The Ten Golden Rules For Successful Vaccination
1. Make a plan • Talk to your vet and decide which groups of animals should be protected against which diseases 2. Make sure the vaccination programme is completed exactly as stated on…
View Post >Farm Biosecurity & Facility Hygiene
A good Biosecurity Plan can be drawn up at farm level by assessing the risks posed by the movement of stock, personnel and vehicles onto farms. Your Vet can advise…
View Post >Cull Cows
Economics of feeding cull cows The economics of feeding cull cows depends on the quality of the silage available, the cost of silage and concentrates, the condition of the animals…
View Post >Nutrition & Fertility
Early Lactation Feeding: Nutrition and Maximising Fertility Performance Poor fertility performance is the biggest cause of involuntary culling on Irish dairy farms. Reducing empty rates from 15% to 10% will…
View Post >Mineral Feeding Pre-Calving
Mineral feeding for the pre-calving cows Nutrition for breeding Your nutritional aims for successful breeding are: To minimise your herd’s body condition loss between calving and the start of breeding…
View Post >Redwater
Redwater Bulletin Redwater is a life-threatening disease of cattle caused by a parasite called Babesia divergens. The parasite is transmitted by ticks. High risk periods for Redwater are late spring/early…
View Post >Lameness in Dairy Cattle
Lameness is now a major problem in Irish dairy herds – it has become the second largest dairy cow health challenge after mastitis. Up to 89% of dairy cattle may…
View Post >Forage Options
Whole Crop Cereals/High Moisture Grain It is essential to monitor the dry matter of the crop regularly, starting a month before the anticipated harvest date. Dry matter can change by…
View Post >Body Condition Scoring (BCS) Guide
BCS is a simple technique to assess how thin or fat a cow is on a scale of 1 to 5 with increments of 0.25, where 1 is extremely thin…
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