The newborn calf will face many infectious diseases in the early stages of life, with scour being one of the most common challenges.
Creating a calf health plan now, will help reduce the risk of disease occurring in the first place.
For Cork dairy farmer James Murphy, this means making sure colostrum is of the highest quality, in addition to ensuring good environmental hygiene and management on farm.
Located in Milford, Co. Cork, James is currently milking 100 cows on a 33ha leased farm.
James places a big focus on fertility, with the aim to calve 90% of the herd in 6 weeks. 50% of the herd is calved in the first 14 days, therefore acting now to reduce the workload next spring is a key priority.
Calf health programme
The direct cost of treating scour can be easily determined from treatment costs and losses, but the overall indirect losses, such as reduced growth rates and labour requirements, are often underestimated.
“We vaccinate for two main reasons: Animal welfare and labour,” said James.
“We don’t want the animals getting sick, and from an animal performance point of view, it is important that they reach their target growth rates.
“Sick calves also add to the workload at an already busy time of year.
“Since vaccinating with the Bovilis Rotavec Corona, we have had no sick calves and there is less pressure on the animals as well as the people working on the farm,” he added.
According to Vet, Paul Ryan, vaccination alone won’t make calf scour disappear. Good quality colostrum, good hygiene practices and good housing management must all go hand in hand to reduce the risk of calf illness and improve performance.
New claim added to Ireland’s No. 1 scour vaccine
Bovilis Rotavec Corona is now the only ‘one dose’ neonatal vaccine with both an E. coli F5(K99) and a new F41 claim.
E. coli bacteria adhere to the small intestinal epithelium by fimbriae.
F5(K99) and F41 are the most commonly observed fimbriae in diarrhoeic calves.
It is therefore important to target both of these adhesins.
Bovilis Rotave Corona raises antibodies to reduce the severity of diarrhoea caused by both of these offending antigens of E. coli, reduce the incidence of scours caused by rotavirus and reduce the shedding of virus by calves infected with rotavirus or coronavirus.
Bovilis Rotavec Corona: How does it work?
- Single shot primary course;
- Low dose volume (2ml shot);
- Intramuscular administration;
- Broad window of vaccination (Vaccinate pregnant cows 12-3 weeks pre-calving.
Why choose Bovilis Rotavec Corona?
- Reduces the severity of diarrhoea caused by E. coli (K99 and F41);
- Reduces the incidence of scour caused by rotavirus;
- Reduces the shedding of virus by calves infected with rotavirus and coronavirus;
- Unique 28-day in-use shelf life;
- Reduce the risk of breakage with new polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle;
- Available in five, 20, and now 50 dose packs.
For more information, visit the MSD Animal Health scour page by clicking here.
Alternatively, talk to your vet about the Bovilis Rotavec Corona.
