…and some vet fridge tips
Intro by Tim O’Byrne
Featuring the interviewing magic of Jeff “Tigger” Erhardt, host of the WR Radio Show
This page is evolving into a cool place to just catch up on animal health issues, things we should know about or need to get a handle on. This first item is a tip I didn’t know: Don’t store vaccines and other animal health products in the fridge door – the best area for maintaining a stable cool temperature is the center shelf of the fridge body. I did not know that.
This second item came from an interview Tigger did recently with Reese Graham – Product & Sales Manager, Y Tex Corporation, Cody, Wyoming. I learned a lot about fly tags from this great interview.
Tigger: In regards to rotations of fly tags and flies getting resistance to certain chemistry, what are we dealing with here?
Reese: It’s not just brands, it’s chemistries you have to rotate, whether it’s an organophosphate, a macrocyclic lactone or a pyrethroid. Horn flies are a real surly insect, they want to survive, they want to live. And you have to rotate that chemistry.
What happens a lot of times, is producers start using a chemistry that works really well for them, whatever it may be. It could be the macrocyclic lactone, and then they say, ‘You know what, I want to use it one more year. And then I’m going to use it one more year’. And then what we have is a train wreck. So they really need to adhere to that rotational program and then they won’t have this resistance problem pop up on them.”
Tigger: What is your recommendation…when should be putting these tags in, when should we be taking these tags out?
Reese: Put the tags in as late as possible; you want to try to do this the first of June, if you can put your insecticide tags in then. Some people can’t do that. They are getting their cattle up in March or April. And what they need to realize is that most tags are going to last about three to five months. Put two in your going to get five months control. Put one in your going to get three months control. So if they put it in in April, what does that tell you? Their control is going to end before fly season is up. So we ask them to wait as long as they possibly can before they put that tag in.
Once the season is over we ask you to take those tags out because it’s been proven with university research that if you leave insecticide tags in the ear it will promote resistance.
Tigger: How long does it take until the animal starts to build up some resistance to flies when you put those tags in the ears?
Reese: Once you put that tag on, it takes about a week before it translocates over the entire skin of the animal. A lot of people will ask should I tag my calves, well you really don’t have to. It’s not a bad idea to do it. But that calf is going up and rubbing on mamma and so when it’s doing that it gets that insecticide on their hair follicles which helps spread throughout the oils of their skin as well.
Next time you’re in town why don’t you upgrade that ol’ crate you call a vet fridge…get something that will maintain an even temperature all year long. Oh, and check the temp once in awhile, you’ve got a lot of valuable product in there.
