Why weigh calves? Weighing suckler calves at weaning can help analyse how the cows have performed during lactation, and perhaps inform culling decisions. Weighing suckler calves post weaning, and at regular intervals during the growing period, can be used to identify where weaning or management (feeding, ration formulation etc.) over winter has had an impact […]
Tag Archives: Calf
How are your heifers performing?
Heifer rearing is one of the biggest expenses on a dairy farm and with increasing prices for milk replacer, feed and buildings in recent years this cost has only gone up. The return on investment doesn’t start until a heifer calves in at two years of age, and most farms will not make any profit […]
Vets Guide to Liver Fluke
Now’s the time to monitor the impact of liver fluke in your herd Liver fluke (fasciolosis) is a parasitic disease that affects grazing animals, particularly those grazed on wet and muddy pastures near rivers or ponds. The life cycle requires mud snails as an intermediate host, and warm summers with heavy rainfall, such as this […]
October – News From Our Rounds
NORTH – James Aitken It is now three months since the clients of Orchard Vets in Glastonbury moved over to Synergy, and likewise three months since I joined the Synergy team. As a traditional mixed practice Orchard had been finding it increasingly difficult to provide a gold standard service to the vastly different clients and […]
Reflection on the Year from the 0-6 Youngstock Advisory Team
It has been another busy year for the 0-6 Youngstock Advisory Team! Ellen and Martijn ran our very first ‘Youngstock Foundation course’, a day-course for those new to calf rearing or wanting a refresher. We will continue to run this course every 6 months. We hosted some well attended meetings on pre-weaning nutrition and calf […]
Cattle exposed to Heat-stress in September
On my regular routine fertility visits lately I have noticed fewer pregnancies than I would normally expect. Additionally, I have scanned at least six cows that are either losing embryos or look like they will lose embryos. It has made me reflect on what has been going on in recent weeks. An obvious event was […]
Suckler Calf Mortality – time to investigate?
A study looking in to the risk factors associated with beef calf mortality found the following:- Dystocia (difficult birth), small birth weight and older parity of the mother increased the risk of mortality in calves <1 month old. In calves 1 – 5 months old, being the offspring of a heifer was associated with significantly […]
Control of Johne’s Disease in the Beef Suckler Herd
Johne’s disease, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis, or MAP for short, is characterised by a long incubation period before irreversible diarrhoea and terminal weight loss. Infection can occur at any age but is most common via the faeco-oral route within the first hours, days or weeks of life, although clinical signs are […]
Calf Castrates
Last year, Team Sheep focused their attention on how tailing and castrating lambs affects the animals involved; and looked at scenarios where the procedure had been improved or avoided. The meetings definitely changed my attitude, and I got to wondering why we don’t all take the same approach with calves. It’s not uncommon to see […]
Use Water to maximise growth rates and health
Use Water to maximise growth rates, health and Production Water is the single most essential nutrient needed by animals. Improving the quality and palatability of the water you offer can have far-reaching health benefits and is key to maximising growth potential in young stock. Let’s face it, cleaning out water troughs can be a smelly […]
