Farmer Focus: Huntaway recovery falters after operation
Patrick Morris Eyton © John Eveson This month has been wet – very, very wet. We have barely had a dry day in the past month, which has made slurry management and storage a priority.
Thankfully, we have managed to empty the old lagoon from the dry stock when the weather and ground conditions allowed. This has been taking the pressure off for quite a while now.
The tups went out with the ewes and have just finished the first cycle. We currently have most ewes tupped.
See also: 7 risk factors of pneumonia in calves and how to avoid them
Tups have been moved around, with some given a rest and crayon colours changed. The ewes are in really good condition, so we’re hoping they will have a satisfactory scanning result in February.
Calves have been our biggest issue this month. We had a bug going through them, and the very wet weather, combined with quite a few still days, caused some pneumonia.
We cleaned the whole lot out and disinfected everything. We did test some scour but received no conclusive results. And by the time the results came back, the calves were sorted, with no need for treatment.
And now for an update on my injured Huntaway. During the first four weeks after the operation, while he was on cage rest, his leg was looking good.
He was putting weight on it and showing no signs of pain. The cruciate has recovered pretty well, but he hurt it again when he snapped the implant for the ligament on the side of the knee.
So, at the five-week point, he needed to have a new implant fitted and his six weeks of cage rest started all over again.
He is now very frustrated 10 days into his new six-week cage rest. He doesn’t like the fact that he is only allowed out on a lead and then straight back to bed.
It is tough to see a dog like him on cage rest, but fingers crossed for his recovery.
The cows are milking well, and our fertility has really lifted. We have had a big batch of heifers to serve and they are conceiving very well.
The last scan was 100% in-calf, with 16 heifers as well as cows.
Patrick Morris-Eyton is a Farmer Focus writer from Cumbria. Read his biography.