johnes spreading over 1yr old

[Llmmm]

Ive have a johnes free herd for last couple of year having had big problem in past.My weanling heifers are reared and housed on outfarm away from adult stock.I have now room in my cow house cubicles and was thinking of housing weanlings beside incalf heifers wud this be risky incase it reappears in future hydraulic scraper will run from ich to weanlings.I read on net that animals build immunity from 1 yr on.Even when i had a johnes problem i was spreading cow slurry in spring on pasture land grazed by 1to 2yr old heifers and it never seemed to spread infection tia

 

[Jdunn55]

Ive have a johnes free herd for last couple of year having had big problem in past.My weanling heifers are reared and housed on outfarm away from adult stock.I have now room in my cow house cubicles and was thinking of housing weanlings beside incalf heifers wud this be risky incase it reappears in future hydraulic scraper will run from ich to weanlings.I read on net that animals build immunity from 1 yr on.Even when i had a johnes problem i was spreading cow slurry in spring on pasture land grazed by 1to 2yr old heifers and it never seemed to spread infection tia

Low risk but not zero risk

Johnes is cumulative in that the biggest risk of infection is at birth from feeding off cow/ in utero transfer

Much less likely to catch it when weaned,
Even less likely once past 6 months
Even less likely once past 12 months
Etc etc

If you've got a cow shedding johnes your weaning heifers food would have to be contaminated with dung containing the johnes bacteria and they would likely have to ingest a wack of it/be very unlucky for it to infect them.

 

[M-J-G]

If it has been there in the past it's likely in the land and in the wildlife, albeit a fairly low risk.

The highest risk is at calving (cow sh1tting on the calfs tongue during birth) and through milk. 20 odd years ago when I first started in the health scheme it was thought that this was about the only way for it to spread, but sideways transmission is a lot more common than was initially thought.

A scraper etc. isn't likely to be a significant source of infection, not at least wehen compared to something like sharing a drinker between the two groups.

What are the options in the long term, won't the heifers end up running with the cows at some stage in later life anyway?

 

[smallholder99]

was talking to an "alternative natural doctor type" and they thought probiotics and prebiotics might help cattle

 

[Llmmm]

If it has been there in the past it's likely in the land and in the wildlife, albeit a fairly low risk.

The highest risk is at calving (cow sh1tting on the calfs tongue during birth) and through milk. 20 odd years ago when I first started in the health scheme it was thought that this was about the only way for it to spread, but sideways transmission is a lot more common than was initially thought.

A scraper etc. isn't likely to be a significant source of infection, not at least wehen compared to something like sharing a drinker between the two groups.

What are the options in the long term, won't the heifers end up running with the cows at some stage in later life anyway?

There mixed with cows when calved and as incalf there in same shed same scraped passage with scraper.I just see the heifers licking themselves wud have me thinking it high risks also things like gates barriers etc its amazing the way dung moves around shed just is a huge pain driving to outfarm every day as may be no need.However id gladly do it if i thought there was a risk of johnes re appearing badly as it nearly broke me

 

[Princess Pooper]

was talking to an "alternative natural doctor type" and they thought probiotics and prebiotics might help cattle

Do they understand how a rumen works?

 

[Jdunn55]

Do they understand how a rumen works?

"Wait cows have more than one stomach?"