mastitis

Thinking of keeping my bull calves whole this year instead of castrating and taking them right through to fat. Is there much to consider when doing this? I’m going to have plenty barley this next year to feed them on and I know they need to be gone by 16 months old. what’s the best way to make...

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland Dirty cubicles could be a sign that the brisket boards within your cubicle shed are incorrectly positioned. During the housed period, keeping cubicles as clean as possible is important for a number of reasons, but the most crucial reason being that...

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland The drying-off of cows is ongoing on farms, with many farms now approaching the final few cows that are still milking. For those farms which only have a few rows still milking, it is important to ensure that the last cow is dried off as well as the...

I have about 30 x 4 and half month old cattle in a barn. Healthy enough but the last 3 days beginning to get some niggles. Increase in coughing. They were due to be mucked out this week as imo they have more muck underneath them than I'd like. They are in 3 different pens and the 4th empty...

Hi. This time last week the cows were on an upward trajectory towards a 30kg average at 0 19 kg/ cake / litre fed in parlour. The ration outside was balanced 3 forages n prot pellet. 2 Kgs. Since Sunday the yld has fallen very quickly to 24kg. Exactly the same ration. Mixed and fed...

If min wage is I think going up to 11.44 in april what should the self employed be expected to get on top to cover, insurances, sick pay holidays etc etc. This is a minimum not what you could get. Lots of factors on top like supplying tools, skills etc just a basic starting point. Thanks

I would like to propose a new farm assurance scheme, all that is required is an annual review to ensure that a farm business complies with current legislation. There will be no gold plating of any legislation, just a simple check, either by uploading documents or by a farm visit.

Anyone using these on rotaries? Guessing that you need an extra person monitoring? Any tips … other than installing in direction of flow?

Just picked up a catalogue from my local market for this Fridays store cattle and sheep sale,and noticed on the back,all sellers have to have a "VAN" by December 13th. The catalogue always has a column for "FA" or just left blank if the farm is not. Why cant we now just have "VA" instead of FA...

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland Hydrated lime has an important role to play on dairy farms over the winter months in the prevention of mastitis cases. For the majority of farms, the cows are now housed and in some cases they have been housed for a number of weeks. In a more normal...

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I have recently taking over the head herdsman role in a 450 AYR calving herd the scc and bactoscan was 360 and 120 back in July I have now dropped it to 190 and 35 I’m just wondering what’s the average for a herd of this size

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland As we move into November planning must get underway for drying-off cows and ensuring that you have all the required equipment. Planning for drying-off is vital to ensure that the job is completed in an efficient and hygienic manner. When drying-off...

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland Drying-off is going to be the next major event to occur on most dairy farms. There are a number of factors that need to be considered ahead of drying-off, with some herds likely to start drying-off cows from now to mid-November onwards. Ahead of this...

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland Ahead of drying-off cows, which on many farms will begin later this month, it is a good idea to determine the amount the bacteria you are dealing with. Farms are now required to use selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) on their cows, but some cows are...

Written by Rubina Freiberg from Agriland Farm specialists at a veterinary school in Scotland have developed a speedy, simplified method of surgery to treat bovine spastic paresis. The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies developed a novel method to treat the neuromuscular disease which is...

Hi there, Is anybody using deep green bedding and having some really good results with it? Particularly interested if you have moved to it from Sand.

Written by Brian McDonnell from Agriland Heifer mastitis can be an issue on some farms, with heifers often calving down with cases or developing them shortly after calving. A case early into your replacement heifers‘ milk production career can be threatening to production along with udder...

I started milking through a robot in June and am finding identifying mastitis through conductivity a bit hit and miss. Since fully housing on straw a month ago mastitis cases and cell counts have gone from 1 case a month/cells of 150 to over 5 cases a month and cells in the 300's I'm looking...

What would trade be like for proper beef bred suckler cows be either with calf at foot or in calf heifer . Angus’s spring Calvers. I might need 10