A sick calf on a distant pasture or an injured cow that cannot easily be walked to the handling facilities leaves a producer with a choice between delaying treatment and stressing the animal further by gathering it. A third option, remote drug delivery by dart, is gaining ground among Canadian cattle producers, pushed by labour shortages, larger grazing areas and closer attention to handling stress.

The technique has been used for decades on wildlife and in zoos, and the equipment has improved, according to Kristen Bouchard-Teasdale, a livestock and forage extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. "It's a useful tool on pasture when handling animals isn't practical or possible," she said. It is more common in Western Canada than in the East, and mostly in extensive systems far from a chute; feedlots, with facilities to hand, rarely use it.

Dr. Tanya Anderson of Gladstone Veterinary Clinic said the tool does not replace ordinary veterinary practice: an accurate diagnosis and the right medication still come first. "Make sure that you're treating the disease you think you are, so you're using the right drug in a timely manner," she said. Bouchard-Teasdale said darting makes most sense when there is no access to handling facilities, the animal cannot be safely caught, and prompt treatment matters for the outcome. It can also keep a single pinkeye case from being run through the yards with the whole group, and spare a calf with pneumonia the stress of restraint. A job that once took several people a couple of hours can be done by one person in minutes.

The limits are real. Bouchard-Teasdale said darts should not be used on calves under 200 lb, for cases that need a full clinical assessment and restraint, for drugs with strict administration requirements, or where withdrawal times cannot be tracked. The pool of suitable drugs is small: approved products must be thin enough to pass through the dart and safe if a person is accidentally injected. "There's really not too many antibiotics that are suitable," Anderson said.

The Beef Cattle Research Council lists remote delivery as one option for animals that might otherwise go untreated, while stressing that the usual rules of injection technique and responsible drug use still apply. It recommends working with a veterinarian on diagnosis and drug choice, injecting only in approved neck sites rather than the rump or shoulder to protect carcass value, maintaining and practising with the equipment, sizing darts correctly, never reusing them, and shooting from a suitable distance at an animal standing broadside. Producers in Verified Beef Production Plus should check what extra records their co-ordinator wants, down to the dart, needle size and exact injection site.

The appeal is strongest on larger operations, said Jewel Kulbacki, founder of equipment retailer Kulbacki Ag Supply, whose customers often cannot get close to big groups the way a small cow-calf producer can. Dr. Cliff Shipley, a veterinarian with more than 40 years' experience with deer, exotics and livestock, told Pneu-Dart's podcast that the tool is underused on cattle operations, and that moving an entire herd to treat one calf with pinkeye is costly in labour, welfare and pounds. Anderson expects adoption to keep growing as labour tightens and grazing areas expand, but calls it another management tool rather than a replacement for good handling.

Reported by Miranda Leybourne for the Manitoba Co-operator.

Source: Manitoba Co-operator