MSD urges focus on youngstock disease prevention

MSD Animal Health is calling on vets to persuade dairy herd managers of the importance of post-weaned calves receiving the same level of care and attention as younger or older animals.

The company is worried that not all calves in the 3 to 12-month bracket receive the attention to keep them free from key diseases such as scour or bovine respiratory disease.

A greater focus on youngstock would improve productivity when the animals are older.

Kat Baxter-Smith, MSD Animal Health veterinary advisor, said: “When not diagnosed or treated quickly enough, both diseases can lead to short and long-term effects including a 6kg/month reduction in daily liveweight gains, a 525kg loss in first lactation yield, lower sales values for youngstock and an increased susceptibility to other diseases later in life.”

Reduced potential

Dr Baxter-Smith added: “While pre-weaned calves typically receive plenty of care, there is a risk that the level of attention received might fall away after weaning – either due to a lack of time, the animals being housed off-site or because of the assumption that they require less management.

“Any disease that occurs in an animal’s first two years will reduce its ability to achieve its lifetime genetic potential.

“Effective youngstock disease prevention is therefore essential to safeguarding the herd’s future performance.”

MSD has launched SenseHub Youngstock plan, which monitors dairy calves in the first 12 months of life. Full details of the system are available on the MSD Animal Health Hub website.