North of England group herd health initiative meeting
A meeting, organised by local veterinary surgeon, Mr. Andrew White, acting in his role as the North of England Group co-ordinator of Defra’s Herd Health Initiative, was recently held for dairy farmers at Mr. Eddie Cowpe’s Huntley Wood Farm, Samlesbury, Nr. Preston The declared aim of the group is to improve the health and welfare of farmed livestock.
Andrew White opened the meeting by outlining some figures which illustrated falling conception rates, a lowering of the average age of our national herd and indicating where some of the losses in the breeding cycle were occurring. He pointed out that all of these trends were creating an unnecessary drain on the profits of dairy farmers and went on to illustrate how some basic, simple, practical steps in the way cattle are managed could help to reduce these losses.
The newly calved animal, particularly if she is a heifer, often undergoes very severe changes in diet, grouping and housing accommodation when she joins the milking herd. Many of these changes can be a source of stress to an animal at a very vulnerable time but can affect not only her general well being but also the endocrine pathways necessary for the re-establishment of pregnancy. Farmers should be aware that there can be a discrepancy between what their cows are theoretically being given in their diet and what they are actually eating, care must be taken to ensure the comfort of the cows by supplying sufficient and adequate cubicle space and also to ensure an adequate water supply is available.
The second speaker of the evening, Mr. Ben Gaskell MRCVS the livestock vet from Pfizer Animal Health who outlined the care needed by the newly calved cow with particular regard to the appearance and treatment of the early post partum cow. He stressed the usefulness of a daily temperature check while newly calved cows are milking for the first 10 to 14 days post-calving in identifying the early stages of sickness and thus enable prompt treatment to be administered before the animals become seriously ill.
The meeting concluded with a talk by Mr. Gary Stones, B.Sc.(Hons.) of BOCM PAULS Ltd, who outlined some recent work done at Nottingham University and which has been supported by work done on farms in his region of the Northwest, which showed how a careful manipulation of the diet in terms of energy and protein balance can affect the formation of good ovarian follicles and of sustaining the corpus luteum of pregnancy. This concept is aimed at increasing the productive life and also lifetime yields of the modern cow. Manipulation of the protein/energy ratio can be used to reduce the early weight loss of newly calved cows, thus improving the fertility of those cows.
The source of the energy in the diet is also important and different for the different stages of the embryo’s development ranging from a high insulin producing diet for follicular development to a diet high in poly unsaturated fatty acids such as Omega 3 to maintain pregnancy.
Thanks are due to Pfizer Animal Health, BOCM PAULS Ltd and Defra for their sponsorship of this meeting. Further information from Andrew White BVMS., CertBR., DBR., GPCert(FAP)., MRCVS, 32 New Lane, Penwortham, Preston, Tel 01772 751115: Fax 01772 751460
Page last modified:
December 13, 2007
Page published:
December 13, 2007