Some advice

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Hi, just wondering if someone can help me out or offer some advice.
My dad had a farm and when he died my brother took over the farm. For 24 years of my brothers life beforehand I would have been surprised if he could have told a cow and a horse apart.

I wouldn't have been much better, but I spent a lot of time with my dad, and out on the farm, taking a bit of interest in what was happening.
Now I know my dad would dose them with albex (I think) before he'd put th
Out on grass in spring and they would get some copper. Sometimes a while later, if they were coughing when they were running he would give them
A second dose. I vaguely remember him saying if the black ones had that brown fluff on them that meant they lacked copper.

Now our cattle are coughing and wheezing when they run and two of their coats aren't nice and smooth and healthy looking. I suggested they may need another dose, my brother insists they're fine and they don't. Neither of us know what we are doing, so can you tell me how we would know or what to do?

Kovu

Hi LexieOnRale, firstly do you know what your brother used this year to dose them? That way you would be able to know what they were covered for.
Different treatments cover different stages & types of parasites. A lot of them will also require a follow up dose to kill immature parasites that have hatched since dosing.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

It's the same stuff I think it was called albex it's like a light blue colour.

I think they need more though

Greengrass1

LexieOnRale wrote: »

It's the same stuff I think it was called albex it's like a light blue colour.

I think they need more though

How long ago were they dosed?

micky mouse

levacide pour on if they are coughing,sounds like a bad dose of hoose,and if that's the case you need to kill them gradually

on the river

Do ye have a dosing regime?

My advice is keep it simple and always read the label of whichever products your using.

on the river

micky mouse wrote: »

levacide pour on if they are coughing,sounds like a bad dose of hoose,and if that's the case you need to kill them gradually

Most likely under year old livestock

larthehar

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if someone can help me out or offer some advice.
My dad had a farm and when he died my brother took over the farm. For 24 years of my brothers life beforehand I would have been surprised if he could have told a cow and a horse apart.

I wouldn't have been much better, but I spent a lot of time with my dad, and out on the farm, taking a bit of interest in what was happening.
Now I know my dad would dose them with albex (I think) before he'd put th
Out on grass in spring and they would get some copper. Sometimes a while later, if they were coughing when they were running he would give them
A second dose. I vaguely remember him saying if the black ones had that brown fluff on them that meant they lacked copper.

Now our cattle are coughing and wheezing when they run and two of their coats aren't nice and smooth and healthy looking. I suggested they may need another dose, my brother insists they're fine and they don't. Neither of us know what we are doing, so can you tell me how we would know or what to do?

Hi Lexie,
to put the situation in context it sounds like ye are struggling a little, my advice would be get some advice from a vet, teagasc or even a neighbour who knows his stuff.

Animal husbandry is key to successful farming and I would advise maybe you or your brother partaking in some part time courses to up skill on animal husbandry, speaking to teagasc might be a start.

Making calls on the correct doses without seeing the animals can't really be done. Another option is to get a dung sample and get it tested by your local veterinary clinic or by teagasc.

Best of luck!

AntrimGlens

micky mouse wrote: »

levacide pour on if they are coughing,sounds like a bad dose of hoose,and if that's the case you need to kill them gradually

the hoose not the cattle...:D

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Greengrass1 wrote: »

How long ago were they dosed?

In April, but think they need more! My dad would always
Dose again if they needed it. He never explained it to me in proper terms because I suppose he assumed my brother would take over the farm so it'd be like "how do you know they need a dose?" "When they cough like that".

My brother is one of those people who knows it all as well so I doubt he will let any of the neighbours help, he won't even listen to me.


I think ill ask my dads friend to have a look, and will look into courses. Thanks guys!!

moy83

Its begining to be common practice to get a vet to do up a dosing and vaccination plan for farmers . I think in your case it would be very benificial , and help get a good piece of advice from a professional
Don't be shy with the questions here either but a bit of concrete info from the vet will be something you can work off better
Who is the farmer now , you or your brother ?

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

moy83 wrote: »

Its begining to be common practice to get a vet to do up a dosing and vaccination plan for farmers . I think in your case it would be very benificial , and help get a good piece of advice from a professional
Don't be shy with the questions here either but a bit of concrete info from the vet will be something you can work off better
Who is the farmer now , you or your brother ?

My brother, for the minute. I know he will get bored with it soon and I want to be prepared to take over. He has absolutely no interest in farming, never had. I don't know a lot about farming but have been out on the farm since the days of yellow wellies and tiny sand buckets with a turnip in it for the cattle!! so just even from watching over the years I'd have a tiny bit more of a clue, know how to identify and treat mastitis, or something simple like a sore eye, know when to call AI, just really simple stuff but it's more than he can do so it's just frustrating when he won't listen and am insisting I'm wrong.

Did not know that vets would draw up dosing plans, will look into this.

greysides

micky mouse wrote: »

levacide pour on if they are coughing,sounds like a bad dose of hoose,and if that's the case you need to kill them gradually

Not sure about how quick the pour-on works but Levacide injection will kill them .... quick.

It's been suggested that the white doses (Albex, for example) will kill slower.

For what it's worth, I think getting a vet to see them would be a great idea. But it would need to be done real soon. Hoose would be a diabolical killer and waster of animals.

thegreatgonzo

Google Teagasc and find out who your local advisor is and make an appointment as soon as possible to meet them and explain the whole situation. Also as several posters above said, give your vet a call and ask them to help you make a dosing/vaccination protocol. In different parts of the country some diseases might be more prevalent and your vet will know what these are.
There is a LOT to know regarding parasites and the different drugs that are used to treat them, with fluke for example, different drugs work on different stages of the lifecycle and may need a repeat dose after a while. The vet can advise you on all of this.
Farmfile.ie is a website you might find interesting too.
Also on the teagasc site there are details of courses you can do. You've missed the deadline for the online green cert this year but there might be other things there. There's also national organic training skillnet (nots.ie), I don't know anyone who did one of these courses but they might be helpful to you.