In an effort to reduce calving difficulties in heifers I have been performing pelvic measurements on one of our herds for the last 4 years. This has resulted that this year 120 heifers calved with only 2 needed a gentle (manual) pull while all other heifers delivered a calf themselves unaided. For this year 150 …
Brace yourself for the following information overload, but it is essential knowledge especially for Hampshire herds… An inconclusive reactor (IR) is an animal with a skin test result that is neither clear (negative) nor positive. Once found, they must be isolated from the rest of the herd until they are re-tested. This is to reduce …
Resolved TB IRs – Do they need a movement license? Read More »
Many of our pedigree beef and dairy clients are members of CHECS accreditation bodieslike SAC and Biobest to help them to achieve high health status for infectious diseaseslike BVD, Johne’s disease, IBR, Leptospirosis and Neospora. Now there havebeen changes made to the TB accreditation.CHECS TB Entry Level Membership works on the principle that implementing a …
Last month I got introduced to some of the people behind the website www.dungbeetlesforfarmers.co.uk I was told about the introduction of dung beetles to Australia. Here the native dung beetles were only able to deal with dung of marsupials and not that of livestock which got introduced in the 18880’s. This was one major reason …
Recently I watched a webinar on calf survival. One speaker spoke about different techniques used to “treat” dummy calves. Dummy calves are bright, apparently healthy calves but slow to stand and for some reason will not suck or bond with the dam. As these calves will fail to suck people often resort to continued stomach …
So the month is here that I analyse the previous year’s bull testing data. In 2020 there were 367 Bull Pre Breeding Soundness Examinations performed in the practice. One third of these were pre-sale while the remaining ones were pre mating and most of these bulls had been tested in previous year(s). Dismissing reasons for …
As most Autumn calving dairy herds are about to start mating I have been checking flask semen again. This year I was accompanied by developers of a mobile device that assesses semen quality by computer camera. They wanted to put their prototype to the test. We spent a whole day going from farm to farm …
