Livestock

No calf rearer wants to deal with a disease outbreak and see their calves fall behind through illness when they should be thriving. How do you balance regular disinfecting with reducing cost? Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.

The rewards for good preparation leading into calf rearing won’t just be felt this spring, they’ll go on for years as well-grown heifers become productive, long-time members of the herd.

Practices that dramatically lower ingested worm numbers in cattle are vital if the reliance on drench is to be reduced. The rapid rise in triple drench resistance in the national sheep flock is a warning. Anne Lee reports.

Lungworm is an underestimated and often forgotten parasite in New Zealand, Dr Lisa Whitfield writes.

A barn housing 1000 Holstein Friesian cows won the 2023 Waikato Regional Supreme Award at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, for its commitment to productive genetic gain and precision effluent management. Sheryl Haitana visited the three siblings who are the fifth generation of the Singh family dairy farming in New Zealand.

There’s a fly that hangs around cows at milking and it’s irritating to both humans and bovines, writes vet Lisa Whitfield.

Introduction of composting mootels to a Reefton farm has improved cow health and happiness, the environment, and extended milking with less feed wastage. By Anne Hardie.

A study of three recently installed composting mootels on West Coast dairy farms showed generally positive results in the high-rainfall region. By Anne Hardie.

Twenty years ago understanding of cow comfort was very different – there were virtually no scientific standards to measure well-being in farm animals. This encouraged Boehringer Ingelheim to study the impact of their long-acting anti-inflammatory pain relief Metacam® on reducing the pain associated with these essential farming procedures.

Experience with organic free-range poultry has led a former Hawke’s Bay share-milking couple to breeding pedigree Jersey cows. Words and photos Anne Hardie.