Although we hope that every cows and heifer will come home from pasture bred, we learn to expect a few to be open. But if you notice cows cycling again a few months after the bull is turned out, you find far more open cows than normal when preg-checking, or calves are born months later than expected, there’s clearly a problem. You might be dealing with bovine venereal diseases like trichmoniasis (trich, pronounced “trick”) or vibriosis (vibrio, and also known as Campylobacteriosis).
In this episode of the Beef Research School, Dr. Eugene Janzen from the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine explains how the infectious organisms cause cows to abort, how to prevent infections in your herd, a new test for diagnosing vibrio in bulls, and whether to treat or cull infected bulls.
Dr. Jordan Holt, a veterinarian practicing in High River, Alberta, highlights how devastating bovine venereal infections can be by recounting a case of trich he discovered in a community pasture. In that case, 70% of the cows were open.
See the video here: http://www.realagriculture.com/2013/08/beef-research-school-dealing-with-trichomaniasis-and-vibriosis/
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of the Beef Research School. Past episodes covered riparian zone assessment and restoration, forage rejuvenation, maximizing forage acres, and biosecurity for beef cattle. For more information on the Beef Research School, visit www.beefresearch.ca/blog/new-video-series/
Learn more
Reproductive Failure
BeefResearch.ca
http://www.beefresearch.ca/research-topic.cfm/reproductive-failure-3
A more efficient screening test for trichmoniasis
BeefResearch.ca
http://www.beefresearch.ca/factsheet.cfm/a-more-efficient-screening-test-for-trichomoniasis-161
Evaluating a new PCR test for diagnosing vibriosis in beef bulls
BeefResearch.ca
http://www.beefresearch.ca/factsheet.cfm/evaluating-a-new-pcr-test-for-diagnosing-vibriosis-in-beef-bulls-98
Preventing wrecks caused by infectious disease: new video
BCRC Blog – July 9, 2013
http://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/biosecurity-video/
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