Create a complete strategy on your dairy farm with the OPTIcow management tool

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As a farmer, you are faced with making challenging decisions everyday. Having the most useful information at your fingertips is difficult because there are multiple different data programmes, software packages and tracking systems. ZLTO offers a solution: a unique, indispensable tool called OPTIcow.

OPTIcow compares business performance based on sustainability cycles, production, animal health and management to name a few examples. OPTIcow holds this data in an easy-to-use portal so that you can gain insight into your farm developments at the push of a button and can safely compare your performance with other businesses in the same sector. A ZLTO advisor will be happy to discuss the OPTIcow report with you.

With this tool you can discover your farm’s strengths and weaknesses and can make improvements where necessary. This is good for your cows, the sector and your wallet. Want to know more about OPTIcow or register your farm directly? Go to the website of OPTIcow.

How to use a hygiene lock

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In order to achieve a high production result, the disease pressure must be kept as low as possible. A strategy is to opt for a Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) farm, which means that both the pathogens that are introduced from the outside and the pathogen spread inside the farm is kept as low as possible. A SPF farm is free of certain germs.

To reduce the introduction of disease from outside, a hygiene lock can be used. Entering people and materials can carry many pathogens with them. An example of the process of a hygiene lock at a pig farm is as follows:

  • A visitor is received in a room where the air is filtered.
  • Here the coat and shoes have to be taken off and hands must be disinfected. If applicable, material that must be taken inside must be placed in the UV cabinet.
  • Then access is granted to the changing room. Here you have to shower, where it is mandatory to wash the hair and body. Further access to the company is determined by means of a time switch: the shower must have been on long enough.
  • Then company clothes and clogs can be put on. If necessary, material can be taken from the UV cabinet.
  • Finally, the clogs have to go through the disinfection bin.

In this way, the introduction of pathogens is minimalized. The hygiene lock contributes to reducing disease pressure and thus also to reducing the use of antibiotics.​

Coating surfaces in poultry, pig and dairy farms

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When dirt, urine and manure build up in hard to reach places, adequate cleaning and disinfection can be a challenge. Pathogens like bacteria and viruses can remain on surfaces protected by a layer of dirt or within a ‘biofilm’. This can be a source of repeated infection for livestock.

MS Schippers, in cooperation with Mesacoatings, offers a solution by coating floors and walls of livestock housing as part of an integrated HyCare method. A few hours after the coating has been applied, the stable/shed/housing can be put into use.

HyCare Coating creates a seam-less and pore-free environment. Pathogens no longer get a chance to build up in the cracks and holes on surfaces. Good hygiene can thus be guaranteed. The coating is easier and faster to clean than concrete and saves water. No dirt is left behind and it dries very quickly.

HyCare coating of surfaces improves the effectiveness of cleaning by reducing the ability of pathogens to build up over time, this lowers the risk of disease and thereby the use of antibiotics.

Optimizing water quality on poultry, pig and dairy farms

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In practice, it is common for drinking water quality not to be optimal on farms. Water quality can be affected by temperature fluctuations, damage to pipe work, dead-end pipes, bends, pipe diameter and nipple connections.

It is good practice to have the water pipes checked regularly (i.e. swabbed and microbiologically tested) and to clean them thoroughly. Biofilms – the protective environment on surfaces that bacteria can live in that allows them to survive longer and resist routine cleaning – must be removed or not allowed to build up. Therefore, in addition to a cleaning agent, a disinfectant should be used to tackle the biofilm. At least once a week, perform a visual check of taps and pipework using a white bucket or transparent measuring cup. During cleaning, have the water supply checked by a specialist using an endoscope. In this way, a deterioration of the water quality can be observed over time. Check which products are effective against biofilms.

The water quality should be so good that you dare to drink it yourself! Good quality water saves you money by avoiding persistent infections that can lower an animal’s immune system and lead to unnecessary or excessive antibiotic use. Clean water = less need for antibiotics.

Pest prevention on poultry, pig and dairy farms

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Pests, such as rodents, insects and birds can enter sheds/stables/housing and multiply, which then increases the risk of disease entering and spreading on farm.

Flies can be controlled both biologically and chemically. Predator flies or parasitic wasps (the fly’s natural enemy) can be released into the stable/shed 5 to 6 times a year. Manure can also be treated several times a year with a pesticide that kills the maggots of the flies. Some products can be distributed over the manure pit surface. It is best practice to keep pests out of the farm premises as much as possible. For example, by completely blocking the entrance to livestock housing with the nets or using decoy boxes to control rats and mice.

Proper pest control reduces damage caused by pests as well as limiting the spread of diseases that e.g. flies, birds or rodents carry and spread. This leads to improved livestock health, farm hygiene and job satisfaction. Companies as for example MS Schippers and Agro Pest Control can offer pest control products.

 

Colostrum management protocol for calves

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Calves are born with under developed immune systems; they have no antibodies to fight infection and so are very vulnerable to disease. Good colostrum management is of vital importance to the calf, especially where infection pressure is high. ZLTO has developed a colostrum management protocol – here are a few tips.

  • Milk the cow immediately after birth. The first colostrum is of the very best quality.
  • Measure the quality of the colostrum to determine the amount of antibodies using a colostrometer or hydrometer. Discard colostrum with quality <50 g/L. This gives you certainty about the amount of antibodies in the colostrum rather than guessing from appearance.
  • Make sure that the colostrum and feeding equipment is clean. Dirt contains bacteria and will reduce the effect of the antibodies in the colostrum.
  • Within 1 hour after birth, give the calf 4 litres (10% of body weight if known) of colostrum of around 40 degrees Celsius. The quicker the colostrum is given after birth the more antibodies the calf can absorb through its gut.
  • Preferably use a teat when administering colostrum. This provides a sucking reflex which stimulates the intestinal function.
  • Freeze remaining colostrum for reserves at a constant temperature of -18 degrees. Label colostrum with dam number and date and discard colostrum from Johnes positive cows.
  • The second milking for a second colostrum feed should take place 12 to 18 hours after birth to ensure that the calf has absorbed enough antibodies.
  • Discuss the colostrum protocol with the ZLTO advisor or your veterinarian.

Good colostrum management ensures a good start for the calf and means less disease, which reduces the need for use of antibiotics. Calves are the future of the herd and deserve care and attention.

The right working method: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

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Using Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on farm is an important tool to prevent pathogens (bacteria, viruses) from moving around the farm and infecting other animals. They allow you to review processes for improvement and ensure all staff are following the same protocol to the same standard. A good working method goes beyond the use of a hygiene lock and the supply and removal of animals. It is about the daily routines. For each animal category or age group, try to use separate clothing and materials, indicated by different colours so there is no cross over. Clean and disinfect hands and boots each time you leave an area or stock group. Additionally, apply working systems so that farm workers do not spread disease between age groups or management groups. For example, build pens so that employees can work from young animals up to older animals without having to walk through other areas or pens.

Changing your daily routine is a big step towards minimizing the spread of disease. With a colour coding system for equipment and structuring pens, housing and facilities adequately, you can strive for the highest possible health status and reduce disease transmission.

Instructive training on biosecurity and application of Biocheck: a risk-based scoring tool for biosecurity on livestock farms

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On 22 and 23 of January 2020, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University hosted a very instructive and interesting training on biosecurity and the use of their Biocheck, a tool to score and benchmark the biosecurity measures on livestock farms. The training nicely balanced theoretical insights with hands-on practical training and field visits to a farrowing and broiler farm to exercise the use of the Biocheck.

Five principles to biosecurity

Prof. Jeroen Dewulf, head of the chair on epidemiology started the training with a lecture on the five main principles of biosecurity and practical examples to illustrate and respect these principles in order to prevent disease from entering the farm and spread within it. The principles being:

  1. Preventing direct and indirect contact between potentially infectious and susceptible animals
  2. Not every route of transmission is equally important, so not every biosecurity measure is equally effective
  3. Lower the general infection pressure on the farm to lower the burden on the immune system of the animals
  4. Size matters meaning that although biosecurity is important on every farm, on larger farms the risk and negative consequences of disease outbreaks will be much larger and harder to contain than on smaller farms.
  5. Frequency matters: the frequency of events or actions happening on the farm determine the risks. An event or action (e.g. feed truck delivering feed) with a low probability of infecting the farm per visit can pose a substantial risk for the farm when it reoccurs frequently.

Next, prof. Dewulf explained these principles and suitable external and internal biosecurity measures in more detail with practical examples for pig production.

Scoring and benchmarking biosecurity with Biocheck

The final theoretical part of the first day was focused on the UGhent’s Biocheck. This innovative risk-based scoring system can elevate the European livestock sectors’ biosecurity status since it is the first system to quantitatively score and benchmark the biosecurity of farms in pig, poultry, dairy, beef and veal production. The checklist evaluates the farm’s biosecurity measures and takes into account the relative risks of different infection transmission routes resulting in an overall biosecurity score out of a 100 for the farm as well as detailed scores for external and internal biosecurity separately. The highest detail of scoring offers farmers and vets immediate insight into measures to improve within both the domains of external and internal biosecurity.

In the afternoon, the theory on biosecurity in general and the use of the Biocheck was nicely illustrated with a visit to a farrowing farm of a thousand sows and being a text book example of managing biosecurity in pig production. Here participants got the chance to exercise in evaluating a farms’ biosecurity status by use of the Biocheck.

Day 2: Focus on poultry production

The second day of training was focused on biosecurity in poultry and especially broiler production. D r Nele Caekebeke focused first on specific biosecurity aspects in poultry production, after which the participants had to exercise in designing and improving biosecurity measures on specific broiler farms.

The poultry training was finalized with another field visit to an integrated broiler farm where the participants could practice the Biocheck scoring in broiler production.

Get in touch to find out more about biosecurity training

If you are interested in the Biocheck scoring system, or would like to participate in or organise similar training in scoring and improving biosecurity measures, please get in touch with Prof. Jeroen Dewulf.

DISARM meets the EIP Focus group on Reducing Antimicrobials in Poultry Farming to check out the innovative NestBorn on-farm hatching concept

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On the 15th January, we had the opportunity to join the agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP AGRI) focus group on Reducing the use of antimicrobials in poultry farming for their visit to the Experimental Poultry Research Centre of the Province of Antwerp in Flanders.

The EIP focus group is a gathering of various poultry experts from across Europe with various expertise from farming, veterinary, industry, research and policy backgrounds to discuss challenges and opportunities to stimulate the transition towards more prudent use of antibiotics in poultry farming. Their visit to the experimental center was organized alongside their second focus group meeting.

An afternoon symposium was organized for the group during which the DISARM network was promoted. The main topic of the symposium was focused on the revolutionary technique of on-farm hatching of broiler chicks. This innovative practice improves the health, development and welfare of the chicks since the stressful post-hatching period and processing in the hatchery is being cut out of the production process. The day-old chicks hatched on the farm can have direct access to feed and water and do not have to be transported from the hatchery to the broiler farm. The direct access to feed and water and reduced stress from handling the chicks and transport results in a better early life start with better gut development as well as potentially improved immune development.

Several commercial companies offer solutions for on-farm hatching already and were all briefly introduced during the symposium. The NestBorn concept was however the focus of the afternoon. This concept stands out to the other offered solutions because of its simplicity. The hatchery takes care of placing the 18-days incubated eggs into a thicker layer of bedding material in a pre-heated barn by means of a specially designed and                                                                                     automated egg placing machine.

Consequently, the hatching process is being monitored with ovoscan sensors measuring the egg shell temperature in real-time so that both farmer and hatchery have insight and control over the hatching process. As soon as the chicks start to hatch the system offers the benefits of the on-farm hatching.

The system is remarkably flexible since it requires no investment costs from the poultry farmer. This also makes it possible to switch back to stocking conventionally hatched day-old chicks. The only point of attention is to be able to squeeze the three additional days of hatching into the downtime between production cycles without hampering effective cleaning and disinfection and to closely monitor the climate of the broiler barn in the pre-hatching period. Extra heating cost for the hatching period should be recoverable with savings on medicine use and less problem solving later on in the production cycle. Data from the poultry veterinary practice DEGUDAP guiding the farmers that have adopted the NestBorn concept, showed reductions in the use of antibiotics of 50 to 62%. Moreover improvements in feed conversion of 2 to 4 points have been observed as well on commercial farms.

To conclude the symposium the testimony of the early adopter poultry farmer Gerard Witlox emphasized the practical benefits of the system and positive effect on his work, joy and satisfaction because of less troublesome production cycles with healthier and more vital chicks. He has been using on-farm hatching for 2 years now and he considers it as the most significant innovation in broiler production for the past 30 years.

The NestBorn system and the egg placing machine are patented and their use is only allowed under a licencing agreement with HFHC nv, the NestBorn company.

Join the DISARM Discussion Group!

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The DISARM discussion group, or Community of Practice (CoP), links together farmers, veterinarians (vets), advisors, industry members and researchers to codify and promote best practice strategies to reduce antibiotic resistance in intensive and grazing livestock farming. This network will work together to collate and disseminate innovative approaches to reducing antibiotic resistance on farms whilst safeguarding economic performance through adopting best practice and using research findings.
How to Join the DISARM discussion group?
  1. Visit the Facebook Group DISARM Community of Practice and click on the “join the group” button.
  2. Answer the questions in the form. You need to accept the rules of the group in order to be accepted in.

See you soon in the group!

Not on Facebook? Check out our CoP Summaries and join the conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn, or contact us.