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 …
Biodiversity is a continued hot topic especially in regards to farming. Hopefully those that attended our summer barbeque at Knepp have has a chance to see some of the diversity regenerative farming is bringing back. Knepp is an example of a large-scale regenerative project which understandably wouldn’t fit most farms but there are definitely principles …
With the temperatures in June many units have been seeing the impact that the heat can have on their production and that this is not limited to tropical areas. Any temperature above 25oC will need a cow to increase its heat dispersion and limit its heat production, causing an increase in maintenance energy needs by …
It’s that time of year again with lots of autumn calves on the ground we have been getting busy disbudding. So far this autumn we have disbudded 541 calves with few more to come in the next few weeks; and a total of 1151 calves in 2022. As disbudding is performed for safety and handling …
have seen a couple of cases in herds where I do the mobility scoring of presumed heat stress (and the resulting behaviour of cows) contributing to an increased prevalence of lameness cases. Essentially, 2 herds which were on top of lameness have both had a bit of a flare up in lameness cases. Both are …
We’ve got a couple of new products on the shelf at the minute that some of you might be interested in. Cholivite boluses and LP200. They are for animals that are either at risk of getting, or already have energy problems. If you already use Kexxtone boluses pre-calving or Propylene Glycol post-calving then these could …
Produced using original material by the George Farm Veterinary Group. IntroductionAs farm vets we will often get called out to attend a ‘down cow’, but there is a subtle difference between thepresentation of the acute down cow and of the cow suffering from what is referred to as ‘downer cowsyndrome’. Any cow that has been …
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 …
As the climate changes in the UK its worth considering the impact of heat stress on cattle in particular dairy cattle. Heat stress occurs when the environmental temperature humidity index >70; something that currently doesn’t happen very often but potentially could become more of an issue in the next few years. Heat stress causes a …
