THREE COMPUTERS AND SOFTWARE TO BE WON
THREE COMPUTERS AND SOFTWARE TO BE WON
This is week 2 of the FW/Merial Christmas competition to win three £2500 computers plus
software. Just read the text, answer the question and fill in the coupon in the Jan 4 issue
WHY should farmers be concerned about fluke? Last week we told you that it was on the increase, with DEFRA reports showing an increase in the incidence of the disease of around 400% in the past four years.
Fluke can seriously damage your cattles performance. By damaging the liver, it impairs feed efficiency and results in reduced conception rates, weight gains and body condition.
The disease is certainly more serious than at first it may seem. For example, for each adult, fluke can cause the loss of 0.5ml/blood/day, the reason that so many infected cattle become anaemic. Infected livers can become permanently damaged, resulting in condemnation at the slaughterhouse.
In cattle this scarring can lead to calcium deposits in the walls of the bile ducts, leading to a condition known as pipestem livers, which can cause knives to be blunted when the liver is cut through.
As this disease affects both cattle and sheep, the mixed grazing of these animals is not recommended in fluke areas during high risk periods. Sheep are more prone to the acute form of the disease which can be fatal. Cattle rarely suffer acute disease, they suffer chronically, causing a loss of productivity and ill-thriftiness.
Although youngstock tend to be more susceptible than adult stock, fluke are no respecter of age. An immune response of sorts is triggered, but is not fully protective and adult cows (dairy and sucklers) can be affected.
Fluke-infected animals can also be more prone to serious bacterial disease, for example, salmonellosis in cattle and Black disease (a fatal Clostridial disease) in sheep.
Question 2
How much can liver fluke infection reduce weight gain by in cattle?
A – 8%
B – 28%
C – 88%
Keep a copy of your answer and use it to fill in the coupon in the Jan 4 issue
IVOMEC Super
IVOMEC Super is the only wormer that kills liver fluke, as well as worms and external parasites in a single injection.
IVOMEC Super kills more types of parasites than any other injectable. As well as helping to make sure your cattle are clear of worms, lice and mange for the winter, IVOMEC Super is proven to control fluke throughout the winter with a single injection at housing, or 4-6 weeks later.
Merial AH Limited, POBox 327, Harlow, Essex CM19 5TG
¿IVOMEC and the cattle steerhead are registered trademarks of Merial
Fluke can seriously affect performance. In cattle, most damage occurs when adult liver fluke enter the bile ducts, causing:
• Impaired feed efficiency
• Reduced conception rates
• Reduced weight gain by up to 28%
• Deterioration in body condition
• Reduced milk production – by as much as 8%
• Delayed onset of puberty in dairy heifers (39 days)
• Impaired reproductive performance of bulls
• Condemned livers
• Increased treatment costs
PRIZE winners will receive a Hewlett Packard Celeron 900 PC, 128Mb, 20Gb (or similar package) mini tower, cd sound lan, modem and 17in monitor in addition to one of NMRs unique software packages.
NMRs dairy herd management system – impelPRO – will revolutionalise the way you manage your herd information. The package comes complete with the health module, incorporating an electronic medicine book and farm assurance compliant reports – ensuring you stay legal. The movements module is also included with benefits such as herd movement summary, passport application via email, BCMS application status and much more.
InterPremium Plus provides an efficient and user-friendly platform for the management of all livestock premium schemes and maintenance of all statutory on farm records. Using this package will help avoid costly errors in subsidy claims, ensure all deadlines are adhered to and at the same time, meet all the legislative requirements for herd registers, continuous herd records and medicine records. Setting up the system is simple and animal details may now be downloaded directly from the BCMS web-site to populate the program.
READ THE RULES
1. How are the prizes of a computer and software to be won? Read the text and then study the question that will be published in each of the FW issues of Dec 14, Dec 21, Dec 28 and Jan 4. There will be a chance to answer all four questions and complete the tie-breaker in the coupon that will appear in the Jan 4 issue.
2. The prize is one of three Hewlett Packard Celeron 900 PCs plus NMRs impelPRO and Interpremium Plus livestock software. No cash alternatives are available.
3. The decision of the judges and of the editor of farmers weekly will in all matters be final and legally binding.
4. The completed entry forms are the property of farmers weekly and Merial.
5. The competition is open to all farmers, farm managers and contractors in Great Britain.
6. Closing date for receiving completed coupons is Fri, Jan 18. They should be addressed to: farmers weekly/Ivomec Competition, farmers weekly, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS.