »

Milkman collects? Who do you supply or is this just an arrangement with your driver?

Lakeland dairies.
IML do the testing and are based at the creamery and the cost is taken out of the milk cheque couldnt be simpler.
You just put the sample in the plastic bag supplied with tags put supplier sticker on bag put them in an envelope with number of samples written on the envelope and a supplier sticker .

jomoloney

use a strong brown A5 55c stamp (going up soon)

have pre printed an amount "exempt animal specimen" labels and stick 1 back and front , this helps to keep the envelope out of the automatic sorting machine

micky mouse

jomoloney wrote: »

use a strong brown A5 55c stamp (going up soon)

have pre printed an amount "exempt animal specimen" labels and stick 1 back and front , this helps to keep the envelope out of the automatic sorting machine

Plus one..5 samples

mf240

Sent 20 samples in one of the plastic envelopes that enfer sent me out. cost 1.10 for postage. I am paying for the test through milk account in glanbia.

mf240

had one of these come back positive, I am amazed to say the least calves are a month old and are the healthiest bunch of calves ever.

Is the retest compulsary ?

whelan1

mf240 wrote: »

had one of these come back positive, I am amazed to say the least calves are a month old and are the healthiest bunch of calves ever.

Is the retest compulsary ?

are you going to get rid of it any way?

whelan1

got text there calf that died after being born last week, sample was empty, what do i do now?

Henwin

exact same thing happened today to us, pretty sure we hav to test d mother now

delaval

whelan1 wrote: »

got text there calf that died after being born last week, sample was empty, what do i do now?

Test mother the dead calf in clearly no threat.

whelan1

delaval wrote: »

Test mother the dead calf in clearly no threat.

she had a negative calf last year

blue5000

How much are samples costing in the various labs?

mahoney_j

3.40 in enfer

whelan1

just rang ahi, have to blood test or tissue test the dead calfs mother

Caffrey78

I know this thread is more concerned with dairy but I'm a suckler man myself.
Is it possible to have BVD infected calves/weanlings which don't thrive but live.
I have a couple of cows descending from one cow and the same bull. The earlier replacements have excellent calves every year but the later replacements have poor quality calves.
The calves don't thrive, they have dull coats and no matter what I dose them with they look miserable compared to the other stock.
The breeding is there but the ability to turn feed into growth is not.
The rest of the herd are excellent, can they stay free of infection while a select few suffer?
This years calves are scouring but thriving bar a couple off the cows mentioned above, it's easily cleared up but persistent. I've had my best 2 month old calf drop dead in the field with no obvious illness. Their mouths and throats are clean.
I'm not in a position yet to sell and replace the poor animals, but that will be the plan.

whelan1

have you bvd tested this years calves?

Caffrey78

Sorry I should have mentioned I farm in NI where BVD testing isn't compulsory.
I've never tested an animal.

greysides

Caffrey78 wrote: »

Is it possible to have BVD infected calves/weanlings which don't thrive but live.

Yes, PIs will do that for a while till they die and perhaps badly infected TI as well but probably as a result of not getting over the secondary disease (pneumonia, scour) very well.

I have a couple of cows descending from one cow and the same bull. The earlier replacements have excellent calves every year but the later replacements have poor quality calves.

Is it just later calves from those 'couple of cows' that don't thrive?

This years calves are scouring but thriving bar a couple off the cows mentioned above, it's easily cleared up but persistent. I've had my best 2 month old calf drop dead in the field with no obvious illness. Their mouths and throats are clean.

Have you considered coccidiosis or salmonellosis?

Caffrey78

There's one original cow who I've kept 5 replacement heifers from off the same stock bull.
The first three of those replacements breed top quality thriving calves. The last two calve very well made calves but they struggle to thrive and are all smaller than calves 3-4 months younger than them, their hair is dull and they grow big bellies.
Surely if it was BVD I'd lose them to illnesses like scour/pneumonia.
It could be coccidiosis or salmonellosis, because every calf has been affected by scour, I've treated them with doses and tablets and they all clear up easily. I put this years scour down to the quality of silage because last year there were very few cases in the shed.
I'm more worried about the animals that don't thrive.
99% of what I have are super animals, it's just a select few that are hard to put weight on.
Maybe it's just breeding....

greysides

Playing the percentages........ it's unlikely the original cow is a PI if there's 5 replacement heifers belonging to her old enough to breed surviving in the herd. While one daughter may be a PI (original cow got infected while carrying that calf) the following daughters shouldn't be PI's as the original cow would have become immune for life after carrying the first PI.
Similarly a normal daughter may produce one PI but it should stop at that and not carry on every year.

their hair is dull and they grow big bellies.

Are their mothers producing reasonable quantities of milk?

I'm beginning to think it's time to cull some daughters.

I suggested salmonellosis and coccidiosis as causes of scour as they could/should respond to the appropriate treatments. Coccidiosis in particular can affect a large number. You'd need to talk this through with your vet, especially as you may be seeing the thicker end of a wedge this year that's been affecting you quietly for several years. If so, and it's preventable you may as well take advantage of that.



Genetics being genetics, even repeat similar matings aren't going to produce offspring that are similar.

Caffrey78

I think I'll not get into a twist about BVD and, when I can, I'll cull those not breeding properly.
The cows are Simx and have plenty of milk.
A summer of grass might do them some justice.

Any sign of it growing yet!!!