Navel Infection ideas?

[DFF]

Has anyone had experience with "Navel Klamps"? I have more infections than one should in calves. I keep fresh clean bedding available best I can. and soak navel area with iodine asap. Which is usally no more than 6-8 hours at the longest. I was considering this season, to use a klamp on navel a few inches from body and cut cord a few inches further from klamp and soak area extremely well, inside and out. Does anyone have experience using this device? Will they clamp tight enough to prevent bacteria from entering? should I leave cord long ? my thought was if cut fresh I could get the iodine in ahead of bacteria. Any other practices anyone does or ideas? What about injecting penecillin in navel area if one is probally already infected? Thanks to all and a Happy-Healthy-Prosperous 2008!
Larry

 

[dun]

The problem is the 6-8 hour time frame. If you're going to siak it you need to do it as propmptly after birth as possible, i.e. minutes.

 

[KMacGinley]

Do you have to calve in a lot or Pen? We usually calve in the woods, no problems.

 

[harry]

I give a shot of long lasting penicillin [ Twin-Pen] to all my newborns as a first treatment along with several other vaccines and vitamin and minerals. I guess I always felt it gave 48+ hrs. protection against that bacterial infection.

 

[rockridgecattle]

like said best to do asap.
If the cord is right short, up against the body, prone to infection.
Real long, on the ground long, prone to infection
backwards claving presentaion prone to infection
hands dirty, not wearing clean gloves while handling the navel, prone to infection
crowding, prone to infection
poor or untimely colostrum intake and stress at birth possibly prone to infection.

Even though we do the clean bedding, iodine, and everything else, if our hand are not clean, we are pretty much killing any chance of what we do working.

edit, navel ill is also contagious. Yes it is. If a calf has it and lays somewhere and a newborn or a calf with a new, or "wet navel lays there the bacteria is transfered and volia an out break occurs. We experience this and asked our vet about it. She said it can be contaigious in calves born near the same time if they lay in the same spot as the sick one.
by the time we found this out, it had hit 30 some calves in some sort of severity. we went through lots of gloves, iodine, nuflor, predef, time, and energy fighting it. We had never had cases like that before. The following year we started getting it again, had the vet out. She she said the bedding was good, calves progressing well. We asked why, never before. She asked what had changed in our handling. More cattle. She said more cattle need more space. Working 100 cows in an area designed for 50 does not work. More navel ill, more scours more everything. Once we changed our areas, better control on disease!
Sorry for the long wind

 

[angie2]

We usually calve in the woods, no problems.

yep
what s/he said

 

[DFF]

Do you have to calve in a lot or Pen? We usually calve in the woods, no problems.

Yes I do calve my commercial cows in the woods and pastures in March.But the purebreds in Jan/Feb I try to keep up mostly heifers in a closer pasture with barn, this is where the problem such as it is occurs most often.

 

[dun]

Do you have to calve in a lot or Pen? We usually calve in the woods, no problems.

Yes I do calve my commercial cows in the woods and pastures in March.But the purebreds in Jan/Feb I try to keep up mostly heifers in a closer pasture with barn, this is where the problem such as it is occurs most often.

We have a couple of pastures near the working facilitys that we run the heifers into when they get close. A couple of days after calving we turn them back out with the others. One is about an acre the other 2 are about 5 acres. 2 of them have lights at least in part so it's easy to check on the heifers. We also practice the feeding of a little grain late in the day for those that are brought up. Doesn;t take much and doesn;t take long for them to be on that diet to get mostly daylight calvings.

 

[DFF]

The problem is the 6-8 hour time frame. If you're going to siak it you need to do it as propmptly after birth as possible, i.e. minutes.

Yes the ones I am with or very shortly after birth are not as severe as others in the 6-8 hour window. Not real severe in any case just unsightly navel in show steer and heifer prospects have had a couple with possible joint(knee) infection but not real severe cases. Thanks Also DUN where in the ozarks do you call home? any snow blowing? right now here in the center of state pretty good flurries.

 

[dun]

The problem is the 6-8 hour time frame. If you're going to siak it you need to do it as propmptly after birth as possible, i.e. minutes.

Yes the ones I am with or very shortly after birth are not as severe as others in the 6-8 hour window. Not real severe in any case just unsightly navel in show steer and heifer prospects have had a couple with possible joint(knee) infection but not real severe cases. Thanks Also DUN where in the ozarks do you call home? any snow blowing? right now here in the center of state pretty good flurries.

We're SE of Lebanon. We had a 10 minute blizzard this morning git about a 1/4 inch but the sun came out and I tink it all blew away. 15-30 mph winds all day but at least it's calmed down since last night.

 

[DFF]

The problem is the 6-8 hour time frame. If you're going to siak it you need to do it as propmptly after birth as possible, i.e. minutes.

Yes the ones I am with or very shortly after birth are not as severe as others in the 6-8 hour window. Not real severe in any case just unsightly navel in show steer and heifer prospects have had a couple with possible joint(knee) infection but not real severe cases. Thanks Also DUN where in the ozarks do you call home? any snow blowing? right now here in the center of state pretty good flurries.

We're SE of Lebanon. We had a 10 minute blizzard this morning git about a 1/4 inch but the sun came out and I tink it all blew away. 15-30 mph winds all day but at least it's calmed down since last night.

OK yeah we're not to far apart then.I own a couple bulls with some folks west of you around the Phillipsburg exit. Real nice county in that area.