Johnes monitoring in suckler herds

[Gulli]

Is anyone doing? everything i can find on google is referencing dairy herds, obviously i know you can test sucklers but just looking for other peoples experiences and how they manage it

 

[M-J-G]

I first got involved in it almost 20 years ago, back when people used to laugh and say it was a waste of time.

I've been lucky enough to always have negative results, apart from the odd false positive, that were found to be clear, but were culled anyway.

Some people have been testing to over a decade and still keep finding positives.

 

[Andrew]

Is anyone doing? everything i can find on google is referencing dairy herds, obviously i know you can test sucklers but just looking for other peoples experiences and how they manage it

Yes, we do it - in fact they're coming to blood test this Tuesday. All breeding stock is blood tested. If results come back positive then the animals plus any calves at foot are moved into a yard well away from the calving area, and are fattened and sold deadweight ASAP.

The calving yards are sterilised and stand empty for 5months over summer as well.

 

[nails]

Is anyone doing? everything i can find on google is referencing dairy herds, obviously i know you can test sucklers but just looking for other peoples experiences and how they manage it

Been doing it for about 12 years and have been at level 1 for 9 years. so no Johnes Also got accredited for BVD , Lepto and Ibr .Once you get to level 1 for a few years and are a closed Herd random screening is enough . Before that everything 2 years plus tested and culled if showing disease. We were lucky in that we did not have any Johnes originally as it can take a while to eradicate.

 

[Gulli]

get asked more and more often to test bulls before sale now, always been negative but trying to figure a way to get some sort of accreditation for a few things without joining a health scheme.
which i know is a bit ridiculous but current circumstances means theres too much contact with stock that wont be in a health scheme.
My thinking is i can get them ticked off one by one and the other cattle will be accredited without anyone noticing

 

[Chae1]

We're testing all breeding cattle too. Cull any positive animals. We blood test. Father didn't trust results first time and sh!t tested them too. Still came back positive.

Vet said more false negatives than positives.

 

[Granite Farmer]

What would be the procedure for testing bought in replacements? Calves out of a dairy herd for example? Test them before they come on farm I guess.

Also we testing to cows that had lost and awful lot of weight this year, one a first time calver tested positive for ruman fluke and the second one, a second calver tested positive for Johnes.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Is anyone doing? everything i can find on google is referencing dairy herds, obviously i know you can test sucklers but just looking for other peoples experiences and how they manage it

Yes. Been testing here since 2012. Been lucky enough to be clear so far , but it's a weird disease , and you hear so many weird breakdown stories , that you just keep your fingers crossed.

Well worth testing , because if Johnes gets a proper grip in a herd , it seems like a lifetime's work to try to get rid of it. A horrible disease.

 

[CharcoalWally]

What would be the procedure for testing bought in replacements? Calves out of a dairy herd for example? Test them before they come on farm I guess.

Also we testing to cows that had lost and awful lot of weight this year, one a first time calver tested positive for ruman fluke and the second one, a second calver tested positive for Johnes.

Everything has to be two years of age before it can be tested in the whole herd test , so I'd assume that's standard for all bovines.

 

[Samcowman]

We have been checking for about 5 years. We test all maternals here and anything that goes to a fleckvieh and cull them and their daughters accordingly. Also test a sample which go to Angus every year which is doing poorly. Get a couple every year still. Trouble with the herd being based on dairy bred replacements.
Usually would have done it at the last TB test but had a Gamma TB test so they will be done in January.
Easiest way of not having replacements with Johnes is to breed your own.

 

[bean]

Been doing it yearly for 15 years and got to level 2 with only an odd positive. Then tb
Came along and has taken 32 of my 40 cows so back to square one. Every thing seemed healthier after we culled the positive cows.

 

[Gulli]

What would be the procedure for testing bought in replacements? Calves out of a dairy herd for example? Test them before they come on farm I guess.

Also we testing to cows that had lost and awful lot of weight this year, one a first time calver tested positive for ruman fluke and the second one, a second calver tested positive for Johnes.

The way I read it anything bought in from a non tested herd will be a level 5 and stays there for its life regardless of your herd status, doesn't make much sense to me if you are buying in calves though.

 

[redcoo235]

If you have Johnes in the herd then it will be financially worth while doing it as you get animals away before they breakdown and become relatively worthless. If you don't and are just selling store/killing animals then maybe not worth the bother if you have no seen any cases in the herd. If selling breeding stock then most people now expect it as a matter of course as why would you risk buying in disease to a naïve herd. If you have a flying herd of a lot of bought in cattle from all over the place then not sure if there is much point as would struggle ever to get on top of it.

Cost us (per 24 month+ animal) £4.60 for the test and think vet is £3 for taking blood sample. Think annual subscription for our health scheme is £90.

 

[Old Tip]

I’ve been testing for five years and like others have been clear apart from one bought in cow from an allegedly clean herd that came positive a few years later. The good thing is it was picked up before it was actually shedding so had no problems. It’s a bit of a bind but well worth it in the long run

 

[Gulli]

If you have Johnes in the herd then it will be financially worth while doing it as you get animals away before they breakdown and become relatively worthless. If you don't and are just selling store/killing animals then maybe not worth the bother if you have no seen any cases in the herd. If selling breeding stock then most people now expect it as a matter of course as why would you risk buying in disease to a naïve herd. If you have a flying herd of a lot of bought in cattle from all over the place then not sure if there is much point as would struggle ever to get on top of it.

Cost us (per 24 month+ animal) £4.60 for the test and think vet is £3 for taking blood sample. Think annual subscription for our health scheme is £90.

Doing lots of those things! It's mainly for the breeding stock that I want to do it, as i end up testing most of the bulls anyway

 

[redcoo235]

100 cow herd will roughly cost you £900 all in to do. If you are getting rid of 2 cows a year that are positive but not showing and you get them away cast at £750 instead of a wrinkle of bones at £300 its worth doing. Once clear though it is just another cost but for us to sell heifers it is a necessity.

Not a pleasant thing to see cows skittering themselves to death and spreading disease on the farm, have been there and got the teeshirt unfortunately.

 

[Cowgirl]

As I’ve said before on here there are false positives and false negatives on the blood test, and cross reactions with TB testing. If you get positives don’t panic until they have been confirmed, and don’t test soon after a TB test.

 

[Bill the Bass]

Been doing it for 5 years here. Only three positive at blood which have been subsequently slaughtered.

 

[Whitepeak]

Like others have said TB testing can effect results, johnes and tb are from the same family of bacteria. I think the min recommendation is don't blood test until at least 60 days post tb test. Although dung samples can be done at any time. We're on yearly tb and out vets have said they can johnes blood sample on the same day as tb injecting.
We're in our first Yr of johnes testing blood and sampled everything over 2yr old, and dung sampled any +ve and have culled anything that tested +ve on dung. Will see what our 2nd test shows and take our vets advice from there.

 

[Chae1]

Like others have said TB testing can effect results, johnes and tb are from the same family of bacteria. I think the min recommendation is don't blood test until at least 60 days post tb test. Although dung samples can be done at any time. We're on yearly tb and out vets have said they can johnes blood sample on the same day as tb injecting.
We're in our first Yr of johnes testing blood and sampled everything over 2yr old, and dung sampled any +ve and have culled anything that tested +ve on dung. Will see what our 2nd test shows and take our vets advice from there.

Did you get any that tested positive on blood and negative on dung?