Dermatitis shed

[Chae1]

I know this goes against most thinking about dermatitis, but we have one shed where young calves take severe dermatitis. We've lost a couple this winter and others will never fully recover.

Has anyone else had problems in one building? Anything I read on it says it's carried by animals, not shed. I've powerwashed it all and coated with bio super. Is there anything else I can do? Shed is only one built with concrete blocks. These are porous and wonder if it's in them. Has been suggested by friend that's a builder to coat bricks in glue resin to seal them up.

@bovine

 

[bovine]

As in digital dermatitis?

 

[Chae1]

Yes.

 

[bovine]

It probably can't live long off the cow. Need something to keep feet moist or dirty to cause disease. Clean and dry is the enemy of DD.

What is the ventilation like? Are they on bedding or some concrete? How often is it scraped? Picture of the shed?

 

[pine_guy]

Young calves take severe dermatitis. We've lost a couple this winter and others will never fully recover.

If calves are dying from digi dermatitis it would suggest there is some major stockmanship problems, but that may be jumping the gun a bit without all the details. Are they on straw? Slurry in scrape passages is generally a big spread of it.

 

[Chae1]

It's bedded court. Will get some pictures tomorrow. The shed wasn't long mucked when they went in. So not as though it was deep and heat coming up through it. Shed was empty and mucked for 4-5 months over summer. Concrete floor. This isn't first time we've had problem with this shed. Rest of farm fine. Do have dd in cows, but on top of it.

 

[multi power]

Is there plenty of daylight and ventilation ?

 

[harperfarmer]

Since moving to a reared calf to finish system using dairy bred animals, we've had DD issues that we've never experienced before. They are in fully bedded sheds (no scrape area) but it's when it gets damp and mucky we see issues. Keep the bedding dry and it's usually okay but these warm damp days are awful. The whole atmosphere seems to be damp inside the shed. We've also moved to footbathing cattle fortnightly through formalin which has been an excellent preventative. Lincospectin in a garden hand sprayer is really effective for treating individuals that do show lesions.

 

[Chae1]

Is there plenty of daylight and ventilation ?

Yes. Not bad for daylight/ventilation. Yorkshire boarding round it.

 

[bovine]

I'd really encourage you to look at having somewhere unbedded and scraped. Ideally footbath more often. Improve ventilation - the tubes are pretty cheap and very effective.

 

[Chae1]

Since moving to a reared calf to finish system using dairy bred animals, we've had DD issues that we've never experienced before. They are in fully bedded sheds (no scrape area) but it's when it gets damp and mucky we see issues. Keep the bedding dry and it's usually okay but these warm damp days are awful. The whole atmosphere seems to be damp inside the shed. We've also moved to footbathing cattle fortnightly through formalin which has been an excellent preventative. Lincospectin in a garden hand sprayer is really effective for treating individuals that do show lesions.

At what age are you getting them affected? This was Autumn born calves housed in December. Would be around 150 calves. Only an issue in this shed which would have had about 25 cows and calves in.

As soon as it started they were run through foot bath daily and let them stand on concrete area in pens.

 

[Beef farmer]

How bad is it? You say you've lost a couple? From digital?

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

We have a small problem odd cow after we bought some cows in! Worst mistake as dd is an absolute b*****d.
Last couple of years in one shed our young bulls used to get it quite bad. This year every time we have cleaned shed out we have spread hydrated lime, not sure if it's a coincidence but we haven't had any problems as yet! Touch wood!

 

[choochter]

This has been a horrible winter for weather, still, damp, muggy, not nearly enough frosty days. I've had 5 out of 7 calves born since December with a touch of scour which is very unusual in my wee herd and I put it down to the weather. And there's plenty ventilation in the shed, usually too much.

 

[harperfarmer]

At what age are you getting them affected? This was Autumn born calves housed in December. Would be around 150 calves. Only an issue in this shed which would have had about 25 cows and calves in.

As soon as it started they were run through foot bath daily and let them stand on concrete area in pens.

Usually at any age from when they come in at 14 weeks amd upwards if the conditions under foot are suitable for it. These are cattle housed all year on a cereal. Equally they can be fine for months if dry and footbathed regularly. Seems to me to be that if conditions are suitable it'll strike, not noticed any difference in susceptibility between yards as of yet. If you don't mind me asking how exactly do you lose calves to DD ?

 

[Happy]

At what age are you getting them affected? This was Autumn born calves housed in December. Would be around 150 calves. Only an issue in this shed which would have had about 25 cows and calves in.

As soon as it started they were run through foot bath daily and let them stand on concrete area in pens.

Out of interest are these bedded on straw or the sawdust you were mentioning using on another thread tonight?

 

[jimmer]

are we sitting comfortably
i will begin
DD only lives for 18 hours in slurry
it lives on and is spread by the host , i.e the cow, sheep,elk , yes i said elk
it can be present on and be spread by the host for 2-3 months before showing actual DD lesions
it does not live in straw/sh!t/slurry/bedding for more than 18 hours
it is anaerobic so therefore burrows into the skin to avoid oxygen
it cannot attach itself easily to clean smooth skin
it does not live in sh!t or slurry for very long
it only lives for prolonged periods on its host , although seems to live in rubber matting for up to three days

 

[choochter]

are we sitting comfortably
i will begin
DD only lives for 18 hours in slurry
it lives on and is spread by the host , i.e the cow, sheep,elk , yes i said elk
it can be present on and be spread by the host for 2-3 months before showing actual DD lesions
it does not live in straw/sh!t/slurry/bedding for more than 18 hours
it is anaerobic so therefore burrows into the skin to avoid oxygen
it cannot attach itself easily to clean smooth skin
it does not live in sh!t or slurry for very long
it only lives for prolonged periods on its host , although seems to live in rubber matting for up to three days

Is susceptibility to dd a heritable trait?

 

[jimmer]

Is susceptibility to dd a heritable trait?

difficult to say in regards to breed and foot colour/hardness as no real studies done , but anecdotally it suggests that black footed breeds are less susceptible , although this could be due to extended grazing and less exposure to infected dung in yards etc

bulling heifers that developed lesions were more likely to succumb again even if they were treated and cleared up , and a very strong link to lower milk yield ,dlwg, and fertility

heritable traits can be traced through family lines , it is suggested that foot angle , hairiness and smoothness of skin are traits that are most influenced

 

[multi power]

are we sitting comfortably
i will begin
DD only lives for 18 hours in slurry
it lives on and is spread by the host , i.e the cow, sheep,elk , yes i said elk
it can be present on and be spread by the host for 2-3 months before showing actual DD lesions
it does not live in straw/sh!t/slurry/bedding for more than 18 hours
it is anaerobic so therefore burrows into the skin to avoid oxygen
it cannot attach itself easily to clean smooth skin
it does not live in sh!t or slurry for very long
it only lives for prolonged periods on its host , although seems to live in rubber matting for up to three days

And you are absolutely sure of this?
Very little DD here in one shed, heifers, which I scrape and do the beds,and scrape THROUGHLY , much more in the other shed, that I don't scrape, someone else does that while I'm milking, boss can't understand the difference