Articles

Identifying one barren cow (and culling her) will pay for PDing nearly 200 cows (excluding the farm labour costs involved).

Just like humans, sweating is a major way cattle try to control their body temperature and avoid overheating.  As hot air rises the visual signs in cattle are damp/wet patches along their backs and in particular over their shoulders.

Long bone deformity appears to have a higher occurrence amongst beef suckler herds. Calves are born with a dwarf like appearance as a result of the shortening of the long bones in the legs, giving them a characteristically short, bow-legged appearance. They may also have dished faces and domes heads.  In very severe cases calves can struggle to stand and suckle.

Pregnant cows are most susceptible to produce calves suffering from Long Bone Deformity when they are fed a mainly silage ration during the fourth month of pregnancy.

Pain in both animals and humans  is defined as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.  Few animal keepers would deny that the animals they care for are capable of feeling pain.

There is no need to process oats before feeding, this article gives some of the reasons why.

Some useful figures for sheep production

Housing ewes has positives and negatives.  With the largest positive being that it prevents damage to the grass sward through poaching during the winter, this is especially relevant this year. 

It is no surprise to find that, given the weather and our recent fluke forecasts, a significant proportion of our sheep PM cases in our lab in early November have produced a diagnosis of acute fluke infection. 

Now cows have been in for a while set aside a day to check for lame animals.