Calf Coat Care: Let's not pass on cryptosporidia from one calf to another
At a recent event Andy Dodd, AHDB technical manager (UK) had a few words to say about calf coat care ( see https://www.farminguk.com/News/Disinfection-and-hot-washing-crucial-to-prevent-crypo-spread-from-calf-jackets_44437.html ).
His point was that improperly cleaned calf coats can easily pass the eggs of this nasty parasite from one calf to another.
The essentials for getting rid of the parasite eggs? If possible wash at a temperature at 60C (140F). That cooks the eggs.
I observe that if washing at that temperature is not possible, then set the dryer on the "HOT" setting and cook the eggs that way. But, remember the critical temperature is 140F or 60C.
Disinfectants? The only one that I know about that will kill these persistent parasite oocysts is chlorine dioxide solution. See HERE for more information about this disinfectant.
The point of Andy's presentation is valid no matter how you clean calf coats - do a good enough job so we are not passing parasite oocysts from one calf to the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment