Johne's Disease in Michigan

Michigan Johne's Disease Control Demonstration Project

Dairy Herd 3 Dairy Herd 3 Maternity Pen

Characteristics
Risk Assessment
Testing Results
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Herd Characteristics

CATEGORY	CHARACTERISTICS
Breed	Holstein
Housing	Total confinement, sand bedded free stalls
Feeding System	TMR
Expanding?	Yes
Raise own replacements	Some, some are purchased
Open or closed herd	Open; a large number of heifers purchased for expansion, purchased bulls
# Lactating cows	2003: 230 2005: 368 2006: 440
Breeding Program	Natural service and AI
Rolling Herd Average	2003: 21,500 lbs 2004: 23,000 lbs 2005: 23,072 lbs 2006: 26,466 lbs
Calving	One maternity pen housing 6-10 cows at a time
Colostrum feeding	Prior to 2003 - colostrum from multiple cows pooled and fed to all calves. New protocol 2003 - only feed colostrum from cows that have tested Johne's disease negative a minimum of 2 times.
Waste milk feeding	Not done.
Management of cattle that test positive for Johne's disease	Johne's disease test positive cows identified with wire ties placed in ear tags, colostrum is discarded, and are monitored closely. Animals born to JD test positive cows marked with red cable ties in ear tags (see photo below).

Dairy herd 3 Calf

Risk Assessment

When this herd began the Michigan Johne's Disease Control Demonstration Project it was classified as being moderate to high risk for continued Johne's disease transmission for the following reasons:

Johne's disease positive calf at Dairy Herd 3

Dairy Herd 3 Milk Replacer

Occasional clinical cases in raised
animals, especially older cows
Clinical cases averaged 2 to 5% of herd/year over past several years
Number of cases increasing, and/or cases are younger in age
Management history includes some risks for spread in the past

Milk Replacer Used at
Dairy Herd 3

Major Risk Areas and Preventative Actions

Johne's Disease Transmission Risk	What's been done to decrease risk	Long-term goal
2003- Multiple animal use of maternity pen.	Not yet addressed.	Renovation of maternity area to allow for separate calving pens.
Moderate risk for calf ingestion of manure due to build-up in maternity pen.	1) More bedding used to keep pen drier. 2) Pen cleaned more often. 3) Calves removed immediately after birth.	Renovation of maternity area to allow for separate calving pens.
Cows suspected to have Johne's disease are calved in same maternity pen as other cows.	Not yet addressed.
Pre-weaned calves occaisonally fed pooled colostrum.	Colostrum fed single cow to single calf, colostrum from any Johne's disease test positive cows discarded
Calves in contact with cows and cow manure at approximately 5 months of age.	Calves sent to heifer raiser at 3-4 months of age.	Continue to contract out to heifer raiser.
Post-weaned heifers fed cow refusal feed.	Refused feed no longer fed to heifers, fed to dry cows only.

Testing Results

Dairy Herd 3 Prevalence