Dipping navels high priority
Dipping navels properly should be a high priority for dairy producers, says Dave Ellefson, veterinarian with Fort Dodge Animal Health. Death loss due to navel infections can be greater than 50 percent on certain farms, according to necropsy results. Ellefson recommends dipping over spraying. Imagine, for a moment, that you are working with a straw rather than a navel. “When spraying the straw, no iodine reaches the inside,” he points out. “When you dip the straw, the inside is coated. It works the same way with a calf’s navel,” he explains.
