Farm Table says:
This fact sheet covers reproductive losses associated with infertility diseases in beef cattle and how to prevent this occurring in your herd.
The items covered in this article were:
• Common reproductive losses
• Abortion caused by non-infectious diseases
• Abortion caused by infectious diseases
• How to identify the cause of any reproductive losses
• How you can protect your cattle
Key points were as follows:
• Reproductive diseases in cattle are common.
• Non-infectious causes of abortion account for about 7% of losses in cattle (of those abortions investigated in NSW Department of Primary Industries laboratories, some are due to non-infectious factors, such as dystocia (difficult birth) (6%) and genetic diseases (about1%).
• Infectious causes of reproductive losses include bovine campylobacteriosis (vibriosis), leptospirosis, pestivirus (bovine viral diarrhea virus, mucosal disease), neosporosis, trichomoniasis, akabane, aino and palyam viruses, septic abortion, and fever.
• When a producer faces reproductive losses, it’s important to identify the cause. Elements to consider are calving patterns, patterns of empty cows, blood tests or post-mortem examination of dead or aborted calves (Always wear protective gloves when picking up a fetus or placenta (to avoid the possibility of catching leptospirosis and Q fever); place it in plastic bags and refrigerate it).
• Know what steps to take to protect your herd from infertility causing infectious diseases. Important things to consider are culling dry cows, implement a vaccination program, pregnancy tests your herd and maintain records.
