Facial Eczema (FE) is estimated to cost the New Zealand agriculture sector more than $332m a year in lost production.
Breaking down the estimated losses resulting from the worst recorded outbreak of FE in 1998 and averaging them over 70% of North Island farms regardless of size, FE would have cost each dairy farm $6,180 and each sheep and beef farm $13,768. And that’s only the loss from animals with clinical (visible) signs of disease. If sub-clinical losses were to be included these costs could be up to 10 times higher.
2019 Trial - Cattle
In a 2019 NZ trial approved by an animal ethics committee, conducted by an independent research company, The Time Capsule was tested using serum zinc concentration* in cattle.
The trial showed that:
- The Time Capsule protected** 100% of animals at first sampling one week after treatment; and
- The Time Capsule continued to give consistent protection for the length of the trial
The reasons for The Time Capsule's excellent performance is our New Zealand-made, tested and proven formula and our consistent dissolving technology. This together with our range of weight specific dose sizes, makes it convenient to dose your animals.
*Serum Zinc concentration is a recognised method for reliably proving effective facial eczema protection levels.
**For zinc oxide products, such as The Time Capsule, serum zinc concentration greater than or equal to 18μmol/L are considered to provide protection against facial eczema.
Lost Production Example - Cattle
e.g., A 700 cow farm has 30 cows with clinical symptoms of FE.
For every clinical case there are likely to be at least another 9 that have subclinical FE. This means the f is likely to have at least another 300 cows affected.
300 cows x 0.14kgMS* = 42kgMS
42kgMS x $8.00** = $336
x 7 days a week = $2,352per week
This over a minimum of 3 months risk period = $28,224
*E L Cuttance
** Current midpoint Fonterra forecast (September 2024)
True losses are likely to be even more as this does not include potential losses due to being dried off early, future metabolic issues and poor reproduction.
Heifer calves weekly liveweights
This graph shows the effect of the Time Capsule in preventing weight loss as the result of sub-clinical FE.
The calves treated with the Time Capsule showed no significant rise in GGT levels when compared to the untreated calves and had a liveweight advantage of approximately 15kg after three months.
Lost Production Example - Sheep
e.g. A Sheep farmer has 2,500 MA ewes of which 50 odd are showing a few clinical signs of facial eczema around tupping. For every clinical case there are likely to be at least another 9 that have subclinical FE. This means that the farm likely has at least 500 that have liver damage.
Studies have found that conception rates can be 8% lower in ewes that experience liver damage over tupping compared with those that are not affected. **
If he usually scans 170% in his MA ewes this is likely to result in a drop to 162% in those 500 ewes.
What does this cost him?
170% x 500 = 850 lambs
162% x 500 = 810 lambs
Potential loss of 40 Lambs.
These could be worth $138.60 each (18kg carcass @ $7.70/kg*)
40 x $138.60 = $5,544
*Current lamb price (September 2024)
This is only the cost due to lost production of lambs and does not include the cost in lost growth, poor future production of effected animals and ewes that are culled due to being dry.
Trial results - Sheep 2006
Sustained zinc levels provided by the Time Capsule protect sheep against the FE toxin for six weeks.
80% of animals that were untreated suffered from facial eczema, with consequent loss in productivity. In contrast, only 8% of sheep receiving and retaining the Time Capsule showed any sign of the disease.
During the 2006 FE season, mating performance was monitored on three separate sheep farms involving a total of 1,500 breeding ewes when spore counts were recorded as sub-clinical between 25-50,000 and would normally be considered low risk.
At each farm, each ewe from one group (n=500) was treated with a Time Capsule bolus (repeat dosed at 6 week intervals) and a similar sized control group remained untreated. The mating performance of all ewes was determined at scanning.
The Time Capsule treated flocks showed an increase in conception rate of between 3-4% over the non-treated control ewes, which clearly demonstrates mating performance will be impaired even at low FE spore challenges.
The results of trials on a farm with a history of severe FE outbreaks
An untreated sheep showing severe clinical signs of Facial Eczema
