Our blood testing and milk sampling programmes have confirmed that BVD is present in many herds.
One of the outcomes of BVD infections is the ‘persistently infected calf’. These calves fail to grow and eventually die but while they run around they infect other weaners causing scouring and increased susceptibility to worms and other diseases resulting in reduced weight gains.
These PI weaners can be identified through a simple blood test.
If you have unexplained ‘runty weaners’, blood testing to establish whether BVD is involved is an excellent idea and allows positive animals to be identified and culled early.