Cattle

A survey of colostrum management practices on UK dairy farms

Dairy farmers were invited to participate on the social media platform of a large pharmaceutical company (MSD Animal Health). Data were collected under University of Glasgow ethics licence (number:...

Automated detection of lameness in cattle: an update

Several automated methods of lameness detection are available for use in cattle, typically using one (or a combination) of three methodologies (Table 1)..

Cattle Review: July–August

A review paper on heat stress was published by Lemal et al (2023) (10.3168/jds.2022-22727). Heat stress implies unfavourable effects on primary and functional traits in dairy cattle and, in...

Cattle foot health: best foot forward

October 2022 saw the launch of the new Lantra-approved Cattle Foot Health courses to help vets and foot trimmers teach best foot trimming practice to farmers. The author reflects on what she hopes to...

Q fever: a disease with underappreciated significance?

C. burnetii is a small, Gram-negative bacterium and obligate intra-cellular pathogen that causes Q fever. C. burnetii can infect humans, cattle, goats, sheep and many other mammals. C. burnetii...

Cattle Review: May–June

As farm animal clinical practice continues to evolve, it is timely to gather expert opinion on, and form an evidence base for, the practical skill requirements for new graduates entering UK farm...

Newborn calf welfare: effects of birth assistance, colostrum feeding and cow–calf separation

The welfare of calves during the birth process has not been researched but a number of studies have investigated the welfare of newborn calves in the immediate post-birth period, often relating...

Why be interested in Neospora caninum on farm?

Neospora infection in cattle can occur through vertical transmission (cow to calf) or horizontal transmission (Figure 1). Spread from cow to cow is not possible and this protozoan parasite requires a...

Economics of heifer rearing on dairy farms

Research from 101 farms across Great Britain reported that the cost of rearing a heifer from birth to first calving varied significantly between farms, from £505.10 to £2147.50 per heifer reared...

Cattle Review: March–April

Genomic selection increases accuracy and decreases generation interval, accelerating genetic changes in populations. Genetic trends of American dairy cattle breeds were examined by Guinan et al (2023)...

Colostrum quality and composition

The process of colostrogenesis can be defined as the secretion of colostrum components from polarised epithelial cells located within the alveoli of the mammary gland (Cristea and Polyak, 2018;...

Neospora in UK cattle

The main clinical presentation in Neospora-positive cattle is abortion from 5–7 months of gestation and can occur as early as 4 months (McAllister, 2016). Seropositive cows are three to thirteen times...