Contract Milking causes lame cows
Our contract milking system is contributing to the number of lame cows in NZ. This may seem like a strange thing to say but from a lameness perspective, the contract milking system has one major issue that could be easily
Are you prepared for calving?
Before we know it, we are back at calving and things will get busy again. It is always a good idea to think and plan ahead. There are things we can do to minimise lameness before the season starts: lameness
Enjoy your cows and take time to stand in the sun!
As I was thinking of what to write this month, my wife reminded me that our mission statement says: “Supporting farmers to be the best they can be”. And then she asked “what does that mean right now?” As you
Pay attention to Cow Behaviour
We are well into Winter now. If the weather stays as it is, it’s going to be a breeze. We made silage on our smallholding only a month ago and there is already plenty of grass regrowth in the paddock.
International Lameness in Ruminants Conference 2019
Last month I attended the International Lameness in Ruminants Conference in Tokyo, Japan. This is a conference where the latest research in lameness is presented from all over the world. You wouldn’t necessarily think of Japan as a dairy country,
Heat Stress and Lameness
Tempertures have been very high over the summer months and people are enjoying their summer holidays with long days at the beach, water skiing and swimming. At home we turn on the air conditioning or have a fan blowing through
Dealing with heifers post-calving
Calving is underway and most of you will be busy starting to train your freshly calved heifers into your milking routine. From experience, I know this can be a highly stressful time for a farmer. But how often do we
OAD or TAD? … that’s the question
OAD or TAD? That’s the question. When you hear a farmer talk about OAD (Once-A-Day) milking it is often noted that cows are so much happier. Milk production does not seem to drop that much, and they have a lot
Be diligent around mating time
Around mating time lameness seems to increase. Most people believe that the reason for this is the extra pressure that is on the hooves when a cow is being bulled by another cow. This goes alongside the theory that hooves
Benefits and options of claw blocks
Do you understand the benefits of claw blocks? It is quite interesting what sort of responses farmers give to this question. Some think they are wonderful, some think they are too expensive, some struggle to make them stick on for