Farm Health planning

13 August 2008

Farm Health Planning

Farm Health Planning is a major new exhibition to be staged at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show, the UK’s largest livestock business to business event to be held at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, 17 and 18 September by its organisers, the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.

Called Healthy Animals, Healthy Profits, the exhibition will feature a series of practical demonstrations combined with technical information provided by some of the UK’s leading specialist vets and advisors on proactive herd and flock measures designed to encourage farmers to introduce proactive measures to help manage disease, improve their livestock’s overall performance and ultimately, their unit’s sustainability. Key issues coming under the microscope are lameness, mastitis, fertility, young stock health, purchased stock issues, anthelmintic resistance and profitable disease control.

FHP will be staged in a purpose built 600m2 exhibition hall with tiered seating, while presentations and practical demonstrations taking place throughout the days will be thrown on to a giant plasma screen. The exhibition has attracted support from a wide range of industry sponsors; Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Cattle Information Service, Defra, Forum Products, Giltspur Scientific, Richard Keenan, Janssen Animal Health, National Milk Laboratories, Volac and Waitrose.

Young Stock Health: investing in your future

Preparing cows for calving, and managing calves within the first few days of life are crucial if you are to protect their future health and well being, says Maggie Gould of Volac, sponsor of the Young Stock Health demonstration to be made by specialist vet, Keith Cutler who will focus on the health challenges, and steps that can be taken pre-calving and immediately post-calving.

“If a calf is born into a dirty or damp environment and the navel is not dipped quickly with the correct treatment, then there is a much greater risk that it will pick up bacteria which can cause disease; you wouldn’t believe it happens, but the truth is, it does,” says Mr Cutler of the Endell Veterinary Group. “Yet there is no reason why every calf cannot be born into a clean, dry, healthier
environment. It’s also worth remembering that, for each heifer calf born, you’ve already invested in four straws of semen at a cost of £80 or more, so she is already an expensive investment and well worth protecting.”

To protect the newborn calf, we assume every farmer is aware of the importance of colostrum, says Mrs Gould. “However, leaving calves to suckle colostrum from the dam within the first six hours is not the solution, as more than 30% will fail to drink enough. Even dosing colostrum to newborn calves is not foolproof as the quality of colostrum can vary widely.

 “We recommend the use of a simple Standard Operating Procedure to identify animals at risk and take appropriate action,” she explains. “A minimum of six pints of good quality colostrum within the first six hours is a good rule of thumb.”Thereafter the two most significant health problems facing young stock are scour and pneumonia, says Mr Cutler, who will review these key issues and discuss the steps that can be taken to minimise the risks associated with both. He will also discuss management practices which help to alleviate the symptoms and treat the conditions if a problem does arise on farm.

Other issues to come under the microscope include managing young stock in a herd with Johne’s, what to do with mastitic
milk, and how to manage the storage and feeding of whole milk. He adds: “Looking to the future, farm health planning is all about focusing on prevention rather than cure. It is often possible to identify key risks on individual farms and introduce simple, low
cost measures which will contribute to an overall improvement in young stock health. Investing wisely in practices to improve young stock health can lead to significant economic benefits in the future.”

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