Routine husbandry procedures in livestock

Question 1

Ear tagging - legislation

Answer 1

• primary tag
  – number needs to be visible from ~2m away
  – shade of yellow specified in legislation
• secondary tag
  – can be either: a yellow normal one, a metal one, or a button tag
  – all must have the same information on
• management tag

Question 2

Placement of tags

Answer 2

• should be placed between the two cartilage ribs which run the length of the ear, in its middle third.
• Also, avoid the blood vessels
• Metal tags should be placed on the proximal boarder of the ear in its middle third
• Metal tag needs to account for the fact the ear will grow

Question 3

When might a vet get involved in ear tagging?

Answer 3

Normal tags
- Solid spike, pierces the ear then becomes housed in the ear tag

BVD free tissue tags
- Has the full UK ear tag number of the animal
- Collects a tissue sample – hollow pin cuts a segment of ear tissue

TB reactor tags
- Have a unique identifier recorded by the vet
- Collects a tissue sample

Question 4

TB reactor fraud prevention

Answer 4

Marking tags should be applied to animals identified as reactors at d2 of the test, on premises located in England and Wales

The sample capsules should be packaged immediately after collection, using the following processes:
- place the sample capsule in the evidence bag
- don’t seal the evidence bag until all the cattle due to be read in that test have been read as more than 1 ear tags tissue sample from animals owned by the same keeper can be placed in the evidence bag
- ensure the evidence bag containing sample(s) is kept in safe place where it can’t be tampered with, damaged or contaminated until testing is complete

In completing this part of the test, we are asked to produce evidence to police evidence gathering standards, avoiding contamination or fraud risks.

Question 5

Dewlap / brisket tags

Answer 5

• Illegal in the UK
• Considered to be too painful at application and during wearing
  – A ring is applied through the skin which the tag is hung from
• A few years ago (2017), some farmers, especially in Scotland had fitted these whilst naïve of the law
  – Advice is not to remove existing ones, but not to tag any new animals in this way

Question 6

Tagging complications - infection

Answer 6

Infection and abscesses can develop at the tagging site

Treatment
- If present, lance abscess (unusual)
- Clean with antibacterial washes e.g. Chlorhexidine
- Apply topical antibiotics e.g. Oxytetracycline spray
- In bad cases (hot, swollen, painful ear +/- pyrexia)
– Administer broad spectrum antibiotics (e.g. long acting penicillin)
– Administer analgesia (e.g. meloxicam)
- In severe cases it may be necessary to remove the tag

Question 7

Tagging complications - Trauma

Answer 7

Tags can become caught on objects in the environment and torn out causing haemorrhage

Treatment
- Usually unnecessary
- Haemorrhage
– Clean
– Clamp or tie off vessels or
– Compression e.g. bandage
- Infection
– As with infection
- Surgical repair is possible for aesthetic purposes e.g. show cattle, but rarely performed

Question 8

Nose-ringing bulls

Answer 8

• All adult bulls should be rung to aid safe handling. Whilst it can be performed at any age, it is best done when animals are between 6 and 12 months
• Copper bull nose rings come in a number of different sizes
  – They are sold with a small screw which fixes the ring together after fitting
  – After fitting the ring, the screw is used to hold the ring together
  – It can be tightened by hand or with pliers and then the screw “handle” is broken off to permanently fix the ring in place

Question 9

Placing the nose ring

Answer 9

Restraint
- In a crush or suitable stanchion
- Halter +/- nose tongs
- Light sedation with xylazine / detomidine may be necessary for fractious animals

Alternatively, heavy sedation with xylazine / detomidine (inducing recumbency) in a well bedded straw box

Anaesthesia
- Whilst local infiltration of the septum with procaine is theoretically possible, practically it is very difficult to administer
- Infraorbital nerve block
– Need to do both sides, around 20ml per site, just flood the area around the foramen

Technique
- The ring is placed through the soft tissue of the nasal septum in front of the cartilage. It must not be placed through the cartilage itself
- Four methods:
– A “nose punch” is used to cut out a circular punch of tissue
– The sharp end of the ring is driven through the septum by hand
– The sharp end of the ring is driven through the septum using a applicator designed specifically for the job
– A scalpel blade (size 11) is used to cut a slit through which the ring is passed
- Whichever method is used prepare carefully and ensure everyone is aware of their respective roles, prior to commencing the procedure

Question 10

Placing the nose ring: nose punch

Answer 10

• Rings can be fitted through a hole created by a “Nose Punch” which cuts a small punch of skin out from between the nostrils in front of the cartilage which divides them.

Question 11

Placing the nose ring: applicator

Answer 11

• Rings can be fitted using a “Bull Ring Applicator”
• One end of the ring is “sharp” and can simply be driven through the skin dividing the nostril either by hand or more simply using an applicator

Question 12

Placing the nose ring: aftercare

Answer 12

• After application, the septum must be allowed to heal before the ring is used to restrain the animal
• Occasionally animals can tear the ring from the nose. Whilst repair is theoretically possible, in most cases the nose should be allowed to heal by secondary intention
• Takes a few weeks to heal
• If tears it’s difficult o put back in place due to scar together
  – Could be sutured back together but doesn’t hold sutures well as is thick and fibrous

Question 13

What is the legislation on ringing bulls?

Answer 13

• HSE advise bulls have a ring
• But it is not a legal requirement

Question 14

Disbudding calves - Legislation

Answer 14

• Under The Protection of Animals (Anaesthetics) Act 1954, as amended, it is an offence to disbud calves or dehorn any cattle without the use of an anaesthetic other than when chemical cauterisation is used. Chemical cauterisation may only be used during the first week of life

Question 15

Disbudding calves

Answer 15

• Appropriate restraint
• clip the area if necessary to remove horn bud
• burn out with hot iron

Question 16

Knock-down disbuds

Answer 16

• Administer Xylazine at 1ml/100kg i/m
• Administer local anaesthetic (procaine – corneal block)
• Wait 5 minutes
• Disbud with hot iron
• Spray with topical oxytetracycline
• Hugely improved welfare for the calves

Question 17

Corneal nerve block for disbudding

Answer 17

• Feel for the canal at the corner of the eye
• Follow it along until it changes direction
• Insert 1” needle here, perpendicular to skin, full depth of needle
• Flood area with local.

Question 18

Disbudding calves - use of NSAIDs

Answer 18

• The use of local anaesthetic during disbudding is a legal requirement*
• There is strong evidence that NSAIDs are beneficial in reducing the chronic pain associated with the procedure
• The BVA and BCVA have a position statement recommending the use of NSAIDs for these procedures

Question 19

Dehorning paste

Answer 19

• caustic
• in contact with the animal for a prolonged period
• does reduce handling so may be appropriate in some circumstances

Question 20

Dehorning adult cattle

Answer 20

• Dehorning is a major procedure and should not be considered “routine”
• Clients must be advised to disbud when animals are young rather than dehorn them as yearlings or adults
• From the Welfare Codes
  – “Ideally a veterinary surgeon should do it, and only if it is necessary for the herd’s welfare. It should not be a routine procedure”
• Avoid summer months when flies (and the risk of fly strike) are prevalent

Question 21

Dehorning adult cattle - restraint

Answer 21

• Good quality crush
  – Halter +/- bulldogs
  – Secure to side to crush to minimise movement of the head as far as possible
  – Light sedation with xylazine / detomidine may occasionally be necessary for fractious animals
• Alternatively, heavy sedation with xylazine / detomidine inducing recumbency, in a well bedded straw box (much less common)
  – If a good quality crush is not available
  – Very fractious animals
• If knocking down might want to add ket as well to ensure they’re out

Question 22

Dehorning adult cattle - Anaesthesia and analgesia

Answer 22

• Corneal nerve block
  – Basic method as per calves
  – Palpate temporal ridge (runs from lateral canthus to the horn)
  – Mark point half way between lateral canthus and horn with thumb
  – Direct needle under the ridge
  – ~19 / 20 gauge, 1” needle; depth of needle insertion ~1-3cm
  – Always withdraw prior to injection, 5-10mls procaine each side, then massage.
• Subcutaneous branches of second cervical nerve
  – Can provide substantial innervation to the caudal aspect of the horn in some adults
  – Subcutaneous local infiltration with procaine
• Allow time for anaesthesia (at least 10 mins)
• Anaesthesia can be checked by pricking around the horn base with a needle
• Drooping of the eyelid when have effective anaesthesia

Question 23

Dehorning adult cattle: equipment

Answer 23

• Barnes dehorners
  – to remove small to medium / large horns quickly, however they are a little cumbersome and require some strength to operate
  – They can be purchased in a variety of different sizes
• Heavy duty dehorning shears
  – can be used to remove small to very large horns quickly and cleanly
  – however they are cumbersome and require long arms, plenty of room and considerable strength to operate.

Question 24

Dehorning adult cattle: haemostasis

Answer 24

• Significant haemorrhage occurs if horns are large (3-4 arteries).
• Haemorrhage is significantly less if a wire is used (heat and dust generated limit bleeding)

Haemostasis methods
- Grasp and pull or twist the artery slowly with haemostats causing them to break below the bone line where they clot
– Can be difficult or impossible to grasp in some cases. In this case matches can be driven into the arterial canal and broken off.
- Work around the wound circumferentially with a hot iron
– Will not stop large arteries, blood rapidly cools iron
- Apply a tourniquet around the base of the horns and the poll with baler twine or bands e.g. section of inner tube
– Must be removed after a few days

Question 25

Dehorning: aftercare

Answer 25

• Many clinicians will treat the wound with oxytetracyline spray
• Ideally animals should be returned to a clean environment
• Advise the client that animals must be regularly checked during the first 24 hours to ensure any haemorrhage has stopped
• Rule of thumb is that if individual drops of blood can be identified and counted its usually not a problem i.e. very fast drops – slow run should be dealt with
• Stress should be minimised following the procedure e.g. no group changes or change of environment
• In large horns the frontal sinus extends into the horn and is therefore left open following dehorning. – Animals should be fed off the floor and not from a rack to prevent foreign material falling into the sinus
• Systemic antibiotics aren’t needed unless you get secondary infection further down the line - this is rare.
• Always give NSAIDs, offten farm assurance schemes require NSAIDs, but even if don’t would highly recommend them anyway.

Question 26

Dehorning: complications

Answer 26

• Haemorrhage
  – Animals may bleed to death or close to death in extreme cases
• Infection at the surgical site
  – Rarely a significant problem
  – Manage as any superficial infection (clean and topical ABs. Systemic ABs in severe cases)
• Sinusitis
  – Foreign material may gain entry to the sinus especially if animals are fed from racks
  – Can be severe in some cases requiring systemic treatment and potentially trephination of the sinus
• Fly strike
  – Avoid dehorning during the fly season

Question 27

Dehorning: cosmetic dehorning

Answer 27

• Very unusual, but possible in show or pedigree animals
• General anaesthesia or heavy sedation and local anaesthesia
• Aseptic preparation and procedure
• Clip and clean
• Incise and reflect skin around horns
• Dehorn and close skin with sutures to achieve primary healing

Question 28

Dehorning goat kids

Answer 28

• Disbudding goat kids is more complicated than disbudding calves and problematic
• You must take a large diameter of approx. 25mm from the centre of the horn bud
• Preferred method was to anaesthetise with gas following a pre-med of Xylazine, administer analgesia, then to remove the horn buds with electrocautery. Found that this was less traumatic than hot iron, and gave greater control over the area cauterising
• Goat kids are very susceptible to local anaesthetic toxicity so general anaesthesia is preferred
• Xylazine toxicity is a common cause of mortality, double check all doses
• The skull is much more fragile than calves, careful technique is essential
• Propofol used but not on list of approved meds - shouldn’t be used in food animals - okayish to use as most of these goats aren’t going to go into the food chain, but no way of knowing whether or not this will happen in the future.
• Alfaxalone also very effective but not on list of approved meds for food producing animals.
• Need to be disbudded before 7d old, and have large horn buds cf. size of the animal. >7d its difficult to disbud them bc the base horn is too big to do it effectively - end up with spicules (spiky bits coming out of the head) - not good cosmetic result.

Question 29

Sedation in bulls

Answer 29

• more sensitive to alpha-2s than female cows, so go lower end of dose range
• if sedation doesn’t work, don’t top it up -> won’t work, try again another day
• detomidine has less ataxic effects, so may want to choose this over xylazine

Question 30

Equipment and medicines needed for calf disbudding

Answer 30

• Burner / scoop disbudder
• Halter (small calves usually restrained by hand)
• Procaine
• Loppers - if too big to be burnt
• Needles and syringe - 19G for calves (bigger animals 16-18G) 1 inch long (1.5 for larger animals),
• Blue spray
• Silver spray - preferred to bigger ones that bleed more
• NSAIDs
• Haemostats for bigger ones - more for dehorning rather than disbudding