Fall 2020

Insight Livestock Edition

At the beginning of this year, Animal Health International affirmed our corporate values: People-First, Passionate, Focused and Always Advancing. Little did we know these values would be put to the test just a few months later when our country faced a global pandemic. We needed to pivot our approach to nearly everything. Our People-First value led these efforts. In the animal health world, putting people first also means putting the animals in your care first. Count on us as your team who will always put people first.

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Beef

Fluid therapy solutions

Standard protocol during calving season

Jason Nuttelman runs 300 dairy cows on his family farm in central Nebraska. Nuttelman has used Aspen’s IV solutions to manage the health of his herd for more than 15 years. “We get all our IV fluids from our veterinarian and Aspen is the brand we use,” Nuttelman said. “The Aspen bottles are easy to hook up and easy to use. The convenience of the recyclable containers is almost as important as the quality of the fluids,” he said.

Read about Nuttelman’s protocol
Beef

Effective parasite control

It begins with understanding active ingredients

Strategic use of active ingredients offers promise in managing parasites. Using parasiticides in cattle without considering the active ingredients in those products is making risky choices – it might help produce short-term gains but could accelerate resistance over the long term. The judicious use of parasiticides with different modes of action will control parasites in a herd and also help keep products effective longer in the industry.

Learn about parasite control
Dairy

Colostrum quality

How heat stress during late gestation affects calves

When cows are exposed to heat stress during late gestation, we see compromised mammary gland development before calving, followed by decreased milk production after calving. The results of heat stress during the pre-partum period on calf growth are well agreed upon.

Learn more about this research
Dairy

Clostridial disease protection

It starts with strong management practices and vaccination

A solid strategy in preventing a clostridial outbreak in calves, prior to their vaccination, is to be consistent with milk-feeding practices, and to ensure they have good absorption of maternal antibodies against clostridia from colostrum. Additionally, it is important to have hygienic feeding conditions for minimal contamination to feeding equipment from soil, which harbors clostridial spores.

Learn more about this strategy
Dairy

Five parlor protocols

Manage mastitis on your dairy operation

The impact of mastitis can be staggering and managing it sometimes feels like a daunting task. With each case of mastitis, producers may experience economic loss from cost of treatment, lower milk production, added labor, increased somatic cell count and the possibility of removing the cow from the herd. We take you through the five steps, start to finish.

View the five steps
Dairy

Reduce the risks of BVDV

Biosecurity and testing are essential, alongside immunization

According to Dr. Paul Walz, professor of pathology at Auburn University, a calf that is persistently infected with BVDV is a central figure in how BVDV maintains itself within a herd and how BVDV travels from herd to herd. But the risk for spreading BVDV extends throughout an operation, to equipment, visitors to the farm and fence-line contact among animals. “We cannot rely on immunization to 100% prevent PI infections, nor can we look at our diagnostic test to pick up every single PI animal,” Dr. Walz said.

Learn how to reduce the risks of BVDV
Swine

Control of ileitis in swine

Efficacy of Aivlosin water soluble granules

We’ve become accustomed to thinking of PPE as personal protective equipment. In this case, though, porcine proliferative enteropathy (PPE, or ileitis) is an important enteric disease of pigs caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis. The chronic form of PPE typically occurs in growing pigs at 6 to 20 weeks of age, causing reduced rates of weight gain and increased variability in body size. The economic impact of this endemic production disease can be very significant

Learn how to control ileitis
Community

Keeping business afloat

Columbus business perseveres during floods, COVID

Last year’s devastating floods had a significant impact as only two employees lived in Columbus; all other employees commuted, which made it impossible for them to get to Columbus in the first few days of the floods, AHI operations manager Tina Hein said. “As we all know, the floods were devastating to some cattle and swine ranchers in the area,” Hein said. “We wanted to be here and be available to them if there was anything we could do to help.” Article by Hannah Schrodt, reprinted by permission from The Columbus Telegram.

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