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Management Tips to Prevent Coccidiosis
Calves
• Ensure optimum colostrum intake (3 litres within 2 hours of birth).
• Have isolation pens for sick animals to reduce spread.
• Dose animals 7 days before onset of expected symptoms based on history, or as soon as a reduction in thrive occurs in line with a high faecal oocyst count.
• Raise water troughs off the ground (30-40cm).
• Ensure water troughs are cleaned daily.
• Provide 2 water troughs per group.
• Top up bedding to a level that calves can ‘nest’ with legs not visible.
• Avoid soiled or wet bedding and change frequently. Dry bedding will reduce the coccidia burden.
• Clip cows’ tails pre-calving.
• Use oocyst killing disinfectant for calving and rearing pens. Follow disinfection protocol correctly (dilution, drying times etc.).
• Avoid stocking animals too densely.
• Do not add young/older animals to a calf rearing group.
• Solid walls are best in rearing pens.
• Ensure there is no air movement at animal level (draughts)
• Use calf jackets at an environmental temperature <10 degrees celsius.
• Introduce long fibre (straw) and concentrate feed at day 3.
• Chop edible straw and mix it through concentrate creep feed to discourage the consumption of bedding material. Straw should be at a length between 0.5-2cm.
• Weigh and faecal sample calves monthly from week 4.
Outdoors/sheep
• Young animals should be placed on clean pasture i.e. previous silage field.
• Move troughs around the pasture regularly.
• Place troughs in dry areas in the field.
• Weigh and faecal sample monthly.
• Use fields that animals have not got coccidiosis from after turning out in previous years.
• If possible, graze fields with ewes or store lambs prior to calf turnout and vice versa, turn lambs into ground previously grazed with cattle.
• Fence off wet and poached areas of the field.
• Avoid fields with direct access to watercourses.
• Minimize stressful events for the animal which will weaken its immune system.
• Ensure ewes have a high plane of nutrition before lambing.
• Ensure adequate shelter in fields to prevent stress.
• When dosing, adhere to dosing rate.
• Calibrate equipment correctly.
• Ensure correct dosage rate is used, never under dose.
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Watch the video below and check out these other articles
How soon can animals get coccidiosis?
How does an anti-coccidial drench work?
Coccidiosis effects on dairy heifers
Coccidiosis in grazing R1 calves
Management Tips to Prevent Coccidiosis
Calves
• Ensure optimum colostrum intake (3 litres within 2 hours of birth).
• Have isolation pens for sick animals to reduce spread.
• Dose animals 7 days before onset of expected symptoms based on history, or as soon as a reduction in thrive occurs in line with a high faecal oocyst count.
• Raise water troughs off the ground (30-40cm).
• Ensure water troughs are cleaned daily.
• Provide 2 water troughs per group.
• Top up bedding to a level that calves can ‘nest’ with legs not visible.
• Avoid soiled or wet bedding and change frequently. Dry bedding will reduce the coccidia burden.
• Clip cows’ tails pre-calving.
• Use oocyst killing disinfectant for calving and rearing pens. Follow disinfection protocol correctly (dilution, drying times etc.).
• Avoid stocking animals too densely.
• Do not add young/older animals to a calf rearing group.
• Solid walls are best in rearing pens.
• Ensure there is no air movement at animal level (draughts)
• Use calf jackets at an environmental temperature <10 degrees celsius.
• Introduce long fibre (straw) and concentrate feed at day 3.
• Chop edible straw and mix it through concentrate creep feed to discourage the consumption of bedding material. Straw should be at a length between 0.5-2cm.
• Weigh and faecal sample calves monthly from week 4.
Outdoors/sheep
• Young animals should be placed on clean pasture i.e. previous silage field.
• Move troughs around the pasture regularly.
• Place troughs in dry areas in the field.
• Weigh and faecal sample monthly.
• Use fields that animals have not got coccidiosis from after turning out in previous years.
• If possible, graze fields with ewes or store lambs prior to calf turnout and vice versa, turn lambs into ground previously grazed with cattle.
• Fence off wet and poached areas of the field.
• Avoid fields with direct access to watercourses.
• Minimize stressful events for the animal which will weaken its immune system.
• Ensure ewes have a high plane of nutrition before lambing.
• Ensure adequate shelter in fields to prevent stress.
• When dosing, adhere to dosing rate.
• Calibrate equipment correctly.
• Ensure correct dosage rate is used, never under dose.
Watch the video below and check out these other articles
How soon can animals get coccidiosis?
How does an anti-coccidial drench work?
Coccidiosis effects on dairy heifers
Coccidiosis in grazing R1 calves