Cattle Vet Research Articles

Oliver Francis Amor

A dedicated cattle and sheep vet and outstanding bridge player.

Youngstock health: a focus on Mycoplasma bovis, nematode control and the use of NSAIDS in scour

Foreword Farming is under increasing scrutiny on environmental issues (including greenhouse gas emissions, resource use, water and air quality, biodiversity and other impacts), in addition to increasing economic and social pressures. It is increasingly clear that we need to ensure that every animal has a good healthy life, while reducing losses throughout the production system. As cattle vets, we work with cattle at every stage of the production cycle, but on many dairy farms, youngstock are still seen as being of secondary importance compared with the mature herd, suffering significant levels of disease, and sustaining high mortality. This is despite the fact that dairy replacements are, or should be, the group with the highest genetic merit on the farm and are the future of the herd. In contrast to the dairy herd, calves from the suckler herd are the only saleable product of the cow and thus her whole production for the year is lost if the calf should die. Despite this, more could still be done on many farms to improve health and productivity of these calves allowing them to be finished faster with associated environmental benefits. For environmental, economic and social reasons, it is no longer acceptable to cull dairy bull calves, or to ignore high levels of morbidity or mortality. An animal that has a suboptimal growth rate or dies represents a financial loss to the farmer, a welfare concern to the consumer, and an environmental impact that is not compensated for by food (milk or meat) production. If we are to serve our clients to the best of our ability and help make their businesses as sustainable as possible, we need a greater focus on youngstock. This supplement is a good place to start with its focus on Mycoplasma bovis, nematode control and the use of NSAIDs in calf scour.

Improving animal health, welfare and sustainability are part of a cattle vet's role

During 35 years in independent practice, David Black's interest in cattle breeding led him to become a vet specialist. He has also got involved in a variety of sustainability initiatives.

What is the future of cattle veterinary practice?

We live in a rapidly changing world, and the veterinary profession is changing along with it. The globalisation of markets, climate change, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), accelerating technologies such as artificial...

Fifty years a vet.

Agnes Winter wanted to go to Bristol vet school to become a cattle vet, but ended up studying at Liverpool and ultimately became a sheep vet. Here, she discusses the choices she made based on the opportunities available.

Postgraduate opportunities for cattle vets

Changes to the modules studied within the Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (Cattle) have been approved by the RCVS and the Quality and Standards Committee of the University of Liverpool. Module coordinator, Jo Oultram, and director of CPD, Cathy McGowan, explain what the changes mean

A thoroughly modern cattle vet

After qualifying, Andy Adler worked in mixed practice and then travelled abroad, discovering that he loved working on farms and with farmers. He treats sick animals and helps farmers to make their business a success

Lameness in dairy cows: the developing story

With 35 years' experience as a cattle vet, Dick Sibley gives a personal view of how approaches to lameness in dairy cows in the UK have changed over the years...

So you want to be a cattle vet?

The UK's two million dairy cows produce 14 billion litres of milk every year. Their milk is consumed by more than 95 per cent of the population every day in one form or another, and they contribute over 20 per cent of the entire agricultural output of the nation. They are precious indeed, and their health and welfare is paramount, says cattle vet Dick Sibley

Standardising bull breeding soundness evaluations and reporting in Australia

There is substantial variation in bull breeding soundness evaluation procedures and reports in Australia; the situation is compounded by difficulties in interpretation and the validity of many reports. In an effort to overcome this, the scientific literature was reviewed [Fordyce G. In: Fordyce G, editor. Bull fertility: selection and management in Australia. Eight Mile Plains, Australia: Australian Cattle Vets; 2002] and the needs of stakeholders were considered in preparing a manual, Evaluating and Reporting Bull Fertility [Entwistle KW, Fordyce G. Evaluating and reporting bull fertility. Eight Mile Plains, Australia: Australian Cattle Vets; 2003.] that outlined standards for assessing and reporting bull breeding soundness. A new recording and reporting system, called Bull Reporter, is based on standards from this manual and groups bull fertility traits into five summary categories: Scrotum, Physical, Crush-side Semen, Sperm Morphology, and Serving. The client will generally select which categories they wish to have included in the evaluation to suit their specific purposes. While there is adequate room for comments, the veterinarian is not required to make an overall judgment of whether the bull has normal capacity to sire calves under natural mating management, but ensures the standards for each selected category are met. Professional, standardised, easy-to-read reports are produced either electronically [Entwistle KW, Fordyce G. Evaluating and reporting bull fertility. Eight Mile Plains, Australia: Australian Cattle Vets; 2003.] or manually. A bull owner or their agent signs the certificate to affirm that bulls have not undergone procedures to rectify faults which may have otherwise caused them to fail the standards. An accreditation system for assessing sperm morphology was established because of its demonstrated relationship with pregnancy rates and because of the difficulties in achieving consistent and accurate assessments among laboratories. It is considered that Bull Reporter is applicable to beef and dairy bulls across all levels of management, genotypes and environments throughout Australia, with substantial potential for application elsewhere in the world.

The relationship between fertility, rump and other type traits in Holstein Friesian cows

Cattle breeders, farmers and vets believe that the decline in fertility seen in recent years can be partially attributed to changes in rump angle with selection being for more angular cows. This suggests that animals with pin bones that sit above the hip bones (high rump angle) will have poorer fertility. Few studies have shown a significant relationship between fertility and rump traits. This study investigates the popular belief that high rump angle equates to poor fertility by examining the genetic and phenotypic correlation between rump angle and fertility traits. The relationship between rump angle and fertility was also examined to see if there was an intermediate optimum or threshold of rump angle for good/bad fertility. The correlation of other type traits (udder and composite traits) with fertility was also examined to see if they had potential to add information to the estimation of fertility breeding values.