Cattle

Figure 4. Early and accurate diagnosis of bovine respiratory disease is key to treatment success.

Bovine respiratory disease — challenges and opportunities

Accurate and early diagnosis of BRD is a critical facet of any therapeutic programme. All too frequently there are delays in identifying animals requiring treatment or an acceptance of a low level of...

Figure 1. Percentage of cows recovered by day for cows nursed ‘satisfactorily’ versus those nursed ‘unsatisfactorily’.

Clinical findings from 218 downer cow cases in dairy cows from Gippsland, Australia

Downer cows, defined as bright, alert and responsive cows that have been recumbent for at least 1 day, are challenging for many veterinarians (Eddy, 2004). They can be difficult to examine and the...

Figure 1. Increased capacity for milk yield has a negative impact on reproductive success.

Milk production, fertility and the modern dairy cow

Energy balance describes the ability of the cow to meet the energy demands required to maintain her physiological status. Energy balance is reliant on the amount of energy she can draw from what she...

Cattle Review: March–April 2020

Although 90% of BRD relapses are reported to receive retreatment with a different class of antimicrobial in the USA, studies examining the impact of antimicrobial selection (i.e. bactericidal or...

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.

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 6. Above the frost line in an AI tank temperatures will rise above -196°C giving semen straws the opportunity to thaw. The arrow indicates the level of the frost line in this tank

Investigating cattle artificial insemination technique on farm

When investigating an individual's on-farm conception rate, semen handling is a crucial area to focus on. The number of viable sperm in each straw can be affected by an individual's skills, knowledge...

Figure 5. Outside loafing space for dry cows.

Cattle self assessment: January–February 2020

Follow up in this herd focused on the dry period new infection rate after the August and September 2019 milk recordings. This was below target at the start of 2019, with only 4 out of 41 (9.8%) cows...

Cattle Review: January–February 2020

There has been an ongoing decline in bovine tuberculosis (TB) in the Republic of Ireland, however, TB has yet to be eradicated. Further to a recent commitment by the Irish government to eradicate TB...

Figure 1. Shortening the length of the dry period is just one approach to improving energy balance.

The dry period in dairy cows: Effective dry cow management

Effective dry cow management is a crucial part of maximising dairy cow welfare and productivity. It has an impact on calving problems, early lactation metabolic disease, fertility, overall lactation...