Bluetongue (BTV) is a viral disease transmitted by biting midges, which affects all ruminants (e.g. sheep, cattle, goats and deer) and camelids (e.g. llama and alpaca). BTV is mainly spread by infected adult midges biting an animal susceptible to the disease.
An uninfected adult midge bites an infected ruminant animal […]
Back in the Spring I was lucky enough to join Semex and a group of farmers on a trip to Canada and New York state to see how they farm and bring back some ideas.
After a stop off to see Niagara Falls we crossed the border into New York […]
In recent weeks, our team at LLM Derbyshire have had several reports of bottle jaw in ewes and lambs. This refers to fluid build up (oedema) beneath the mandible (lower jaw). There are two key parasitic causes of bottle jaw in sheep – a burden of either liver fluke (Fasciola […]
As we enter harvest supper season and back to school routines, keeping cows out for as long as possible becomes increasingly appealing. Grazing in the autumn can be an efficient way to maximise milk from forage but is not without its challenges.
Planning your autumn pasture rotation and adopting on/off […]
All the T’s – teeth, toes, testicles, tone and treat! With tupping time fast approaching now is the time to start thinking of the ways we can be best prepared to optimize the chances of a successful lambing season.
Teaser Tups
Starting with teaser tups, implementing some of these vasectomized […]
Hopefully your suckler calves are growing well and thoughts are turning to weaning over the next few months. Body condition scoring cows is a helpful way to inform your plans. Ideally spring calvers should score 2.5 at calving and 3 by housing. Autumn calvers should score 3 at calving but […]
Chantal, Derbyshire’s answer to Olivia Newton-John, shares her thoughts on the passing of the seasons. Tell me more, tell me more!
We are well into summer and hopefully it has continued with the warm weather. As I write this the sun is shining and many of you are out in […]
After a slow start to the grazing season and with autumn calving herds drying cows off, many of you will be making the most of the ‘summer’ weather and grazing dry cows, either as far offs or right up until the point of calving.
Dry cows can be managed successfully […]
Bloat is caused by a build-up of gas in the abdomen that is unable to escape. There are two main types of bloats in calves; abomasal bloat and ruminal bloat. Feeding consistency, colostrum management and good hygiene of feeding equipment are the main ways to avoid cases of bloat.
Bloat […]
Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to accompany an experienced Dutch vet called Joost De Veer on several Cow Compass farm assessments to UK dairy farms. Although comprising some data capture, some animal scoring and a farm assessment visit, these are rather different to either Red […]
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