Owen Atkinson

Dairy Veterinary Consultancy, Cheshire

Figure 1. Improving foot health includes having a thorough understanding of environmental and management factors. The Healthy Feet Programme gives structure for veterinary surgeons intending to make environmental assessments for cows in all systems, whether housed, as here, or grazing, or mixed.
Cattle

Developments in managing dairy cow foot health

While lameness has been named as the number one issue by the UK's Ruminant Health and Welfare Group, there are other stake-holder groups that also have an important influence. One conse-quence of...

Professional

Models for charging in practice: how should farm veterinary surgeons earn their living?

During my 25-year professional career, there has always been a certain tension around how farm veterinary surgeons earn their keep. Traditionally, one would say, medicine sales have supported income...

Figure 2. Mobility scoring is not required to find mobility score 3 cows, such as this one which is obviously lame in her back left foot (reluctance to bear weight). However, this herd had an overall lameness prevalence of 28%, predominantly mobility score 2, and this could only be ascertained by carefully observing all of the cows walking on a firm surface.
Cattle

Perceptions of lameness in dairy herds

Around 30–32% of all adult dairy cows are lame at any one time (Atkinson and Fisher, 2013; Griffiths et al, 2018; Randall et al, 2019). That equates to 560 000 cows in GB being lame and therefore in...

Figure 2. Mirroring is a form of non-verbal communication. It is often used in social situations and offers a way of creating rapport with the person you are talking to; one person imitates the gestures of the other.
Professional

Can communication in farm animal veterinary practice be improved through a focus on the non-verbal element? A clinical forum

In my opinion eye contact is one of the most important forms of non-verbal communication. It enables me to gauge the meaning of a conversation and it also demonstrates that I am engaged with the topic...