Regulars » Animal Antics|
The wet and wild winter Wednesday, 20 August 2008 By Max Newport, Bay of Islands Veterinary Services Northland is currently experiencing a wet and wild winter, whether this is due to global warming or climate change, or just one sent to challenge us – we would all just like it to stop, to give all the animals and farmers a break.
On the dairy farms it is getting critical – the feed supply is under pressure; many made extra bailage this year and sold it off to the drought stricken Waikato. But now with the wet it is very easy to make a mess and waste what good grass that was available. Supplementation with such products as Palm Kernel and Maize silage, if available, are some of the best options. The fact that nitrogen fertiliser has rocketed in price, plus the difficulty of application has made it of limited value until the farms start to dry a little. The sheep and beef farms are in a difficult position as well; some are unable to feed out supplement such as silage as the tractors can’t get over the paddocks. I once listened to a very experienced veterinarian from the Manawatu describing how the sheep in the district just seemed to die one winter. They had experienced conditions similar to what we are getting now and he said they just seemed to give up and die, as if they were just sick of getting WET. There is still a shortage of magnesium oxide (causmag), which is usually given to cows from 2-3 weeks before calving, and through till the end of mating. But at present there is a shortage of the product and so other means of magnesium supplementation may be necessary. Products such as Rume-trace bullets, which supply magnesium for up to 120 days are a good way to supply magnesium and lessen the chance of the cows going down with metabolic disease around calving. More-mag is a drench which will help maintain magnesium levels for up to ten days, so it is a good choice to drench the springers with this product. Just as an aid, continue to supplement with dusting causmag if you have it available, or use magnesium chloride or sulphate in the water supply. Hopefully we won’t be in this situation for much longer, as it is very stressful on the animals and farmers as well. New Zealand prides itself on our farming techniques, and our normal weather pattern allows our animals to be farmed out doors all year, which is generally a much more healthy and pleasant way of being for all concerned. This year in Northland we have seen little sun and lots of rain – have we moved closer to Ireland ?? Proudly sponsored by Bay of Islands Veterinary Services
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