Farmers are being advised to get ewes in the correct condition ahead of tupping to avoid a second year of poor scanning rates.
It was widely reported that scanning rates were back 15-20% on some farms in 2022/23 because the drought-affected feed availability pre-tupping, this could happen again this year and farmers must plan ahead.
The relationship between nutrition and calf health influences the longevity and production performance throughout an animals life.
Optimising calf health and nutrition from day one right through to first lactation will help to optimise cow longevity and lifetime milk yields.
In Season 3, Episode 5 of the Wynnstay Agri-Hub Podcast, Millie Hendy our Calf & Youngstock Manager and Charlie Moss from Horizon Vets give an update on some of the latest updates in the industry around calf nutrition and health.
Winter barley has a lot to offer any farm, rotationally it offers a great entry into oilseed rape as its earlier to harvest than wheat. Its straw is heavily demanded by livestock farmers and its grain can be used for malting or feed. Therefore, it’s important to make the right variety selection to maximise your farms potential.
With animal welfare becoming an ever-increasing concern for the consumer and becoming more prominent in dairy contracts. Recent research has highlighted the importance of physical enrichment for calves in their environment. Studies from University of Reading suggest that pen enrichment can promote natural behaviours, reduce stress and frustration amongst calves (Mason and Burn, 2011).
Giving calves more choice in how to express natural behaviours, will boost their welfare as well as highlighting any potential calf health implications earlier, with calves in poorer health tending to not utilising enrichment methods as much; this ultimately leads to better overall health and performance. Offering choice accommodates individual differences in their behaviours, and can give greater insights into how to detect illness by observing changes in behaviour.
When environmental change occurs, it can have a short and long term negative effect on calf health and performance, however there are periods of time where change will be inevitable and out of our control such as humidity, air speed, temperature etc.
Although we cannot eradicate the risk completely, we can implement cost effective management strategies within the housing environment to help minimise disease incidence, reduce stress, and promote feed intake during the rearing and weaning period.
Accurately measuring and recording the weight of lambs plays a vital role in monitoring flock performance. This blog aims to highlight the importance of weighing lambs, discussing the benefits it brings to the overall health, management, and profitability of a sheep flock.
Maintaining the condition of the hoof is vital for the performance and functioning of your horse particularly when the ground conditions are hard. It's important to keep in mind the impact of concussive forces when hydrating a horse's hoof. Even simply landing after a jump can result in a force that's more than twice the weight of the individual on the load-bearing landing limbs.
Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need to eat meat to survive. Their diet should be high in protein and low in carbohydrates. A balanced diet will provide your cat with all the nutrients they need to stay healthy.
Roundworms in cattle can reduce growth rates by up to 30% (1) so it is important not to delay the mid-season pour-on dose as this potentially leads to a loss of production as the worm burden could start to impact on growth rates. It can be hard to notice the economic impact of worms unless regular weighing is taking place as reduction in growth rates will take place before any more obvious clinical signs are seen.
This season we have seen considerable pressure of septoria tritici, therefore it is worthwhile to recap the biggest yield-robbing disease to winter wheat and what we can help do to fight against it.
Septoria tritici blotch is a fungal disease of wheat that causes significant yield losses. It is caused by the fungus Zymoseptoria tritici, which overwinters on infected crop debris and plant residues. The fungus can infect wheat at any growth stage, but it is most common in the autumn and spring when the weather is cool and wet.
