Pregnancy checking in cattle is an important tool for reproductive management. It allows the producer to detect cows that are open and group cows that are at a similar stage of pregnancy for nutritional management. At Claresholm Veterinary Services, our veterinarians are able to offer pregnancy detection via ultrasound technology as early as 30 days of pregnancy.
Reproductive Management
Heifer Reproduction Management to Create Reproductive Momentum in Your Herd Today! One of the emphasis we have here at Claresholm Veterinary Services is to help beef producers create reproductive momentum in their heifers that will translate into her staying in the herd longer through reproductive success. Two ways we do this is by Pelvic Measuring heifers prior to breeding and Synchronization and AI services to proven easy calving sires!
Pelvic Measuring Calving difficulty can be a major economic loss to beef producers. Many factors are associated with calving difficulty, including: small first-calf heifer, large fetus, male fetus, small pelvic size of dam, long gestation, heavy birth weight sire, dam too thin or too fat, and abnormal fetal presentation at calving. Through proper bull/heifer selection most of these can be eliminated from the equation for an easier calving season. However, in some cases even with great care problems can still be seen. One way we have found to help is by measuring the pelvis area of heifers prior to breeding by taking two measurements and calculating/predicting a birth weight that she should be able to handle in the spring. We have found that a proportion of heifers selected by producers are found to have a smaller pelvis area and these can be culled prior to bull turn out. While we are in the heifer measuring the pelvis we can also ensure the heifer has all her parts present that are needed to get pregnant and carry a calf to term. Even with careful record keeping we sometimes find animals that slip through the selection process that were twins or had abnormal development and they are missing crucial parts that won’t allow them to ever become pregnant. Please contact the clinic to arrange an exam of your replacement heifers prior to bull turn out. Typically we do measurements at an average, in months, of 8-9 or 12-13 for the group of heifers. We can also discuss vaccine strategies as well as nutrition to ensure you get as many pregnant as possible for the Spring and create reproductive momentum in your herd! Synchronization and AI Services Calving heifers earlier than the main cow herd allows them the extra time they need to breed back for the next year. By putting heifers on a program to synchronize them to come into heat at a predictable time and then AI them allows us to front load the calving season. We have the goal to get more pregnant in the first two cycles with less on the hoof bull power. It does mean more costs in drugs, labor and time for the producer prior to AI but we hopefully save this in cost of bulls. The process generally involves 2-4 trips through the chute over a 1-2 week period. We also provide this service in the mature cow herd if there are other genetics you want added to your herd. Please contact the clinic to discuss ways we can help in your replacement heifer herd!
Prolapses
There are 3 types of prolapses in cattle. Rectal, vaginal and uterine. Rectal prolapses can occur in males and females. There will be a mass of tissue protruding from the anus of the animal. They occur in calves when they have diarrhea, most commonly caused by straining from Coccidiosis. In feedlot animals they occur when the animals are on high concentrate rations or if there is riding activity. Cows can get rectal prolapses when they are straining from a vaginal prolapse. If you see a rectal prolapse, it is not an emergency, but you should call your veterinarian and it should be fixed as soon as possible to prevent tissue damage and swelling. Your vet will give the animal an epidural block, clean and replace the prolapse and then suture it in place. If it cannot be replaced, the rectal tissue may be amputated. The animal's tetanus vaccine should be boostered if this procedure is performed. Vaginal prolapses can range in size from grapefruit to basketball. They most commonly occur before calving in heavily pregnant animals. The small ones may go back in on their own when the cow stands. If the prolapse is larger and not going back in on its own, it is not an emergency, but should be dealt with as soon as possible by your vet. Blood flow can start to be impaired, the prolapse can start to swell and become more difficult to replace and the cow can start to have difficulty urinating. These animals can be hauled into the clinic or we can come out to your farm. Your vet will give the cow an epidural block, clean the prolapse off, replace it and suture it in so she can not push it out again. This suture will need to be removed when she begins to calve. With the pressure of pregnancy no longer present some of them will be fine after calving. Others will prolapse again and need to be sutured again. It is important not to put these cows with a bull for a few reasons. First, so the bull does not break or cut his penis while trying to breed the cow. Second is that vaginal prolapses can be hereditary, and third is that it is likely to happen again the following year. Vaginal prolapses can also happen in feedlot scenarios and are dealt with in the same manner. Uterine prolapses are large (about the size of a feed bag), darker red with buttons and occur most commonly immediately after calving, but can occur within the first 24 hours after calving. Uterine prolapses are an EMERGENCY. These animals can not be hauled into the clinic as there is a high risk of them tearing the uterus and bleeding out. If the cow is down and unable to rise, leave her where she is and the vet can replace the prolapse with her laying down. If she is standing and there is a chute within reasonable distance, you can slowly and calmly walk her towards the chute. Do not put her in the chute until the vet arrives on the farm. These prolapses most commonly occur after prolonged calving, with a large calf or if the cow has low blood calcium. The vet will give the cow an epidural block, clean off the uterus, replace it, evert the uterine horns with lavage and suture it in place. There is the risk with replacement of the prolapse that the uterine artery and/or vein can rupture and the cow does not make it. Most often, if the uterus is not torn or infected, these animals rebreed and do not prolapse again in future years.
Breeding Soundness Evaluations (Semen Testing)
Breeding soundness evaluation helps predict the potential fertility of a bull. This is an important aspect in the reproductive management of cattle to ensure your bull gets cows pregnant and calves on the ground. Our highly trained veterinarians perform an individual exam on each bull to ensure physical soundness, adequate testicular size and appropriate semen motility and morphology.
Individual Bovine Exams
Although most of our bovine work is preg testing and semen testing at a herd level, there are times when an individual animal in the herd may become sick or have a problem. Depending on what it is, we can exam the animal in the clinic or on the farm. Most commonly, anything that is surgical is best dealt with in the clinic. Some common things that require individual examination, medical treatment, surgery or diagnostic testing include, but are not limited to: -Cancer of the eye (Ocular Squamous Cell Carcinoma) -Non healing pink eyes -Oral foreign bodies -Lumps on the jaw -Swelling of the brisket (most commonly heart failure, move these animals with caution, sometimes they are best looked at on the farm) -Lameness -Diptheria (increased effort and noise on inspiration) -Pneumonia (increased effort and noise on expiration) -Umbilical infections, hernia or abscesses -Distended/painful abdomens - twisted gut, bloat, impaction, waterbelly, displaced abomasum -Down animals that are unable to rise -Metabolic problems - milk fever, grass tetany, ketosis -Mastitis -Retained placentas (leave alone for up to 10 days unless the animal is lethargic and not eating) -Metritis (uterine infections) -Breeding injuries of bulls - broken penis, preputial laceration, hair rings -Health exams for export to other countries or AI Centre entry -Insurance exams or claims -Broken legs -Wounds/abscesses -Calving difficulties -Diarrhea -Prolapses -Necropsies on dead animals to determine the cause of death If you have an animal that needs to be looked at, please call the clinic with a complete history of clinical signs of the individual animal and the herd, duration, previous treatments and any other pertinent information including recent changes, feed program, mineral program, vaccine program, etc. Some of the above conditions are emergencies and our veterinary team can advise you on how urgent the condition is and if it is best brought into the clinic or dealt with on the farm.
Lameness Exams
A common problem in cattle is lameness which can impact welfare and thus productivity and longevity. As with most species, in most cases, the faster you can diagnose what is causing the problem, the less likely it is to develop into a chronic one. We have many tools to help diagnose the cause of lameness in cattle and will recommend the best treatment plan depending on the diagnosis. We can also help you develop strategies to prevent common causes of lameness in cattle.
Surgery
Our Veterinarians are able to perform a variety of cow/calf surgeries at our clinic. Some procedures we commonly perform are: eye enucleations, C-sections, LDA (Left Displaced Abomasum), water belly, chronic bloat, castrations, heifer spays, calf surgeries (twisted intestines, exploratories, etc).
Neonatal Diarrhea (Calf Scours)
We have an isolation facility on site to treat all calf scour cases. Each calf is examined and treated based on its history and physical exam findings. We have great success rates treating calves that are brought in and find that many are able to return to their mom within 24-48 hours. In cases of scour outbreaks, our vets will work with you to help resolve the problem and prevent future problems on your farm.
Herd Health Programs
A good Herd Health program is a combination of planned veterinary visits with good management practices designed to optimize animal health and productivity. We want to partner with you to form a win win situation in the face of changing regulations, increased consumer demands and public scrutiny. Together we will customize vaccine and treatment protocols for your herd and help with the ever increasing "paper work." Recent advances in vaccine technology will be used to decrease antibiotic use and improve weaning weights in your operation. Our veterinarians will work with you to customize a program for your herd. We use the old adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"
In-House Lab Services
We are proud to offer a full range of in house laboratory testing. We offer fecal analysis, urine analysis, complete blood counts, and much more. There are many tests that we can run in clinic using state of the art diagnostic technology that can provide results quickly and accurately. These tests and equipment help give us an accurate picture of your cow's health, allowing us in many cases, to begin treatment for many conditions and diseases immediately.
Therapeutic Laser
Laser therapy accelerates the body’s natural healing process through photo-bio-modulation. This means that the laser acts at a cellular level promoting biological and photo stimulation of cells, decreasing pain and inflammation while promoting healing. Our Therapy Laser is effective in treating both chronic and acute conditions such as strains, sprains and osteoarthritis, and reducing post-surgical pain and inflammation. Therapy laser has been shown to be beneficial in small and large animals. In our equine patients the therapy laser has been effective in aiding in the treatment of back pain, sacroiliac inflammation, arthritis, disease of the tendons, healing lacerations, and with torn muscles and ligaments. Benefits may include:
Pain relief
Decreased swelling and inflammation
Faster healing times after an injury or surgery
Easy, comfortable, non-invasive treatment option
Ear Tag Supplier
Did you know that we are a distributor for Leader Products? You can order custom ear tags for any of your livestock online and have them delivered to our clinic for easy pick up. Click the button below to go to Leader Product Website, click on Login/Register, fill out your personal information, enter 235 Starline Road as your delivery address and select Clarseholm Veterinary Services Ltd. as your reseller. From there you can place your custom tag order!
We know that emergencies can be a stressful time for you, so we will do our best to help make the process easier for you. We offer 24 hour emergency services for all our clients. To contact a veterinarian outside of regular business hours call (403) 625-3608.