A large and small animal vet clinic 5.5 miles North of Glenham, SD Providing high quality medicine with a compassionate touch. Emergency services provided.
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Open Monday through Friday, and Saturday mornings by appointment only.
Here is a chart of our cows expected due dates from their AI dates. In the next column is their actual calving date. They are listed in the order they were projected to calve but their actual order is listed in the last column.
This data demonstrates how actual breeding dates only give so much information. If you purchase a set of heifers bred to calve on the same day expect to calve them over a month and prepare to start early.
We have been getting some questions about EID. Here is an FAQ with some information.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has now been diagnosed in ruminants, including goats and dairy cattle. This is definitely something to stay aware of. No mortality has occured due to HPAI in cattle at this point. One thing to keep in mind is DO NOT let your chickens roam your cattle lots or share water and feed sources. This is one way to prevent the cross over of virus between species.
Anaplasmosis
Anaplasmosis is a blood-borne bacteria that typically affects cattle in the Southern US. However, more and more cases have been popping up all over the US, even in the Northern plains.
Anaplasmosis causes anemia, jaundice, sudden death, abortions, and reproductive failure. In affected herds 30% of cows can die, and 30% may abort or be open.
Anaplasmosis is spread via ticks, biting flies, and dirty needles.
Purchasing cattle from anywhere could pose a risk of introduction of Anaplasmosis in to your herd. States that are typically the biggest risk include Southern States and Kansas.
At minimum we recommend testing all cattle introduced to your herd for Anaplasmosis including bulls. The introduction of this disease in to your herd could be crippling, and testing for Anaplasmosis is a simple form of prevention.
Please use 1804 when possible on your way to the clinic. The Glenham road is pure ice on the Walworth county side and frozen snow drifts on the Campbell County side. 1804 is clear and scenic! We are only 3/4 mile South on the Glenham road at the Glenham Road 1804 jxn.
Cell phone trouble again: We got new phones but are still having some hiccups.
Sorry if you left a message yesterday and we did not get back to you, not all the voicemails were going through to our voicemail. We were both working in the country until late, and then when we got back to deal with our phone, voicemails were not showing up. We apologize.
We think we have the issue squared away now, and are available today to answer if you need something.
I have been hearing information on the radio about a mystery dog respiratory disease. Just read a blog on a veterinary website, and the author said he is not sure if this is an increase in the normal levels of canine infectious respiratory disease complex or just media hype. There is always a certain level of this disease complex circulating, and there is no solid evidence that numbers have increased country wide.
His recommendations were simple:
Keep your dog away from sick dogs
If your dog is sick keep it away from other dogs
And think about vaccinating your dog for kennel cough especially if your dog will be congregating with other dogs
Bird Flu in the Area
We have a client in North Dakota who lost their flock to bird Flu, and also have an unconfirmed case for a client in SD.
If you have a sudden die off of chickens in the near future think bird Flu first. There is not much you can do to prevent it, unless you can control the geese migration. If you have any questions as always feel free to call the clinic. The rules are different for North and South Dakota
Please leave a message:
We know it can be frustrating! But this time of year the majority of our time is spent preg checking cows. If we don't answer we are working, and we promise we will get back to you. It may be after 5:00 pm when we call you back, but we will call back.
Poisoning gophers? Beware of poisoning your dog
This summer a puppy presented to the clinic with a history of acute seizures. The puppy exhibited the tonic clinic seizures and sawhorse stance so typical of strychnine. Thankfully for the puppy one dose of seizure meds brought her around. Most other dogs poisoned by strychnine are not so lucky. Strychnine toxicosis commonly results in death, and there is no antidote we can only treat the symptoms. Please be careful with your dogs when poisoning gophers!
5 Reasons to Pg your Cows Early
1. We can give you so much more info. Right now we can easily find your May calvers so when those April blizzards come you can fit the close ups in the barn. The later it gets in the fall the harder this is to do with accuracy
2. We can put them in to cycles now
3. Weigh ups and yearling heifers are bringing good money now!
4. It is easier to find twins.
5. It is beautiful out now!
A few weeks ago we were called to a ranch with cows that were collapsing and dying. By the time we arrived, 5 cows were dead and one was symptomatic. The cow that was still alive was up and then would lie down quickly and become tetanic. She was urinating and defecating frequently. Upon a venous blood draw she had bright red blood. One of the dead cow's blood was dark red.
Upon further investigation it was discovered that the cows had been trailed by a sorghum field that was about 6-12 inches tall. The cows had walked about 100 meters from the field and started to collapse.
Cyanide poisoning was the number one differential. Forage samples were taken and the results came back stating that the sorghum was over 5 times the limit to cause death in cows.
Never allow cows to graze sorghum or Sudan less than 2 feet tall. Also be very careful grazing regrowth after a freeze or following a drought. Wait to graze sorghum or Sudan grass at least several days after a hard freeze. As this case brings to light, be mindful that if cows get out or are trailed by these forages the consequences can be lethal
Sorry! Our cell phones have been so shotty. Please leave a message if we dont answer. Our phone has been going out of service so much. If it is out of service we don't see a missed call, but we will get a message.
This is Martha, my youngest daughter's bottle calf.
Martha had a minor navel infection when we got her. It progressed to a joint infection in her left front knee or carpus. Thankfully for Martha she responded very well to flushing her joint with saline. She is running and playing in the sunshine 6 days after her joint flush.
If you have a calf with joint infection it may respond very well. This is something that should be done within the first few days of noticing it. Don't just give antibiotics and wait to see what happens. If one waits too long treatment response may not be as good.
Scours treatment:
1. The most important part of scours treatment is rehydration. Oral electrolytes are the best place to start. The best electrolytes on the market are Blue-Lite Replenish and Diaque. Old products like Resorb are obsolete. These should be fed 2 times a day to a scouring calf who seems slow.
2. If a calf is no longer able to stand due to scours, this calf will probably require an IV to survive. We have pretty good success IVing calves. We do not keep calves at the clinic. The survivability of calves after IV has seem to improved since we started sending all calves home after a rescucitating IV. If you have never seen a scouring baby revived, you might want to give it a go,it is a pretty amazing and rewarding thing.
3. Antibiotics can be used, but should not be used for every scouring calf. Their use should be reserved for calves with some blood in the scours, or a high temperature of over 101.5, or calves that are under 48 hours old. A calf under 48 hours of age may have an e. coli diarrhea, this diarrhea is very severe. These particular calves will have a voluminous amount of f***s. Everyone is talking about the microbiome, and it is very IMPORTANT. Using antibiotics can actually cause diarrhea, anyone who has changed a diaper for a baby taking antibiotics can verify. It can takes month to restore a good healthy microbiome after antibiotics, so sometimes we are actually making things worse by using antibiotics. Simple thought but when you have the stomach bug, you dont take antibiotics. You drink a lot of fluids. Most scour bugs are viruses or parasites so antibiotics are not effective.
4. A brand new thing just being tried is feeding milk-based colostrum to calves who are scouring and not nursing. This helps with the microbiome and has some anti-inflammatory effects.
Calf Care 101
We get lots of calls this time of year about sick calves. Here are just a few pointers
1. Take a temperature. You can use a digital thermometer, just a cheap human one is fine. The temperature should be taken rectally, and a normal calf temp is 101.5
2. Always pull the eyelids out so you can look and see if the calf is dehydrated. You can't always tell by just looking, if you pull the eyelids out and there is space between the eye socket and the eyeball the calf is dehydrated.
3. If a sick calf is a less than a few weeks of age check the navel. Sometimes you cant tell by just looking....Check to see if the navel is hard, if the calf kicks when you squeeze it, or if there is visibile pus. These are all signs of a navel infection. Unfortunately, sometimes the navel infection is up in the abdomen and can only be seen on necropsy.
3. If you dont see signs of scours, check again, this is the number one cause of sickness in a baby calf. If you dont see loose f***s, put an exam glove on and stick your finger in the re**um. By doing this you will get an accurate assesment of what the f***s looks like in the re**um. If the calf is over three weeks of age check the f***s for blood. Coccidosis affects calves over 3 weeks of age and needs to be treated differently.
5. Also check the calf's belly: is he bloated, does it make sloshy sounds when you push on it?
This is just some introductory pointers to help you know what to look for when assessing calves, and give you a better idea how to treat.
As of June 2023 livestock owners will no longer be able to purchase antibiotics over the counter. Currently there are very few antibiotics available OTC, over the counter. These few antibiotics include: penicillin, oxytetracyline, and some sulfas.
Simply put you will no longer be able to go to the elevator or farm store and pick up this short list of antibiotics. After June you will still be able to call or walk or in to your veterinarian's office and pick up an antibioitic. If you would like to purchase antibiotics from any place other than a veterinary clinic a prescription written by a veterinarian will be required.
We can't believe it has been 10 years since we opened!
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our clinic. We truly have the best clients.
A special thanks goes out to our 6 year employee, Michaela! Anyone who has worked with her knows what a gem she is.
Thank you to all our clients for your continued business. You have provided a way of living for us and filled our hearts as well!
Sheep producers:
Just a reminder...every year lambs seem to get hit with worms in the month of August. Symptoms include sudden death, inability to keep up with the rest of the herd, breathing hard, and generalized weakness. It is a good idea to deworm your lambs this time of year or peform the famacha technique to look for lambs or ewes that have a heavy parasite burden.
It is a poor management practice to deworm all ewes and lambs. If all susceptible animals are dewormed only resistant worms will be left on the pasture. Resistance to dewormers is common in small ruminants and is something to be avoided. At least 10 percent of the herd should be left untreated. Using the famacha technique can help identify ewes and lambs that need to be treated.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/FAMACHAC-eye-color-chart-being-used-to-check-level-of-anemia_fig5_315628684
This is a great article on grass tetany. This cold wet spring is really setting the stage for problems.
Lush spring growth in pastures and grass forages can be low in Magnesium, with potential deadly health issues for cattle and other ruminants.
Chicken update:
We attended CE and a heard about a family that had free range chickens. These chickens roamed an old farm yard and had access to old buildings that were painted with lead paint. Children in this family had blood drawn at school for lead levels and their levels were found to be high. The chickens and the eggs were tested and both were high.
This got us thinking about our own chickens. Our chicken coop is old and has old paint on it. We tested some of our chickens, one of which was clinical. They all came back too high, and the clinical chicken was very high. We tested our eggs and they were too high as well. If an adult consumed 6 eggs a day or a child consumed 2 eggs a day this could lead to toxic levels. We checked our children and their lead levels were normal. Thankfully they are not big egg eaters.
Some big take aways:
Free range chickens can be a source of lead exposure. Especially in rural areas where lead paint may have been used. Also urban environments are not free from risk as many years of lead fuel exhaust have contaminated the ground with lead.
The people most at risk our children and pregnant women
DO NOT feed egg shells back to chickens as the lead concentrates in the shell and feeding them back will only compound the issue.
Lead levels in commercially raised chickens are very low.
We are available for emergencies, and right now we just have one veterinarian able to respond. Please do not call in the middle of night to schedule an appointment. We have to take our phone to bed in case there is a calving or a true emergency, and sometimes it is hard to get back to sleep after a phone call.
We have a new receptionist, Don. Don had surgery on Friday to repair his shoulder. His surgeon hopes that he will be able to do small animal in three months, and back to full fledged large animal by August. We will offer all large and small animal services during Don's leave of absence except for cruciate surgeries and foot trimming. He is doing well right now and we pray for a good outcome!
Please don't feed your dog's grain free food!
Don wrote this shortly after we graduated from vet school. Not much has changed, but we would always recommend rechecking yearling bulls even if they are semen tested prior to purchase. We flunk several yearling bulls every year that have already been tested. We have tested some bulls who were found satisfactory on a BSE prior to sale and found persistent frenulums.
Bull advertisements jump out of every page of the classifieds this time of year. ‘Tis the season to shop for your herd’s next bull(s). As you shop, bear in mind a few points to ensure your expensive purchase maximizes cow herd fertility. This discusses the importance of health and the value of performing a breeding soundness exam (BSE) on bulls.
The producer can detect potential problems with a bull prior to purchase. Too often the most emphasis in selecting a bull revolves around his expected progeny differences (EPDs). EPDs are important but other physical traits can be the downfall of a genetically superior bull. Close attention should be paid to the bull’s toes. Long toes, scissor toes, corkscrew claws and cracks in the hoof wall may lead to lameness. Bulls with toe problems may never become lame but are higher maintenance needing hoof trims every 6-12 months to prevent lameness or poor locomotion. Bulls with a posty (upright) stance or those that stand low in the heels are more likely to become lame. Contrary to common perception, vision, not smell, is the sense a bull uses to detect cows in heat. Therefore bulls with bad eyes are poor candidates for purchase. Producers should select against bulls with a weak preputial muscle. As a result of this weak muscle, the prepuce hangs out allowing for injury by environmental factors (vegetation, drying, etc). This injury could lead to infection and scarring preventing the bull from retracting his p***s, leading to further injury/damage. Focus on physical traits when purchasing your next bull is the first step to maximizing cow herd fertility.
Next, the philosophy for performing a BSE should be discussed. The ultimate goal of a commercial beef cattle herd is to produce the most pounds of beef per exposed cow. The best way to accomplish this is to get the cows bred in a short time period. Calves born one cycle later (21 days) are at a 50-60 pound weaning disadvantage compared to a calf born a cycle earlier. Therefore, a subfertile bull could result in a significant economic loss when he does not get cows bred in a timely fashion. Thus, it pays to have a highly fertile bull. A BSE must be performed to detect a highly fertile bull.
A highly fertile bull has the best chance of fertilizing a cow’s egg on his very first service. Studies have been performed to show that bull’s s***m needs at least a fair to good motility (>40 percent motile s***m) and greater than 70 percent normal s***m morphology to achieve high fertility. Nationwide only 70-80 percent of bulls achieve a satisfactory rating (= highly fertile) on a BSE. Bulls fail due to poor s***m, poor feet, immaturity, and or poor health. By 16 months of age nearly 100 percent of bulls have reached s*xual maturity. However, because of s*xual immaturity 26 percent pass the BSE at 12 months and 53 percent pass at 14 months. So, a BSE after 16 months of age is a better indicator of his fertility potential.
The veterinarian looks at all the previously mentioned physical traits and examines the p***s, sc***um, testicles and other reproductive organs (seminal vesicles) during the BSE. In addition to visual and palpable examination of these structures the veterinarian will collect semen for microscopic evaluation. The p***s is observed for persistent frenulum, hair rings, and warts after extension with the electroejaculator. Persistent frenulum is rare genetic problem encountered in yearling bulls that must not be missed. Since this is a genetic condition, progeny should not be reserved for replacements. Hair rings should be removed for they may result in a stricture. Warts occur on the shaft or tip of the p***s and are surgically removed if possible. Warts can be effectively prevented with a commercial vaccine. Corkscrew and deviated p***s problems must be evaluated during natural service since some bulls may falsely show a corkscrew p***s with electrical stimulation. Scrotal circumference is another parameter measured during the BSE. Circumference is directly related to the weight of s***m producing cells. 12 month old bulls must have a measurement/circumference greater than 30 cm to pass. Daughters of bulls with smaller scrotal circumferences reach s*xual maturity later than daughters of bulls with large scrotal circumferences. Palpation of the seminal vesicles rectally can detect swollen, firm, lobulated or otherwise abnormal vesicles. The cause of enlarged and painful vesicles is commonly infection of viral or bacterial origin. Treatment with high frequent doses of Micotil can resolve the problem in yearlings but older bulls do not respond to treatment therefore they should be culled. Infected vesicles produce pus which introduced to semen kills s***m. Semen is collected using an electroejaculator but does not affect the s***m. The electric current causes contraction of the smooth muscles resulting in ej*******on. Immediately after collection, motility (percent of forward swimming s***m) is observed microscopically. It is often classified as poor, fair, good, or very good. Fair to good is required to pass. Next, the semen is stained and 100 s***m cells are counted. The cells are categorized as normal or abnormal. The count gives a percentage of cells in each category. A 70 percent normal s***m count is needed to pass the BSE. Problems with s***m can arise from genetics, injury etc. Heat injury to testicles results from frostbite (inflamed testicles that are held too close to the body) hot weather, infection, etc. Temporary testicular problems resolve in 60 days. Stressful events (extreme weather, storms, lameness, illness etc.) can cause defects originating in the epidydimis. Temporary epidydimal problems resolve in about 2 weeks. Permanent damage to these structures will continue poor results indefinitely. These are the most common parameters evaluated and problems detected by a veterinarian performing a BSE.
Another factor in bull fertility not easily measured is libido. Libido is the bull’s s*x drive. Libido is measured by turning a bull out on a tied up cow that is in heat. The number of mounts in a specified period of time is used to classify the bull. This is obviously difficult and expensive to perform. 10 -20 percent of bulls that pass a BSE will have low libido which also results in an extended calving season. Passing a BSE has no correlation to a bull’s libido so this is up to the owner to observe. A side note concerning multiple sire pastures follows; 80 percent of cows (in a multiple sire pasture) will be served by 2 bulls with normal libido. 50 percent of cows will be served by 3 or more bulls in a multiple sire pasture.
Many observations are collected during a BSE. All are relevant to the bull’s passing his BSE. Some can be detected by the producer, others require detection by a veterinarian. To ensure a successful breeding season and profitability, the bull must pass all parameters. With strict attention to detail phenomenal results can be achieved. A herd of cows in Canada consistently has an 85 percent pregnancy rate in a 25 day breeding season. This is due to highly fertile bulls and cows with a good body condition score.
To succeed in today’s beef industry a producer must get the most efficiency out of each dollar spent. A subfertile bull can really eat into a producer’s pocketbook. BSE’s are a great tool to help choose the most fertile bull.
Bangs Vaccination:
Bangs vaccination is used to protect against the disease brucellosis. In cattle the disease causes abortions, weak calves, and low fertility. Perhaps the most concerning is that brucellosis can also be trasmitted to people. The disease in people is commonly known as undulant fever.
Thankfully, brucellosis has been eradicated from the Dakotas and most of the US. There continues to be a pocket of infection in the Yellowstone area.
As a result of brucellosis eradication in our area, bangs vaccination is NO longer required for movement across state lines except for a few select states in the Yellowstone area.
Producers may still continue to choose to bangs vaccinate their replacements despite it not being a requirement. Heifers and cows that are bangs vaccinated typically bring a premium when sold. When heifers are bangs vaccinated they are tatooed and the last digit identifies the year she was vaccinated. This makes it easier to age her in the future. Also each heifer is given an individual ID or tag that can trace her back to the farm of origin in the event of a disease outbreak.
If you have any questions on bangs vaccination please call the clinic at 605-848-2241
With worsening drought conditions. We have had cattlemen losing cattle and finding sick cattle because of poor water. Some of the bad water has even been running water. Please sample your water before turnout!
Livestock owners:. We strongly encourage you to test all dam and pond water used for watering livestock. We recently sent in a sample on a large dam of ours. Testing revealed that our dam water is not safe for young livestock or pregnant animals.
We expect a lot of dam and pond water quality to be compromised due to drought conditions and lack of spring run off.
12273 295th Avenue
Glenham, SD
57631
| Monday | 8am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8am - 5pm |
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