Figure 2. An overview of the different factors impacting the cost of heifer rearing.

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...

Figure 1. Pneumonic lung lesions caused by infection with M. hyopneumoniae (courtesy IZSLER, Italy).

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae as a causative agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia

M. hyopneumoniae is 200–500 nm in size and requires complex media and aerobic and microaerophilic conditions to be cultured. Infection with M. hyopneumoniae occurs via inhalation of infected aerosols...

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.

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...