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NEW TECHNOLOGI ES
Veterinary Surgeons
Ben Pedley
Owen Tunney
XLVets Practice
Willows Farm Animal
Veterinary Practice
BEN PEDLEY AND OWEN TUNNEY,
WILLOWS FARM ANIMAL VETERINARY PRACTICE
Adopting new technologies
Teamwork and technology keep herd's
health and profitability on track
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
17
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WILLOWS
FARM ANIMAL
VETERINARY PRACTICE
Over the years, dairy farmer Richard Pilkington
has been adopting new technology and
working practices, which together with support
from his vets from Willows Veterinary Practice,
are protecting the health and performance of
his pedigree herd of Aintree Holsteins.
At Shordley Hall Farm, near Wrexham in
North Wales, Richard receives weekly fertility
visits from either Ben Pedley or Owen Tunney
keeping the performance of the herd on track.
A proactive and preventative approach to
disease is taken: the herd is vaccinated
against IBR, leptospirosis and BVD, and is
Johne's disease-free. At drying off, rotavirus
vaccine is also given so that the cow can
produce antibodies to protect her calf from
rotavirus scours.
Ben and Owen's knowledge and expertise
has also been useful in some of the long term
strategies on the farm.
In 2007, Richard introduced a heat
detection system based on cow collars
fitted with a motion sensing device. This
reduced calving index by 28 days.
Following further developments in technology,
these collars were upgraded in 2009 to
include a microphone which is able to filter
out background noises, and identify when
the cow is actually ruminating.
This information is relayed to the computer
in the farm office to provide, for each cow,
a graph showing the level of physical
activity plus the amount of ruminating.
The ability to monitor rumination provides
an even better picture of cow health,
Richard adds: ‘It's normal for a cow to
be chewing the cud between 420 and
600 minutes per day. But when she starts
bulling, her activity increases and
rumination stops. But she will also stop
cudding if for instance, she has an LDA.
So sometimes the computer can find a
sick cow before the stockman!’
Ben adds: ‘The sooner an LDA is identified,
and we can operate, the sooner the cow
can recover.’
Richard had initially thought the system
would enable the vet bill to be reduced.
But instead it has enabled veterinary input
to switch away from the 'fire-brigade' work
and focus on ensuring that cows are 'clean'
and have returned to cycling.
New technologies
Further developments
in technology saw
heat detection collars
upgraded to include a
microphone which can
identify when the cow
is ruminating.
Owen Tunney, Willows Farm
Animal Veterinary Practice
Transponder on the collar
Richard Pilkington
Ben Pedley, Willows Farm Animal Veterinary
Practice, Cheshire