The health of any animal relies on the balance between an internal immune system and the external challenges of viruses and bacteria. When assessing calf-rearing systems, we find moisture, energy and temperature associated with most environments and related jobs. When we look to reduce bacterial counts or bacterial load on equipment or milk, it is sensible to try to eliminate one or more of their breeding requirements.
Whether our aim is to improve growth from our youngstock, improve feed conversion rates of our beef animals, or to just simply produce more milk from dairy cows, one sure way to enhance this is by increasing nutrient utilisation.
This is a free tool - we just need to learn how to use it to our advantage.
Read about the Calf Team study tour to Bavaria, Germany and Northern Ireland. Calf & Youngstock specialist, Laura Monk discusses her take home messages.
Those who have worked with me know my opinion regarding beef and dairy calves - a calf is a calf! Whether beef or dairy, it should be reared to the highest standard, and the first 3 months is when they are most feed-efficient, therefore enhancing higher daily live weight gains. Nutrition is not the only area we should focus on, we also have to consider health and housing in order to maximise calf performance.
Richard Edge of Wimboldsley Grange, Middlewich, who farms 800 acres with his father, John and mother, Ruth, is a first-time grower of Gravity. He says his expectations for his wheat have been exceeded this summer – most importantly in terms of Gravity’s yield potential.
The NADIS blowfly forecast suggests that weather conditions in your area mean that local flocks are at MEDIUM-risk of blowfly strike caused by female flies being active and laying eggs.
You have done the hard bit…figured out where you’re going to source calves from, what powder to feed them, and what starter feed is best. Now you are faced with the many options for how to feed the chosen milk powder, and with those options, host a range of costings.
Tapeworms are the biggest worms to affect horses in this country. The most common type of tapeworm can grow up to 20cm long, but there is a much rarer type that can grow up to 80cm!
A faecal worm egg count indicates whether you need to give your horse a wormer or not. It measures the number of worm eggs contained in a sample of your horse’s dung.
To help keep your horse free from illness, you need an effective worm control plan. Parasite life cycles are linked to the seasons, so your worming schedule should consider the time of year.
