Animal Health

Questions and compromises

It is now several years since we had been to John’s* farm. Back then he was milking 600 cows in a rotary dairy and had a significant problem with clinical cases of mastitis, mostly caused by Strep uberis. Some key changes to milking setup, dry-off...

Rod Dyson

Time to be vigilant on pinkeye

Pink-eye is a highly contagious, painful and debilitating disease that can severely affect animal productivity. In summer, increased sunlight and dust make the eye more vulnerable to the disease. Long grass and flies help to spread the infection...

Jeff Cave

Disease focus: Rye Grass Staggers

Perennial Rye Grass Staggers (PRGS) is a common condition of cattle, sheep, camelids, and horses in many regions of Australia. It tends to occur in late summer and autumn and is caused by a fungus found within the rye grass plant. Unlike annual...

Gemma Chuck

Disease focus: Rye Grass Staggers

Perennial Rye Grass Staggers (PRGS) is a common condition of cattle, sheep, camelids, and horses in many regions of Australia. It tends to occur in late summer and autumn and is caused by a fungus found within the rye grass plant. Unlike annual...

Gemma Chuck

Managing the risk of mastitis in hot weather

TWO RECENT discussions were a reminder of how hot weather can significantly influence the risk of mastitis in dairy herds. The first was a farm which uses a mechanical teat scrubber as part of the pre-milking routine to clean teats prior to cups on...

Rod Dyson

Shining a spotlight on facial eczema

FACIAL ECZEMA (FE) can significantly affect dairy cattle productivity, health and welfare through animal deaths, reduced weight gain, reduced milk yield and reproductive performance. While FE is mainly seen in east Gippsland, it has also been...

Gemma Chuck

Fonterra to sell NZ livestock division

FONTERRA NEW Zealand has announced it will sell the Farm Source livestock division to Carrfields Livestock — an established livestock agency provider. Fonterra Farm Source stores director Richard Allen, said the decision to sell was made in the...

Dairy News

Keep cows cool this summer

CLIMATE CHANGE is leading to warmer Australian summers with an increased number of hot days and warmer nights. This increases the risk of heat stress, leading to adverse effects on herd health and farm profitability. Effects of heat stress Reduced...

Gemma Chuck

No flies on us — eventually

PAUL* HAD made some small but significant changes to both his milking equipment and milking routine after our initial visit had exposed some mastitis risks that he had been unaware of. A change to a different liner, a small change to the system...

Rod Dyson

Is it too hot in the ‘kitchen’?

SUMMER IS almost here, and there will be some consistently high temperatures as well as some very hot days coming, especially in some of our warmer regions. Unfortunately, heat and sunlight can be an enemy of many products used on farms. One of the...

Rod Dyson

Look out for cancer eye

THE WARMER weather is just around the corner for many of the dairying regions in Australia. The longer summer days can bring new animal health concerns, one of which is cancer eye. This article discusses the most common types of cancer eye in cows...

Gemma Chuck

Udder health costs dairy $150 m each year

MORE THAN $150 million is lost to Australian dairy farmers each year through poor udder health. Mastitis is the major cause of this loss as it reduces milk yield and leads to poor quality milk. The investigation of mastitis does not rely on the...

Gemma Chuck

An assumption is just an assumption

WE REGULARLY find that our milking time and farm visits are quite illuminating. Not only do they allow us to demonstrate and reinforce procedures that have been discussed both at training courses and on the farm, they also allow us to see firsthand...

Rod Dyson

Teat vs tube feeders?

CALVES LEFT to suckle the dam for colostrum intake are at a greater risk of low antibody absorption and increased morbidity and mortality. Research has shown that dairy calves should be actively fed good quality colostrum as soon as possible after...

Gemma Chuck

“Just the person I wanted to talk to”

COFFEE AND a slice on a Saturday morning is a bit of ritual for us these days, and my coffee had just arrived when John entered the café. I have never been to John’s farm, but I had met him a few times over the years at various industry seminars...

Rod Dyson

Is off-label drug use off limits?

THE OFF-LABEL use of veterinary medicines on dairy farms is surprisingly common. This article discusses the safe use of veterinary medicines and scenarios where these medicines are unintentionally used off-label. There are many definitions...

Simone Dunne

Every picture tells a story

AT OUR farm visits, we often take photos of key factors that we identify, and also the dairy shed layout — it helps us to quickly and easily recall the details later. But as the collection of images has got larger, finding a specific image has got...

Rod Dyson

Do you have the facts on mycoplasma?

MYCOPLASMA IN dairy herds is a topical issue. Much of the media coverage has related to farm biosecurity, management options and the decision to eradicate. This article discusses mycoplasma in relation to animal health: how does Mycoplasma cause...

Gemma Chuck

Detecting cause of lameness the first step

LAMENESS CAN be on par with multiple mastitis cases as one of the costliest animal health issues on a dairy farm. More than 75 per cent of all lameness in Australian dairies is related to non-infectious lesions, with White Line lesions being the...

Dairy News