Animal Health

Beef and dairy farmers should consider using diagnostic tests and past worm history in the run-up to housing cattle to assess the parasite risk on their farm and plan a treatment strategy.

Dairy farmers feeding maize this winter should be on high alert for signs of mycotoxin contamination in silage, to avoid toxicity and decreased milk production, agronomist warns.

Veterinary pharmacologist and Provita Ltd adviser Dr Tom Barragry offers advice on preventing lameness and trace element deficiencies in cattle.

Farmers are being reminded of the importance of achieving heifer growth targets in order to maintain herd productivity – following reports of lower-than-average growth rates due to heat stress and lack of adequate grazing this summer.

After an increase in the number of confirmed avian influenza cases, the UK’s chief veterinary officers have declared an AIPZ across the whole of Great Britain to mitigate the risk of disease spread.

Defra has confirmed 22 cases of H5N1 in England since 1st October, with the majority of cases in Norfolk, followed by Essex and Suffolk.

This month, Tonia Simms from Hampden Vets, part of the VetPartners Group, offers advice on bovine respiratory disease, or pneumonia, in housed cattle.

In an effort to promote the sustainable control of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in grazing livestock, levy bodies joined forces to produce a manual with expert guidance on how to best keep this destructive parasite at bay.

This year’s Women in Dairy Conference revealed details of the financial support dairy farmers in England could receive via the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, with the first set of payments to commence this autumn.

A free service offering livestock farmers in England advice on how to prevent the spread of TB has been rated ‘excellent’ and ‘useful’ by over 90% of users.

Farmers are encouraged to test incoming sheep for scab to determine whether treatment is required and avoid unnecessary costs.

The post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD) vaccine Coliprotec can prevent the disease in nearly 60% of pig herds, UK diagnostic testing data has shown.