Farmers urged to lobby for post-mortem service to continue

Funded by Eblex and run in conjunction with John Warren, of Hamsterley, the 12-month project is due to end in March next year – but a well-attended meeting at Scotch Corner heard ways of maintaining it are being explored.

Further support using levy payers money from Eblex and DairyCo could maintain the service and farmers were urged to lobby both bodies.

The meeting was organised by Dale & Vale Vets and addressed by Ben Strugnell, of Farm Post Mortems Ltd, who operates the service that identifies the causes of death in cattle and sheep so the farmer can give prompt treatment, vaccinate or alter husbandry practice to improve herd and flock productivity.

The availability, accessibility and costs of post-mortem investigations have traditionally been restrictive and investigations only made after significant losses.

However, the facility at John Warren’s means post-mortems can be requested and carried out without the need for additional transportation of carcasses.

The facility opened in April and, since then, the Dale & Vale practices have received far greater information on the causes of mortality in their herds and flocks, which has enabled better disease prevention strategies to be put in place and improved disease monitoring.

A summary of the most common causes of mortality identified found many were preventable by altered and improved husbandry, correct vaccination regimes and strategic treatments.

In sheep, coccidiosis, clostridial diseases, pasteurellosis and worms were the most common causes of deaths, especially in lambs. It also found the presence of some chronic wasting conditions in adult sheep, that had never been quantified, could now receive a more informed attitude to control. Johne’s disease and Ovine Pulmonary Adenomatoris are two such diseases.

In relation to lambs, altered pasture management and timing of strategic dosing can improve the control of coccidiosis and worms and clostridial diseases and pasteurellosis can be prevented by the use of correct vaccination regimes.

In cattle, pneumonia, scour, navel ill and clostridial disease were the main causes of mortality. Again good husbandry, good colostrum intake, clean pens and naval dressing, along with vaccination where specific pathogens are identified, could make significant differences to the level of fatalities.

In all types of stock examined a significant cause of sporadic, individual deaths was due to abscesses in various internal organs that probably related to poor injection techniques. This stressed the importance of the care that needs to be taken when injecting individuals or whole herd or flock vaccinations.

Once farmers obtain their post-mortem results, their significance and the preventive actions that can be taken should be discussed with their vet.

The meeting was told: “If you’ve got livestock, you’ll have dead stock. This is an inevitable fact of farming. Animals that die can tell us an awful lot about the rest of the flock or herd. If you know the reason why an animal has died you can usually prevent others from dying from the same diseases. It is very likely that you can also improve the productivity of the other animals.”