ketosis

I should imagine that most dairy farmers have, at some time, had a downer cow. There can be several causes and level of damage but the end result is usually a cow housed on straw or sometimes outside, who can't get up. I would also imagine that in many cases we know what the outcome is going to...

This guy is apparently one of the best climbers in the country, based around Fort William I think, planning on eating McDonald’s burger patties exclusively for a month. I’ve been hearing of a few recently that have gone on strict meat only diets and seemed to have done quite well, interesting stuff.

This is a thread for those who feel guilty about cluttering up dear old GUTH’s beloved price tracker with the chit chat that stop us all being that miserable our families would throw us all out to sit with the dog in the porch. All are welcome, you can even post prices if you want. The only rule...

Evening all I thought it may be a good idea of a dedicated legume thread for the livestock men. Clovers being the most popular inclusion in a grazing mix. Place to share ideas and info on alternative legumes used in grazing systems. Establishment methods/grazing management etc

'Twas always thus - that 10-14 days in the run up to the start of lambing heralds the onslaught of TLD, prolapses, blown guts, abortions and the 1001 other things that can go wrong with sheep :banghead: Many moons ago, when I was young and keen, an old bloke once told me, "A farm or a piece...

How do Due to start next week. Tex X lleyn in lamb to tex. Brought them in ny eve. Week later one had prolapse but another one had (my gaffers words, I wasn't there) just shot everything out its fanny. He insists it not a prolapse and everything had come out in bloody mess, obviously dead. Two...

Any jersey herds out there using xzelit calcium binder in the dry period?

So in the latest antics of why I've had a f**king enough, a portion of the milkers (25ish) escaped last night and have broken through my gates (and of course bent them in the process) ans then helped themselves to a tonne of dry cow rolls, 1-2 t of calf cake and half a tonne of grass seed Do I...

If a cow is scanned carrying twins what do you do differently? Longer dry period? Feed more cake during dry period? Boluses/minerals? More than usual here scanned with twins. Hate them. Always have trouble with the second cleansing. Every time the wife gave birth, the mid wife gave her a jag of...

A new approach to dairy nutrition based on extensive research will help dairy farmers improve health and performance at all stages of a dairy cow’s life. Leading feed block manufacturers and innovators Crystalyx have used their 40 years’ experience in UK ruminant agriculture to develop the...

Written by John Swire from Farm Business A new approach to dairy nutrition based on extensive research will help dairy farmers improve health and performance at all stages of a dairy cow’s life. Leading feed block manufacturers and innovators Crystalyx have used their 40 years’ experience in...

I have just listened to Monday's Farming Today. In it a researcher from Aberystwyth talked about research to measure how long ewes lie down for as a marker of impending lambing. He justified the project saying it would lead to technology to warn shepherds when a ewe was coming up to lambing. He...

Does anyone on here do it? Grown it for the first time in years. Usually feed 18kg grass, 2-3kg straw and then just some standard dry cow mineral at 0.1kg a head. Would I simply replace the straw and some of the silage with the wholecrop to make the ration work?

Written by Brian McDonnell While spring-calving herds are mid-way through their milk production season, most autumn-calving herds are approaching the end of theirs. Cows that calved last autumn are now in late lactation, and should be assessed to ensure that they are in the correct body...

I think the PLi should include the above. I’ve had enough of having to intervene and pull because the mother just isn’t getting in with it over the last 5 years. Then the calf is absolutely useless at finding its mothers teat as well, I then have to feed it too. All this snatch calving etc has a...

I have got too much good silage and not enough " roughage" left. I am going to be short of dry cow roughage until I make some. Being organic I can't feed conventional straw. Only option i have is to buy hay, or do the TFF collective have any other ideas?

Written by Lydia Turner Roboscientific, a Cambridgeshire based biotech firm, have developed a device that can immediately identify a disease or virus in an enclosed space. Currently in development the device automatically ‘sniffs’ the air in the barn for the presence of the digital fingerprint...

Milk taint smell. We are organic and have had huge problems with tainted milk. Suspected ...TBC, teat dip, ketosis. Etc eventually stopped feeding last seasons silage. Fed some 4 year old silage from the back end of the clamp. The milk is no longer tainted. Must be the charlock/dandelions or...

Written by Agriland Team A transition cow can be identified as a cow three weeks’ pre-calving and three weeks’ post-calving. Dairy cows face many physiological challenges during this time. This period is characterised by marked changes in the endocrine status of the animal. There is a...

Written by Agriland Team Mastitis is the most economically challenging disease on a dairy farm, it causes the swelling of the cow’s udder tissue and mammary glands. Freshly-calved cows and heifers are the most susceptible to mastitis, due to a weakened immune system after calving. Economic...