With the lambing and calving season now in full swing, there are many problems which can arise particularly in the damp and colder weather. Provita has a full range of products to help counteract the most common difficulties which can arise during this time of year.
Lameness problems? Provita are here to HELP.
In recent months Provita have been providing a new service designed to help farmers reduce Digital Dermatitis related lameness. An initial, no obligation, on farm assessment and a Digital Dermatitis check will be carried out by a fully trained member of our team. If the farmer adopts the plan recommended and tailored for them, a one month call back visit is arranged and the progress will be checked. After this, the plan can be maintained, increased or decreased depending on results. Once our team and the farmer are confident that the routine is working progress will be monitored on bi monthly or quarterly visits.
Provita launch two new products in time for lambing season
Provita have been researching and developing new products to help improve the health of new born lambs and ewes for over 25 years. The latest addition to the widely tried and trusted product range is Jump Start for lambs and Ewe Two for sheep.
New look for Provita Response Paste
Provita Response paste has been given a brand new look with a fresh design, along with an easy to open sturdy display box. The popular paste when administered to newly born calves provides an energy boost to improve gut condition, digestion and growth rates. Product is available in 15g tubes for one calf application or 35g tubes for two calf applications.
New Hoofsure HELP service to reduce lameness
Provita are currently providing a new service designed to help farmers reduce Digital Dermatitis related lameness. An initial, no obligation, on farm assessment and a Digital Dermatitis check will be carried out by a fully trained member of our team. A tailored plan for complete herd control and individual cows will then be recommended. If the farmer adopts this plan, a one month call back visit is arranged and the progress will be checked. After this, the plan can be maintained, increased or decreased depending on results. Once our team and the farmer are confident that the routine is working progress will be monitored on bi monthly or quarterly visits.
“We have been piloting this service in Northern Ireland recently and so far this approach to controlling Digital Dermatitis related lameness has been very popular. In order to ensure that everyone who signs up for the HELP service receives the best attention possible, we have a new farm sales person on board, Kieran Donnelly”, commented Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.
Foot bathing after every milking reduces lameness problems by 50%
The combined approach of foot bathing after every milking and the inclusion of Provita’s Hoofsure Endurance as the foot bathing solution, has allowed Ballymoney dairy farmer Brian Knipe and his father Alfie to reduce the levels of lameness within his 100 strong cow dairy herd by almost 50%.
“I am delighted with the results obtained by putting an increased emphasis on foot bathing,” Brian confirmed.
“I had known for some time that increasing the frequency of foot bathing would be required if we were ever to get on top of the problem. The challenge was working out the best way to make this happen without putting additional stress on me and the other people working on the farm.”
Sale season in full swing at Springhill Texels
Last Saturday marked the beginning of the Texel pedigree sale season in Northern Ireland with the breed’s ‘Premier’ event taking place in Ballymena. The Foster family, from Ardstraw in Co Tyrone, are owners of the renowned Springhill flock with a history stretching back thirty two years.
“We had a good day in Ballymena,” confirmed Graham Foster. “A ram lamb sold to 2,500gns with a shearling ram making 1,400gns in the ring,” confirmed Graham Foster.
“We are also taking part in Scotland’s Premier Texel Sale at Lanark. This is the first time in twenty years that we have taken sheep to that event.”
New Hoofsure HELP service from Provita
Research from DairyCo shows that lameness can be successfully reduced by up to 70% through effective footbathing. It can be assumed that with the average UK milk output per cow and average herd size having increased by approximately 20% and 30% respectively in the last 10 years alone, lameness levels and stress on cows feet will also rise (Dairy Co Datum 2014).
The role of the veterinarian in reducing lameness levels has been discussed at recent conferences such as at the Cattle Lameness Conference 2015 and International Lameness Conference 2013, in Bristol. It has been suggested that not only has the size and shape of farms altered but so have the roles and responsibilities of farm owners, workers as well as vets and other contractors (Alcock, 2015).
Fantastic silage results
Co Armagh dairy farmer Dean Wright is confirming a tremendous start to the 2015 silage season.
“We took a first cut during Balmoral Show week with the second following at the beginning of July,” he said.
“And we are delighted with the results achieved to date. The analysis of the first cut confirmed a dry matter 27%, an ME value of 11.5 a 70D value and an intake value of 99, plus good yields were achieved.
“The grass was wilted in the field for 24 hours.”
Dean points out that these analysis results were obtained prior to the second cut being taken.
Achieving 2 lamb per ewe
North Tyrone sheep producer, Isaac Crilly was a visitor to the Provita stand at Sheep NI. He currently manages a 500-strong flock of Belclare x New Zealand Suffolk ewes, the majority of which are crossed with Meatlinc tips.
“Mineral nutrition is crucially important,” he said.
“In my own case, we test the sheep and the soils. We have soils with high levels of copper, but most of it is locked up by molybdenum, therefore the sheep are low in copper. Additionally the sheep were low in selenium. As a result I needed to source a product with high levels of selenium and copper.
I selected ProVitaMin as it has a high specification, is produced locally in Northern Ireland and is very cost effective in terms of cost per dose. I have been using ProVitaMin plus Copper for the past number of years, and when combined with good management it has worked well. We take part in benchmarking to monitor flock performance and last year we sold just over 2 finished lambs per ewe.”