Page 17 - Sudeley Angus ebook

BVD

BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) is a very important matter that
requires some thought about how it could affect your herd.
BVD can infect any cattle on your farm but it is its effect on
pregnant cows and possibly bulls at mating time that it is of the
most concern. BVD infection of cows at mating time or when
they are pregnant can cause a lower conception rate, abortions
and birth of abnormal calves. Infection of bulls can cause them
to be infertile, for at least a few weeks. This obviously comes at
an associated financial loss.
BVD is present on a lot of beef farms – in NZ about 65% of
farms surveyed had an active infection. Is it present on your
farm? Signs to look out for are a decrease in pregnancy rate
and increased abortions in cows, and increased disease levels
and a marked group of tail-enders in young stock. A noticeable
change may occur after the introduction of disease to the herd,
or if disease has been present for a while the effects may go
unnoticed. If you want to know whether BVD is in your herd,
you can find out by blood testing 10 – 15 young stock over 12
months of age to see if they have been exposed. If you have
BVD in your herd there are different options as what to do.
These need to be discussed in depth with your vet.
Every farmer, even if you do or don’t know the BVD status of
your herd, should take a couple of simple steps to reduce/prevent
the risks of BVD. These steps consist of ensuring that no BVD
infected animals are bought on to your property, and always
insisting that purchased bulls are blood tested and vaccinated. If
in doubt, ask for a certificate stating that the animals have tested
negative and vaccinated.
All bulls have been vaccinated twice with Bovillis BVD.

SUDELEY GENETICS SHEEP & CATTLE COMPANY 17